


Strange New World

by BloodRedTitanium1022



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - No Personas (Persona Series), Bad at tagging, Bits of humor, Eventual Romance, Friendship, P5 Story in different setting, Please don't judge this by the tags, Shadows - Freeform, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 91
Words: 506,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodRedTitanium1022/pseuds/BloodRedTitanium1022
Summary: 50 years have passed since a strange incident destroyed the world as we know it. Shadows - supernatural creatures that emerged from the underground - paralysed the system and drove the surviving people out of the cities. Settlements were built to keep the shadow-threat at bay while humanity got used to a more survival-oriented lifestyle. But in a society where the laws aren’t upheld anymore, the amount of people who bend the rules to their own will increases. And with no executive, the protection of the innocent falls into the hands of individuals.Ren Amamiya is no stranger to the injustice of this new order of the world, and neither is the rest of the rag-tag group of friends that had become a part of his family over the last years. Having grown up in these challenging times and without knowing any different, they soon have to ask the question: Who will stand up to help the people in need, but them?
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Mishima Yuuki/Suzui Shiho, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist, Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 575
Kudos: 284





	1. A New Home

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this idea for a while now and decided that it was time to throw the first chapter out there. The idea of the setting is a little bit like The Last of Us combined with Fallout with all the settlement-things. I really enjoy fics that put the P5-story into a different setting so I decided to try my hand at it. This will be a long one, but I intend to get a chapter out every week, maybe even twice for the first few to get the story going. I also decided to not hold back on chapter lenghts, so the chapters will be as long as they need to be. I started writing this purely for my own enjoyment, I hope that maybe it will bring you some too.

They had been on the road for far too long. Or at least on what was left of the road. It was fascinating how nature took back what was hers, when humanity was unable to focus on destroying it. The country road that they were walking on now was partly overgrown. Occasionally, there was a fallen tree to climb over, but otherwise, their path was clear. It almost had a peaceful and idyllic atmosphere. But not even Yusuke Kitagawa, normally the first one to stop and admire the beauty of nature, was capable of appreciating it at the moment. It was a sight that almost brought tears to their eyes, when they found the secluded villa.

"Looks empty...“ Futaba said as they stood in front of the closed gates. She squinted her eyes some more "It doesn‘t seem like there‘s movement in there...“

"Alright, then let‘s go!“ Ryuji cracked his knuckles "I hope there‘s some food in there...“

"Is this really safe?“ Ann carefully asked.

"This could be a trap…“ Yusuke remarked.

"I can go sneak in and take a look!“ Morgana was quick to offer. That kid still thought that this was some stupid game sometimes…

"No you won‘t!“ Makoto hissed, quickly grabbing him by his shirt-collar as he tried to run off.

"Only one way to find out.“ Ren shrugged before saying "Besides.. we‘ve been standing here for so long, even a blind person would have noticed us by now.“ He positioned himself with his back against the gate, folding his hands to give everyone a boost. Ryuji was quick to grasp as he did the same. When everyone was on the other side, Ren gave Ryuji the last boost up before swiftly climbing the iron bars himself.

"I mean…. What a driveway...“ Ryuji remarked as they were standing on an almost plaza-like driveway. It must have looked even prettier if the water fountain would have been intact. But that would have been too much to ask. And also terribly tacky.

"I‘m sure this must have been a really nice car….“ Makoto sighed as she pointed to the wreck laying in front of the door.

Haru looked around in awe "It’s so peaceful here...“

"Let‘s hope that this is our new home.“ Ren said as he started walking, the group following short after. On his mark, everyone drew their guns as he slowly approached the big main door. As he turned the doorknob and gave the door a light push, the whole thing fell down and inwards. "Great… one more thing to repair...“ Ren sighed before drawing his own gun and giving out gestured directions to his teammates. This wasn‘t their first rodeo. Everyone knew what to do. With quiet steps, the team split up. Yusuke, Ryuji and Ann immediatly headed for the stairs to clear the first floor. Ren, Makoto and Haru investigated the ground floor while Futaba and Morgana remained standing in the huge hall, Morgana had his slingshot drawn, alert for any foes.

Five minutes later, they regrouped in the hall "What have we got?“ Ren asked as he holstered his gun.

"Looks like someone was faster than us. No valuables or guns…“ Ryuji started.

"Someone even took the lampshades..“ Yusuke said.

"There are some clothes upstairs though… What if the real owners show up at some point?“ Ann wondered.

"Judging from the corpses in the back, I guess they won‘t give us much trouble...“ Ren said. Haru retched.

"So someone killed the inhabitants and robbed the place.“ Makoto summarized, looking sad. It was nothing new. People were desperate and desperate people with guns were ready to take drastic measures if it meant surviving. Sometimes, they had families to feed too. If you weren‘t lucky enough to live in a settlement, you had to get by on your own.

"Dammit...“ Ryuji cursed.

"Anything else worth knowing upstairs? Ren continued.

"There‘s 4 rooms that look intact, the ones on the corners have collapsed walls and such… Could be good as lookout-posts maybe...“ Ann recited.

"That doesn‘t sound too bad...“ Makoto said.

"There‘s an attic, but there‘s a huge hole in the roof too.“ Ryuji added.

"The view from up there is quite nice..“ Yusuke said.

"What about down here?“ Ryuji asked.

"Quite spacious living room, the fire place looks like it could work without blowing the house up…“ Ren said.

"There‘s a kitchen, but it‘s looted clean...“ Makoto sighed.

"Our predecessors would have been stupid to leave the food here...“ Yusuke said.

"But it seems like they forgot the pantry.“ Haru giggled when everyone looked at her.

"Uh… the what?“ Ryuji asked.

Morgana cackled "Looks like they were as stupid as Ryuji“.

"What was that?!“ the blonde boy growled and took an intimidating step towards the kid.

Makoto cleared her throat to break their argument off before looking at Haru. "The pantry, you say?“

Haru nodded "It‘s not a lot, but it should be enough for a few days.“

Ren patiently waited for everyone to finish before saying "There‘s also a cellar. Aside from a lot of dead rats, there‘s some tools down there.“.

Futabas eyes instantly lit up "Awesome!“ she yelled before grabbing Morganas wrist and dragging him downstairs

"Dead rats! Remember!“ Ren called after her with a grin. He motioned the others into the living room. The sofas were torn and creaky, but after sitting on floors for weeks, everything was welcome. As everyone had taken a seat, Ren looked into the round. Everyone looked tired. But who could blame them. "What are your thoughts?“.

"Securing such a big place could become complicated.“ Makoto said "A huge place like this could also become a popular target for other raiders, robbers and so on..."

"I also don‘t like that huge open space up front.“ Ryuji voiced his concern "As soon as someone breeches the gate, we‘re in trouble..."

"The first floor and the roof offer a good overview though. It should be guardable with two lookouts per shift.“ Ann said.

"I‘d say that this place is as good as it gets. Especially if we‘re looking for a new homebase.“ Yusuke said and the room fell quiet. A new homebase.

"Are we sure that we lost LeBlanc?“ Haru asked.

"We all heard that traveller. Most of the bombs went off in the city. He said that there‘s not much left of Yongen, so LeBlanc must be gone too. It wasn‘t that far out.“ Ren sighed. He hated to admit it too. They had stashed a lot back there. But on the other hand, if they hadn‘t set out on a week-long mission out of town, they would have been caught in the explosions.

”What about Boss?“ Ann quietly asked.

“I‘m sure he‘s alive. We‘re gonna find him. But first we should have a place that we can bring him to. Blindly running back there would have been stupid.“ Ren was determined before saying „All in favor of staying?“. He looked into the round as one arm after the other rose up until they had reached a unanimous decision. „Welcome home then.“ he said before getting up. „We‘ve got a lot to do, some things best before our first night here.“. He watched the others get back to their feet, ready to get to work.

“Haru and Yusuke, you go and check the perimeter. Look for any holes in the fence or other things that could make this place easily approachable.“ Ren started to give orders before turning to Ann and Ryuji "You two go upstairs and prepare the watch posts. You know what to do.“. The two blondes nodded before leaving. Ren looked at Makoto "We‘re gonna block every downstairs window.“

"Good idea.“ Makoto said before walking to one of the bookshelves.

"Looks like you‘ll get some more reading done here.“ Ren grinned at her as they lifted the shelf in unison and slowly carried it to the first window.

"It sure does.“ Makoto said as she admired the many books "Although for now I‘m much more looking forward to a soft bed...“

"I can‘t argue with that.“ Ren answered before arranging the shelf so that there was a small slit left to shoot out of in a moment of need. As the two carried another shelf to the next window, Morgana and Futaba appeared again. "Futaba, tell me you found something useful down there?“ Ren grunted.

"At first, I thought that they only had boring regular tools, but there‘s more. They also have a really neat workbench down there.“ Futaba reported.

"Is there a generator by chance?“ Ren huffed as they secured the next window.

"There is, but it needs a few parts.“ Futaba answered.

"Sounds like you‘re going scavenging tomorrow.“ Ren answered.

"There should be an abandoned town near here. If it hasn‘t been sweapt clean, I should be able to get what I need.“ Futaba said.

"Good.“ Makoto said as she put up a couch-table against a window. "Are there perhaps any other materials down there? Planks or something?“

"There‘s some old furniture, maybe we could scrap that!“ Morgana said.

"With hammer and nails we could bar some of the windows shut.“ Makoto pondered when Haru and Yusuke returned from their tour.

"All around us is a 3 meter high concrete wall. No holes or low-hanging branches, as far as we saw.“ Yusuke reported.

"The previous owners must have valued their privacy.“ Haru wondered.

"Oh, maybe they were famous!“ Futaba exclaimed.

"Yeah, and see what it brought them.“ Ren remarked, remembering the half-rotten corpses. They would need to burry them today. "Good job, you two. Yusuke, why don‘t you help with breaking up the furniture in the cellar. Haru, can you take inventory of everything eatable in here? Let‘s go to bed with full stomachs tonight. The rest will need to be rationed well.“ Ren said.

With the broken down furniture from the cellar, they soon were able to barricade all the groundfloor windows, leaving a small slit everywhere for safety reasons. In the meantime, Ryuji came downstairs to borrow hammer and nails for the lookout-posts fortifications. Before long, the sun started to set. Ryuji and Ren climbed around on the concrete wall to break off some branches off the nearby trees to start a fire. As the living room was partly iluminated by the warm light of the fireplace, the group was painfully reminded of their many evenings sitting at LeBlanc, that used to be lit by many candles at night. They were squeezed together on the two couches, half a hot can of baked beans for everyone. Compared to their meals over the last days, it was a lot, but it still wouldn‘t be enough to fill their stomachs, like Ren had planned. But Haru had taken inventory and it hurt their stock far less to lose 4 cans of beans than 8. Noone complained.

"So.. what are we gonna do next?“ Ryuji eventually asked.

"We settle in. This place still is missing a lot, most of all food. There‘s no use going on a longer expedition now, especially since we would have to split up to keep this place safe.“ Makoto took the initiative while Ren was chewing. She was second-in-command for a reason. "The most important thing right now is to secure this place even further.“

Futaba chuckled "Leave that to me. I have the perfect plan.“

"Enlighten us then.“ Yusuke said.

"What if we put some high voltage to the gate. Oh, and we could do some barbed wire on top of the fence and make it shock too!!“ Futaba got excited.

"That sounds like it would take up a lot of energy….“ Haru said.

"If you think that the generator downstairs can take it...“ Ren said to Futaba.

"Any volunteers for first shifts?“ Makoto asked as she put her can away and got up.

"I‘ll go.“ Yusuke said.

"Me too.“ Futaba jumped up. "I call the roof look-out!“

"Very well, then I shall secure the other side.“ he got up and stretched his back.

"Wake someone if you need a replacement.“ Ren called after them as the two went upstairs. A few moments of silence passed as the group collectively looked at the fireplace. Ren quietly spoke up again "At this point, we‘re reduced to daily trips. It‘s too risky splitting up. We‘re not enough people.“

"As far as we saw, there should be plenty of deserted neighborhoods around. We just have to hope that they aren‘t looted clean already.“ Makoto said.

"We should looking around first thing tomorrow then.“ Morgana said.

"You‘re not wrong there. You, Ann, Ryuji, Haru and Futaba can go explore the neighborhood a bit.“ Ren said, much to Morganas distaste. The kid was infatuated with Ann, but as much as he adored „Lady Ann“, he detested Ryuji but those two would always come in a - strictl - professional pair. As Morgana glared at Ryuji, the blonde boy stuck out his tongue.

Ann rolled her eyes at the twos antics before looking at Ren "Sounds good. I‘m gonna go to bed then, I‘ll take Futabas shift when she‘s done. Good night everyone.“ she got up and waved as she left the living room.

"I think we should all go to bed. It‘s been a long time since we slept on a matress and there‘s a full day ahead tomorrow.“ Makoto said before rallying everyone out of the living room.

Since there were 4 rooms suitable for bedrooms, the group split up into pairs. Luckily, the house was equipped with many beds and sofas, so for the first time in a long time, everyone would have the chance to sleep on something cushioned. In the first floor-landing Makoto and Haru said their good-nights before walking to the left-hand hallway while the guys turned to the right. Since putting Ryuji and Morgana in one room was a homicide waiting to happen, Ren had agreed to share his room with the boy. As he sat down on his matress and took off his boots, he looked at the little kid. He was no more than 11 and the story of how they ended up together was a bizarre one, especially since this kid, who had named himself Morgana because he had no idea about his real name, had tried to teach him about surviving at first. He had always been an annoying know-it-all, but Ren also found him kind of endearing. He knew that beneath that cocky shell, Morgana was scared of being left alone again, so Ren had taken him in and made him a part of his family, that had only consisted of Sojiro and Futaba at that time. Sojiro. The thought of his father-figure laying dead somewhere in a crater was a horrible thought. But he knew him. Sojiro was smart and he could feel brewing trouble in his kneecap days before something actually happened. He was almost sure that Sojiro had gotten to safety in time before his little tavern got blown up. He just had to. He was also glad that Futaba was holding up alright under the circumstances.

“Good night, Joker!“ Morgana said as he laid down on his matress and blew out the candle. The room was dark and the only noise that could be heard was that of Yusukes carving knife steadily scraping at a piece of wood in his outlook next door.

The morning arrived and Ren awoke from a dreamless slumber. The best kind of sleep. As he looked across the room, he found Morgana gone from his bed already. Judging from the light flooding in, he must have slept pretty long. The advantages of having a safe place to sleep. As he slowly trodded downstairs, he could hear bustling in the kitchen. As he stepped in, he saw lively commotion as everyone was seated around a big table, cups in hand. It was incredible what a night of relaxed sleep could do. Everyone looked so much livelier all of a sudden. "Did everyone have a good night?“ Ren asked as he took a seat on a creaky chair.

"It was amazing! I slept like a rock, I almost didn‘t wake up for my shift.“ Ann yawned.

"I had to kick her!“ Futaba stated, looking equally refreshed.

"I can‘t wait to go out there!“ Morgana was almost jumping in his seat.

"Relax kid, we‘re just going to gather some stuff.“ Ryuji said, chewing on something.

Morgana wanted to say something in return but immediatly swallowed his tongue when Ann spoke up "He‘s right, this really won‘t be this exciting. But you could be a big help to us when there‘s a small hole to crawl into!“ she said sweetly and instantly had the kid wrapped around her finger.

"Of course, Lady Ann.“ he stammered.

After their quick breakfast round, the scavenging crew assembled around the gate to be boosted over and out into the dangerous world again. Ren just hoped that they would get the gate working soon. It seemed to be purely electrically-powered, there was no way to get it open. "For now, we should keep a low profile, we wouldn‘t want any enraged neighbors following us here. So, easy on the shotgun, Ryuji“ Ren said from the other side of the gate. They had also decided to leave Harus grenade launcher at the base. There was no scenario Ren could imagine that would call for a grenade launcher on a looting mission.

As the group of 5 walked off into the woods, Ann loudly debating over some comment from Ryuji and Morgana immediatly feeling the need to loudly defend her, Makoto turned over to Ren "Are you sure that it was a good idea to send them?“.

"Don‘t be fooled so easily.“ Ren said as he looked after the blonde heads disappearing. In a world where communication between settlements was hard, it was even more difficult to build up a reputation (if you ever wanted to have one), but somehow the two blondes had done just that. They had become widely known as some of the best scavengers. They knew how to find the good stuff and as their reputation went, they never disappointed, no matter how coveted the item was. The method was simple. Seeing a blonde girl, armed with a whip, looting a house, noone ever saw a huge danger there, but wherever that blonde girl was, the blonde boy wasn‘t far and he screamed danger from a mile away. But they did well with concealing his presence until it was time for the trap to snap shut. Not that Ann herself wasn‘t deadly too, be it with her whip or with a gun.

"I guess you‘re right.. sometimes it‘s just easy to forget the fact that these two can be quiet….“ Makoto sighed.

"I have to agree. We should enjoy the moment of peace and quiet.“ Yusuke agreed.

"If by "enjoy“ you mean cleaning out the basement, I agree!“ Ren grinned.

The group of 5 wandered through the woods, stepping over broken branches. When you want to stay hidden, it was best to avoid the streets. Ann and Ryuji took the front, Futaba and Morgana made the middle and Haru built the rear. All of them had either backpacks or other big bags with them. In addition, Morgana was still carrying his slingshot (as always), Ryuji had his shotgun slung over his bag and Ann carried a pistol and her whip at her hip. It wasn‘t a long march until they arrived at the back of a cul-de-sac. While their march consisted of bantering and joking (mostly by Ann and Ryuji and occasionally Futaba), all of a sudden the two blondes switched into serious-mode. As they arrived at the back of one of the houses, it only needed a flick of the head from Ann for Ryuji to understand. He put his back against the wall and locked his hands. As Ann put her foot into his hands, he threw her up to the ledge of the roof. Graceful like an acrobat, Ann grabbed the ledge mid-air and silently pulled herself up. As she crouched on the roof, surveying the cul-de-sac, Ryuji tossed her the binoculars that he carried in his backpack. Ann caught them single-handed and without looking. The rest of the party stood there and watched in awe. It was hard to believe that the two people that argued the most - aside from Morgana and Ryuji - understood each other without words.

The others stood around for a few minutes until Ann appeared on the edge of the roof again. It was a one-story house, so after hanging from the edge of the roof again, she dropped to the ground. "Looks like there‘s noone around.“ Ann said.

"See anything interesting?“ Ryuji asked.

"There‘s a big mansion on the other side. Hard to tell if someones been in there already, but I‘d say it‘s a good place to start.“ Ann said.

The others nodded before they walked towards the biggest house on the street. On their way there, Futaba got interested in the smaller house besides it. "You go look at the big one, I‘ll check this out.“ she stated.

"I‘ll come with you.“ Haru said, giving the others a reassuring nod. It had taken a long time for Futaba to actually go out and for her to take the initiative to explore on her own was something rather new.

"Okay, but be careful! Yell if you need something.“ Ann ordered when they split up.

As they arrived at the front door, it came to no surprise that it was locked. It still never hurt to try.

"Leave it to me.“ Ryuji was confident as he stepped up and raised his foot to kick the door in.

Ann shot him an annoyed look when after a loud „Bang“ the door was still closed and Ryuji hopped on one leg, grunting and cursing in pain. "You moron... When has this ever worked?“ she sighed.

Morgana sighed "You‘re pathetic...“. Ryuji seemed unable to answer at the moment. "I‘ll save the day.“ the kid boasted before crawling in through a narrow window. Moments later, the front door swung open.

"Good job Morgana.“ Ann smiled before stepping in, Ryuji walking in short after.

"Yeah.. nice one.“ the blonde boy had to admit.

The group of three looked around the house. There seemed to be missing a lot already, but they still managed to find a few useful things to stuff into their bags. After finishing the first floor, the met up in the hall again.

"I wanna take a look into the basement. Maybe there‘s some barbed wire we could use for the fence.“ Ryuji said.

Ann and Morgana nodded and dropped their already heavy bags onto the floor to have some more agility for their walk downstairs. The cellar was pitch dark and huge, as they discovered. Ann and Ryuji both had flashlights with them, so they decided to split up. Of course Morgana decided to go with Ann.

The cellar was labyrinthine so the two parties lost sight of each other rather quick. It smelled damp and occasionally, there were some strange sounds to be heard. Ryuji was searching through a few boxes when he suddenly heard a gurgling sound behind him. "Very funny Morgana.“ he sighed while continuing to search, eventually stumbling over a spool of barbed wire. He grinned in triumph as he picked it up. When he turned around to walk back to the staircase, he found himself staring into yellow eyes. The creatures face reminded Ryuji of a horse, its body looked almost human with pitch-black skin, covered by a red cloak. On its head, the shadow wore a huge hat with long black frills dangling all around the rim. It was an entire head taller than the blonde boy. "Um… guys!“ Ryuji called out, reaching for the shotgun that was strapped to his back. The corridor was narrow, so he was able to get in really close to his opponent. The barrel almost touched the shadows chest when he prepared for the deafening sound as he pulled the trigger. It didn‘t seem to do a lot of damage, but the shadow staggered and offered an opening for him to slip through. Ryuji started to run, but not before grabbing the spool of barbed wire. With shotgun in one hand and barbed wire and flashlight in the other, he sprinted along the narrow corridor. He could see the faint daylight coming from the staircase when Ann and Morgana appeared. When Ryuji heard Ann shriek, he figured that the shadow wasn‘t far behind him.

"Run!“ she unneccessarily called out to him while Morgana pulled out his slingshot, loading it with a pebble from the pouch on his hip. Since Ryuji was running towards them, it was too dangerous for Ann to shoot at the shadow with her pistol.

Morgana took a deep breath as he aimed at the shadows head before he let loose. Ryuji was able to duck in the right moment, letting the pebble travel to its destination, square into the shadows gleaming eye. The kid let out a small cheer when the creature staggered in surprise and tripped to the floor.

"Go! Go! Go!“ Ryuji barked as he caught up to them and together they scrambled up the stairs and slammed the door shut.

"Good job, Morgana.“ Ryuji panted.

"That was a really good shot!“ Ann agreed, leaning against the cellar door.

Morgana himself couldn‘t believe how acurate his shot just was "It‘s almost scary how good I am.“ he said, partly boasting and partly confused.

"Don‘t ruin it...“ Ryuji sighed.

"I've never seen a shadow like this before... What the hell was that thing?“ Ann asked.

"I have no idea, but I definitly don‘t wanna run across it again...“ Ryuji said.

"But... If a shadow was in here…“ Morgana sounded scared all of a sudden.

Ann and Ryuji shared a shocked look before Ann finished the kids thought "Futaba and Haru!“. The three burst through the door and sprinted towards the neighbouring house. They had almost reached the porch when the door flew open and Futaba and Haru emerged, their bags and hands full, followed by another shadow-creature.

"Get back, we got this!“ Ann said as she rushed ahead, unbuckling the whip from her belt. As she got into range, she swung wide and sent the tail of her whip flying and slashed across the shadows chest. The shadow staggered, which was the right moment for Ryuji to run up and deliver two blows with his metal pipe. When the shadow went down, Ann and Ryuji went in with combined forces and delivered the finishing blows with their melee-weapons. As the shadow dissolved in front of their eyes, the two blondes took a deep breath and shared a high-five.

"Nice one, Panther.“ Ryuji grinned, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Looks like we still got it, Skull.“ Ann winked while putting away her whip.

"That thing came out of nowhere!“ Futaba exclaimed.

"There was another one in our cellar too.“ Morgana reported.

"I say that we get out of here.“ Haru said, nervously looking around the street.

"I second that.“ Futaba said.

"Sure, we just have to get our bags from inside the house again.“ Ann said.

"Oh right, my barbed wire.“ Ryuji recalled.

Luckily, the shadow from the cellar remained down there and the three were able to reclaim their bags without problems.

"That was more stressful than anticipated...“ Ann sighed as they wandered homewards.

"I wanna lay down..“ Futaba whined.

"I just hope that nothing follows us home...“ Haru voiced her concern.

"With those walls… I‘m sure we‘re safe.“ Ryuji said.

"Especially now that Ryuji found the barbed wire.“ Futaba cackled „I say, we wrap some of it around the gates too.“

"You‘re scary when you talk like that...“ Morgana noted.

"Muehehehe“ Futaba laughed menacingly at Morgana before messing with his hair.

"Hey!“ the boy exclaimed.

Back at the base, Makoto, Ren and Yusuke were relaxing in the front yard while waiting for the rest of the group to return. Makoto was sitting on a bench with a book in hand, Yusuke was sitting and sketching something while Ren was dozing in the grass, the sun shining on his face.

The dark-haired teenager opened his eyes when he thought he heard something. When he turned his head to face the others, he figured that they must have heard it too. He sat up and strained his ears. It was a high-pitched voice, most likely a child, that yelled "Stop messing with my hair all the time! I shot a shadow today, you know?“. He saw how Makoto and Yusuke exchanged a confused look. There was some mumbling followed by another outcry from the childish voice "The one in the cellar! I shot it straight in the eye!“. This time, they all could hear who answered "Dude, that was a lucky shot.“. It sounded awfully much like Ryuji. "What impudence!“ Ren was pretty sure now that the high voice was Morgana "Lady Ann saw it too.“. They must have come closer to the walls, for they now all heard Anns voice clearly "I did… but you have to admit that you were pretty surprised yourself...“. The rest was an incomprehensible studdering and screeching from the boy.

Yusuke reluctantly got up "I guess our break is over.“

Makoto put down her book and massaged her temples "Is this what it‘s like to have kids?“

Ren got up from the ground "And still you love them.“ he smirked.

"Hm… so it is like having kids...“ Yusuke said.

"I‘m not saying that we‘re like a family for no reason, you know?“ Ren grinned "Now come on, I‘m sure Morgana wants to tell us all about the shadow he hit in the face. Besides, we shouldn‘t forget that Haru is with them too and she‘s something like the fun aunt.“

Makoto and Yusuke shared a look before getting up with a reluctant smile. They all knew that while they liked to complain and claim that having the house quiet and all to themselves was nice, they could never imagine living like this all the time. Because sometimes it took your mind off of things listening to Ann and Ryuji shit-talk and fake-argument each other, or watch Futaba ramble over some action-figures that she found or wished to find someday or pretending to listen to Morganas survival tips and honor codes, that would change every few weeks. Ren always preached that this was a family and like family, they all could annoy each other like crazy but in the end of the day, they were still in this together and there was no doubt about it, that they would always be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end thoughts: The whole situation and a bit of the back story will become clearer over time but I don't want to describe the scenery for pages because it would feel rather boring to me personally. I really enjoy the dynamic of the whole group, so there will be a lot of conversations:) As you might have already noticed, this won't be focused on Ren entirely because I intend to give every Phantom Thief some spotlight along the chapters and maybe create some moments of friendship in constellations that might not have been this prominent in the game itself.  
> But enough for now, thank you so much for reading! Next chapter, we will dive into the Kamoshida-Arc!


	2. King Kamoshida of Destinyland

"Open sesame!“ Futaba dramatically anounced before flipping one of the light switches in the living room. Nothing happened.

"Um… What are we supposed to see?“ Ren asked.

"Not in here…“ Futaba rolled her eyes before she pointed outside.

Yususke, who stood closest to a window, peeked out of the slit "Huh… the gate opened.“. Futaba faced the group to receive a round of aplause.

Ann stepped up to take a look too before sighing "Aaaand we‘ve got a visitor...“. Indeed, a scrawny teenager had taken the opportunity to enter during the festive revival of the gate. There was no weapon visible on him and over all, he didn‘t look like he either had the guts or the plan to rob them. He also didn‘t look like a decoy.

Ren shrugged "Maybe he just wants to join the party. Ryuji, why don‘t you go and say Hi?“.

Ryuji grinned as he grabbed his shotgun while the rest gathered around the windows to watch the spectacle. In a place where entertainment was rare, you came to appreciate the little things. Ryuji didn‘t hold back as he burst through the door, approaching the intruder with large strides, shotgun drawn and pointed at the boy who immediatly turned pale and dropped to his knees "Please don‘t shoot! I come in peace!“ he whined.

"How boring...“ Haru sighed and stepped away from the window.

"That was truly anticlimactic...“ Yusuke agreed.

"Ugh, can‘t believe that this guy ruined my big presentation...“ Futaba muttered before flipping the switch again. Outside, the boy let out another panicked squeak as he heard the gate shutting behind him.

"Okay, that‘s enough, let‘s get him out of his misery.“ Makoto said, leading the way outside, followed by the rest. As they gathered behind Ryuji, he took down his shotgun.

The stranger nervously dared to look up at the others, eventually looking at Ann with a mixture of fear and surprise. His focus darted inbetween Ann and Ryuji for a few moments before he exclaimed "No way… Panther and Skull?“.

"Look at you, popular even here.“ Ren said, clapping Ryuji on the back.

"Do we know you?“ Ann furrowed her brow.

The boy sputtered something incomprehensible before saying "My parents are traders and we had a route to your settlement..“ he was still shaking, his hands raised above his head.

"Please, get up. We won‘t hurt you.“ Makoto interrupted the reunion, uncomfortable with the thought that they were still holding him at gunpoint.

The boy slowly got back up to his feet and dusted off his pants "Thank you… My name is Mishima.“

"What brings you here, Mishima? How did you find us?“ Ren asked as he lead him inside the house and into the living room.

"I didn‘t.. I just saw the gate open and hoped that you weren‘t bandits...“ he studdered.

"Lucky you...“ Ryuji said.

"I… need help!“ Mishima found his voice. It almost sounded like a demand.

"Help with what?“ Haru asked.

"Have… you ever heard of a man named Kamoshida?“ Mishima swallowed hard. Speaking the name alone seemed to make him scared again.

Makoto pondered while Ann and Ryuji exchanged a look. The rest of the group shook their heads. "Wasn‘t he celebrated as a hero when he freed that settlement a few years ago?“ Makoto asked.

Ryuji made a deprecating noise "Yeah right...“

"He used to come to our settlement and offer teenagers like us a job somewhere...“ Ann remembered, her eyes looking troubled.

"That‘s his scheme…“ Mishima muttered "he offers teenagers a chance to support their families. He lies to their parents faces and tells them that he would take good care of us. And when you go with him, you actually believe it. But then you‘re at his "Castle“ and...“

An uncomfortable silence fell on the room as noone dared to speak.

"What jobs does he make you do?“ Makoto finally asked. If this had been a normal world, she would have been a great detective.

"The boys… he just puts them in his personal "army“. Guard duties, standing watch at the gate. Everyone who doesn‘t obey gets a beating or a few hours in his dungeon.... But the girls...“ he shivered and everyone knew what he meant.

"Why aren‘t their parents doing anything about it? Does noone tell them what he‘s doing to you?“ Haru asked.

"Along with sending the money, he makes us write letters every month, claiming that everything is fine. Since the location of his "Castle“ isn‘t officially known to the public, there also isn‘t a chance for anyone to come looking.“ Mishima explained.

"That sounds horrible...“ Yusuke said.

"It truly does… But you are here now. How did you escape?“ Makoto asked, a finger placed on her chin in thought.

"I… ran...“ the scrawny teenager answered. He seemed almost embarassed.

"And noone stopped you? Are there no measures to… keep you there?“ Ren asked, confused. The guy in front of him didn‘t really strike him as someone who punched his way out of tough situations.

"I ran when it was my turn to guard the gate...“ he whispered. "There‘s not really anything "holding“ you there per se. Every newcomer wants to leave again after a few days. But then… he has "a talk“ with them… in his office.“

"What happens during that talk?“ Makoto dug deeper and Mishima squirmed.

"I don‘t know about the others.. but he told me, that if I left, my parents would be disappointed and wouldn‘t be able to survive anymore. He constantly tells us how everyting turned horrible on the outside, how life got more and more dangerous for our families. He‘s the only one who leaves...“

"So… he leaves you alone at his place and noone had the idea to… I dunno… riot or something?“ Ryuji asked, disbelieving.

"Everyone is too scared, that what he says is true. That their families are doomed without their support. So… everyone just endures it...“ Mishima looked at the floor, ashamed.

"You said you needed help… Help with what?“ Yusuke asked after a moment.

"I want to take him down.“ Mishima whispered. Everyone exchanged a confused look.

"That‘s.. very noble.. but we‘re not mercenaries… Nor heroes… or whatever...“ Ren said, perplexed. They were just a group of survivors, travelling together, having each others backs. They weren‘t an army. Hell, Ryuji only had a shotgun to hide the fact that he couldn‘t aim if his life depended on it. They knew how to defend themselves, if the need ever arose, but they had no idea on how to storm a "castle“. He looked around the group, they all looked horrified by Mishimas story.

Futaba had been awfully quiet. She wasn‘t too good with talking to strangers. She leaned over to whisper to Ren "This is like a video game. He‘s an NPC that gives us a quest.“.

Ren turned his head towards her and whispered back "I think we’re lacking the stats though...“.

"But the EXP!“ Futaba whispered back.

"But.. you have guns! That‘s all it takes!“ Mishima argued.

"You said that his guards are innocent teenagers who don‘t want to do any of this. You can‘t be asking us to go in there, guns blazing.“ Yusuke said.

"No! But… please…“ Mishima was still begging, grasping for straws "What if you had a friend in there?“. He fixed his stare on Ann, who looked back at him in confusion. "There‘s a girl… she‘s from your settlement. She… has a bad knee...“.

The color drained from Anns face within a second. "Shiho….?“ she whispered.

Mishima nodded "She‘s one of Kamoshidas favourites….“.

"Shit...“ Ryuji muttered.

Haru stepped up to Ann and placed her hand on her upper arm but before she could say something, Ann took a step a back "I… need a moment...“ she muttered before quickly exiting the living room, leaving the rest of the group standing in confusion.

Ren looked at Ryuji "Skull, can you fill us in?“

"It‘s a long one, so get comfortable...“ he sighed before making the first move, dropping down on a sofa. "Back at the settlement… Kamoshida would come by every few weeks, talking to kids, teenagers.. trying to convince them to come with him, offering them opportunities to support their families. All the parents completely freaked out at the prospect of their kid going with the „Great Kamoshida“. I never liked him, he always struck me as a pervert, leering after girls. But some of them really mistook that for flirting or something…“ Ryuji started. "He always was obsessed with Ann. Whenever he was on one of his visits, he would go around asking for her and shit. He would talk her up, try to convince her to come with him. His scam never worked on her though, we already had our "jobs“ so his whole "support your family“-crap didn‘t work. He always kept asking her though, trying to catch her when she was alone...“

Ren noticed how the veins on Ryujis neck started to pop out. The blonde boy got angry only talking about it. Ryuji and Ann had known each other for ever. They grew up in the same street. They went to school, learned to fight and built up an image together. Their nicknames: Panther and Skull. Panther, for Ann was swift like a cat. Ren had never seen someone walk so quiet – when she wanted to. And Skull, cause Ryuji cracked them. Sometimes, the two still acted like little kids bickering over a toy, but when push came to shove, they almost acted as one person. They would never say it out loud, but they would take a bullet for each other.

"And this Shiho?“ Yusuke asked

"She lived in the same settlement, went to school with us. But like Mishima said, she has a bad knee. An injury from her childhood that never fully healed. Her and Ann were pretty good friends.“

"Kamoshida… he wants to see her almost every day.“ Mishima studdered. None of them dared to ask what that meant.

An uncomfortable silence spread before the front door flew open and Ann reentered. There was an almost scary determination in her eyes when she said "I‘m gonna help you.“. When everyone stared at her, she continued "I‘m going in.“

„No you‘re not!“ Ryuji sputtered dumbfoundedly.

"Yes, I am.“ she looked into the others surprised faces "I‘ll go, no matter what you say.“

Ren took a deep breath before admitting "Going in undercover could be the only way...“.

"You can‘t be serious.“ Ryuji glared at him "We‘ve never sent anyone alone and unarmed!“

"If this man truly is so infatuated with her, he‘s likely to let down his guard...“ Yusuke said.

"He won’t suspect a thing if I go alone.” Ann continued, her eyes ablaze with determination.

Makoto looked conflicted "I mean… if this is what Ann wants to do...“ she heavy-heartedly said. She knew the girl well enough to know that nothing they said would make any difference.

Ann nodded before saying "Okay. I‘ll go get prepared. Mishima, we leave in an hour.“ she didn‘t wait for a response when she turned on her heel and walked upstairs.

Ryujis mouth was agape when he stared after her.

"What if something happens to her?!“ Morganas voice was shrill and panicked.

"Damn it!“ Ryuji cursed through gritted teeth.

Ren looked around the room before saying "We won‘t let her go alone. Ryuji and I will wait and try to intervene if things go wrong...“

"DAMMIT!“ Ryuji cursed once more before stomping out of the living room, but not before giving the wall a good punch.

The rest of the group stared at the hole his fist left behind. Haru nervously giggled before saying „Guess Kamoshida can count himself lucky that it‘s not Ryuji going in.“

Upstairs, Ryuji took three deep breaths before knocking on Anns door. Two times short, one time long. It had been their secret knock since they were kids and when life hadn‘t been so serious. He heard a muffled "Come in.“ from the inside.

Ann was standing in front of a dresser. She had traded her cargo pants for a pair of hotpants that she had found in the drawer. Her hair was bound into twin tails as oposed to her usual ponytail with braids at the side of her head.

"Pig tails, huh...“ Ryuji muttered.

Ann rolled her eyes "Quit mocking me. He‘s a perv and he needs to think that I need his help.“

"And how will you do that with your horrible acting?“

"Did you just come here to insult me or is there something else?“ Ann said, annoyed.

"This is a suicide mission and you know it.“

"You heard Mishima, we can‘t just go and assault all these kids. They‘re just threatened into obeying.“

"So what, you‘re just gonna go there, bat your lashes and then what? Whaddaya gonna do when you‘re in?“

"I‘m gonna kill him.“ The cold in Anns voice left no doubt.

"How? You won‘t have a gun with you.“

"I‘m gonna think of something. There must be a gun laying around.“ Ann shrugged.

Ryuji snorted "For real? That‘s what you‘re betting on?“

"What‘s your problem, Ryuji? At least I‘m doing something!“ she said angrily.

"I promised your parents that I would keep you safe and you decide to march into that pervert Kamoshidas place in hotpants and without a gun!“ he spat.

"Oh please, leave the promise you made to my dead parents out of the game and just admit that YOU are worried about me.“ Ann hissed.

They continued to stare at each other, none of them wanting to admit defeat by looking away, before Ryuji muttered "Of course I‘m worried about you.“

Anns gaze immediatly softened "I know..“ she chewed her lip before continuing "I just feel so horrible thinking about all these people, enduring everything that this asshole puts them through just because they want their families to be safe. And Shiho...“ she leaned against the dresser "Do you think that… we would be at Kamoshidas place now too, if everything would have been different?“

Ryuji shrugged as he walked over to her and leaned beside her "I dunno…“

"Me neither...“ Ann said "and that scares me..“

Ryuji sighed "Just… be careful in there, okay?“

She nodded "I will.“

He rummaged around in his pockets before pulling out a small switchblade "And at least take this.“

Ann gave him a weak smile before taking the knife from his hand "Thanks.“. She pushed herself away from the dresser and turned around to look at him "We should get going.“.

Ryuji nodded and followed her to the door. As Ann opened it, Morgana, who had had his ear against the door until now, lost his footing and fell towards them. Ann furrowed her brow before looking into the hall to find the rest of the group, trying to act as busy as one could be in an empty hallway.

"Seriously…?“ Ann sighed and shook her head.

"Oh.. didn‘t see you there...“ Ren feigned innocence although he had to admit that most of the others did a very bad job at looking occupied. Makoto looked as if she wanted to hide behind a book, Haru pretended to inspect a long-dead plant, Futaba stared head-on at the opposite wall and Yusuke had put on a thinker-pose, staring off into the distance, and that could still seem the most likeable, because the lanky artist tended to do things like that.

Morgana used the time to scramble backwards and quickly get up "Lady Ann! I didn‘t peek, I swear!“

Ann decided to not pay attention to any of this. "We should get going.“ she said as she walked past everyone.

Ryuji remained standing in the doorframe for a little longer before muttering "You all suck at acting...“. He shook his head before heading downstairs as well.

"This went smoothly...“ Yusuke said.

"Not really...“ Makoto answered before putting the book away.

"It was Mona who did the worst, though...“ Futaba teased, much to the kids dismay.

They gathered downstairs, Ryuji and Ren equipped with their weapons of choice. After some consideration they decided to arm Mishima with one of the guns they had looted the days before. He looked much too scared to stab them in the back… Or to stab anything, for that matter, but who knew.. And so the four of them set out on a journey to find Kamoshidas so-called "castle“, while the rest of the group stayed behind to guard their home-base.

They had marched for hours when Mishima told them that they were close. They decided to set up camp and rest over night before Ann would approach the castle on her own the next day. They sky was clear as they set up their sleeping bags a little farther inside the woods. They shared something to eat while a small fire was burning in the middle, giving off a bit of heat.

Ann had been quiet for almost the entire walk. After dinner, she sat on her sleeping bag, staring into the flames.

“We’re going to stop him.” Ren said.

Ann looked like someone had just shaken her awake “...Yeah...”

“Have you been friends for long?” Ren asked.

The blonde girl smiled “A couple of years… It was the last year that I went to school, when she walked up to me and told me that my drawing sucked.” she snorted “That… was kind of the start to our friendship. She was the first girl who wanted to be my friend… It was really new.”

Mishima looked surprised “But… weren’t you popular?”

“People liked us for our skills. As soon as the job was done, they’d send us on our way again. As for the other teenagers in our settlement… They always resented me for some reason. Me suddenly getting special treatment by the council didn’t make them like me more.” Ann sighed, poking the fire with a twig.

“I had no idea…” Mishima said.

“It’s okay. I’d rather have few real friends than many fake.” Ann said before throwing the stick away and crawling into her sleeping bag.

As Ann closed her eyes, Ryuji returned from his round around the woods. Ren couldn’t fail to notice the slight unease and worry in his look, that had followed him along their walk. The blonde boy dropped down beside the fire. “What are we up against tomorrow?” he quietly asked, poking the fire with a stick, just like Ann had only a few moments ago.

“Well… there’s guards along the castle wall, but they are mostly there for intimidation… Kamoshida… likes to deal with intruders himself, so they won’t shoot.” Mishima replied.

“What an asshole...” Ryuji muttered, his gaze occasionally darting to Ann, who was already fast asleep.

“Once we are in.. we shouldn’t have much of a problem. I will handle the talking. If they realize that we are here to end Kamoshida… they surely won’t cause us any trouble.” Mishima said.

“That’s good to know.” Ren said. “We should get some rest. I’ll take first guard.”

The next day arrived and after a quiet breakfast, the four packed up camp. The guys decided to pull back into the woods and try to get a look at the place from another angle. Everything would be lost if someone realized that Ann hadn‘t come alone.

Ann tried not to show it, but the closer they got, the more nervous she became. When they parted ways, Ryuji gave her a reassuring nod before walking off into the forest with the other two guys. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves down before continuing to walk. Shiho… She was one of the only girls that she had gotten along with. She had always been something of an outsider in their settlement. At school, everyone had looked at her like she was some mutant with her blonde hair. But Shiho had actually talked to her and then became her friend. Shiho had always struggled with the fact that she wasn‘t able to help out as much as the others due to her knee-injury. When they had reached an age where their help was expected, Shiho had had a lot of panic attacks. It made Ann furious to think that that asshole Kamoshida used her insecurities to lure her into his disgusting trap. She remembered talking to Shiho about him once, telling her how creepy he behaved towards her. She wondered how desperate Shiho must have been to agree to go with him. It had been about two years since her and Ryuji had left their settlement for good. Had her leave something to do with Shihos change of mind? She forced herself to take another deep breath when the road opened up and she stood in front of a huge archway reading "Destinyland“. She would only know what that used to be from stories. An old amusement park. Nothing here worked anymore. It was a ghost-town on its own, so close to the biggest ghost town of them all: Tokyo. When Mishima talked about Kamoshidas place as his "Castle“, it wasn‘t even a metaphore. It really was a replica of some fairytale-castle. When she squinted down the main road of the amusement park, she could see a few guards encamped on the castle wall. It was incredible how a slave pen could be hidden in such plain sight. It didn‘t look like the best-guarded - which made sense if all its guards really were teenagers. She cast a nervous glance to her right, trying to see if she spotted the others. It probably was for the better that she didn‘t. She knew that they would never leave her. They must have found a good spot to hide and watch. She gathered all her strength before putting on her most helpless face and starting to drag herself towards the gates.

As she approached, she heard a rifle being loaded and some nervous bustling. From the sound of it, the guy operating the rifle didn‘t have a lot of experience with it, for it sounded like he needed a few attempts to get the bullets in.

"Stop right there!“ the voice tried hard to sound demanding but failed miserably.

Ann acted like she was out of breath before saying "Please… Is Mr. Kamoshida here?“. The guard eyed her curiously now. "I… wanna take him up on his offer...“ even though it was a lie, the words didn‘t come easy to her when everything inside her was revolting.

In the meantime, the guy with the rifle had turned over to one of his colleagues, whispering something to him.

A few gruesome moments passed before the king of the castle emerged from the castle gate. Only looking at him made her want to gag. She immediatly remembered that time where he had creeped up on her in one of the side-alleys, trapping her with her back to a wall. " _Be careful not to work your beautiful body down to the bone...“_ he had told her and immediatly a shiver had run down her spine. Luckily, Ryuji had walked by and called for her so she could make an escape. Ryuji would never admit it, but she had noticed that from then on, he had always made sure to stick with her whenever they knew that Kamoshida was somewhere around. She knew that Ryuji and the others weren‘t far, and still, she felt terribly alone as she stood in front of Kamoshida, whose aura hadn‘t changed over the last year. _Do it for Shiho._ Ann told herself before pushing down the urge to put on a defiant face in front of him. Defiance wouldn‘t get her in. Obedience would.

"Ann Takamaki. A sight for sore eyes, as always.“ Kamoshidas voice was raspy.

"Thank you, Mr. Kamoshida“ Ann kept her eyes on the ground, partly to look helpless and obedient, partly to hide her eyes in fear that they could show the hatred she felt for this man.

"My guy here tells me that you changed your mind about my offer from all those years ago.“ his grin looked evil.

"Yes...“ Ann said.

"Well, well, well… I hope you know that I can‘t just take everyone. First, we need to have a chat. Let‘s go to my office.“

Ann noticed how the guards eyes went wide when Kamoshida talked about his office. She figured that she was walking into the room of horrors now. Suddenly her belief of just finding a gun laying around to kill him with sounded incredibly stupid. But she guessed that it must have sounded like that from the beginning. Damn her impulsiveness… Kamoshida led her through the hallways of the castle, that was in surprisingly good shape. Ann wondered how hard it would be to free everyone from this labyrinth of a place. Before she knew it, Kamoshida walked her into a room. There was an office desk with a creaky looking chair beside it. In the corner was a middle-sized bed with the most out-of-place red satin-sheets Ann had ever seen. Only the looks of it gave her the creeps all over. She quickly looked at the desk and noticed a battery-powered cd-player. It must have been months since she got to hear music the last time. _I‘m gonna take this home._ The sudden flash of wit surprised her.

Kamoshida had no intention of sitting down, instead he kept circling her, his eyes running her up and down. She started to regret putting on the hotpants.

"I was sad when I heard that you left the settlement for good.“ he said, a hand placed on her back "Did you come to your senses that this bow-legged idiot can‘t protect you?“

Ann swallowed before answering "I was stupid to believe that I could survive on my own.“.

"Oh my… Did you end up all alone?“ Kamoshidas hand slowly wandered down to the small of her back. "I would have never done that to you.“

"I know… That‘s why I came looking for you...“ Ann said.

"You know… I don‘t like being rejected… So, you‘re putting me in quite the situation here.“ his hand was about to wander again. Ann just hoped that he wouldn‘t notice Ryujis switchblade in her pocket.

"Please, Mr Kamoshida. You‘re the only one I have...“ Ann even managed to press out a tear. She needed to rub it into Ryujis face later, since he always told her how bad she was at acting.

"Well then, Ann… I hope that you‘re willing to show me how much you want to be here.“ his hand was on her hip now and before she knew it, he had pinned her against the stone-wall, his face only inches apart from hers. "If you try hard enough, I might even forget about asking how you knew where to find me.". A menacing grin spread on his face. When she tried to wiggle free of his grasp, he pressed his lower arm against her windpipe to stop her from moving. The scream for help was caught in her throat.

Outside, Ryuji was nervously pacing up and down "It‘s been far too long! Nothing's happening. Wouldn‘t they be freaking out if he was dead?“

Ren pondered for a moment before saying "You think she‘s in trouble?“. After crawling through a hole in the fence, they had found an easy-to-climb concession stand where they had been able to watch Ann disappearing into the castle with Kamoshida about 10 minutes ago. About 9 minutes ago, Ryuji had jumped down the shack and started pacing.

"I think he‘s an asshole and he doesn‘t waste time.“ Ryuji answered through gritted teeth, absentmindedly kneeding his left thigh. As they were waiting, Mishima had told them that there was a huge dungeon underground with prison cells where he would torture the disobedient. Another part of the dungeon was where most of the girls were held.

Ren eyed the blonde boys behaviour with suspicion before asking "Everything okay with your leg, man?“. It wasn‘t uncommon for his leg to act up after running, but so far, they‘ve only been walking.

Ryuji waved it aside "It‘s nothing…“. But Ren kept staring his doubtful stare until the boy sighed "Fine… But you can‘t tell anyone. Especially not Ann.“

Ren and Mishima looked confused but nodded.

"One time, Kamoshida and I ran into each other on the street and he started shittalking me in front of everyone.“ Ryuji looked uncomfortable telling this story. "Anyway, we got into a fight when I followed him into a back-alley to call him out on everything… and he beat me up real good… I think he almost broke my leg in two.“ he sighed "So now you know. My leg’s fucked up because of this asshole. Pretty embarassing, huh?” The blonde boy rubbed the back of his neck. "The worst part about it was, that he then went on and told the entire settlement about how I assaulted him and that he demanded retribution. He denied some of the kids who wanted to join him, so you can imagine how mad they were… He knew that I have a short fuse and he used it. He provoked me, because he knew that I would snap.“

"And Ann doesn‘t know?“ Ren asked.

"I don‘t remember why, but she wasn‘t there that day… I obviously couldn‘t cover up the fact that my leg was fucked up, so I told her that I fell from a roof...“ Ryuji sternly shook his head "It‘s better that she doesn‘t know. She’d just freak out and yell at me for doing something stupid.“ he rubbed the back of his neck "Seems like I do the same.. I‘m sure she‘s done a thousand things that I would freak out about too. That‘s just how we work.“ Ryuji shrugged before he took the shotgun off his back and loaded it. "If you don‘t want anyone to die, you should come and hold me back if those assholes don‘t cooperate.“ he said before walking towards the main-gate.

Mishima cast a scared glance at Ren, who gave him a shrug "You heard him… It‘s actually pretty impressive that he was able to wait here for more than 10 minutes...“ Ren jumped down and followed his friend, unholstering his gun on the way.

When the guard noticed Ryuji and Ren approaching, he almost dropped the rifle. That was all Ryuji needed to get up to him and hold his shotgun to the guys face "Where‘s Kamoshida!“ It wasn‘t even a question. The boy in front of him was about their age and looked pale as a sheet. He seemed so scared, that he was unable to speak. Ryuji took him by the shirt with one hand and shook him "I swear, I‘ll break your nose if you don‘t start talking.“.

While Ryuji was interogating the guy, Mishima caught up to them. When Mishima noticed what was going on, he asked "Is he in his office?“. The guy nodded.

"Do you know where it is?“ Ren asked Mishima. He nodded. "Okay, Ryuji, let him go. I think he‘ll have a heart-attack if you keep that barrel pointed at him.“ Ren said while picking the rifle off the ground. It was a good one. It would have been a shame to leave it here with all those guys who didn‘t know how to use it.

Ryuji hesitantly took down his weapon before warning "If you follow us or tell the others….“ he didn‘t even need to continue for the boy vigorously started to nod. He shoved the teenage boy away before marching inside with the others.

"What the hell even is this place?“ Ryuji said as they walked down one of the castles high hallways.

"I have no idea, but I‘m kinda jealous...“ Ren muttered. When he heard something bustling behind them, he tried to turn around. Before he realized what was going on, something hard hit him in the back of the head. The last thing he heard was Ryuji cursing as Ren was buckling over and collapsing to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter was to get a feel for the world, but now it's time to push forward the story. And even without the Metaverse, Kamoshida has a castle.:) I hope the story is able to captivate (I've never written anything this story-driven, let alone an entire alternate universe) and I hope you'll come back to read the conclusion:)
> 
> Since in this story, the Phantom Thieves are already together from the start, there will be additional chapters that shed some light onto how the individual members came to end up with Ren and a bit more about their backstories. I'll just sprinkle those in, as I see fit ;)


	3. Chain the Unchained, Unchain the Chained

Ren was woken up by the rattling of chains. His head was ringing already and the additional noise made him feel like his head was about to burst. He slowly opened his eyes to scan his surroundings. Mishima wasn‘t wrong, they were in a legit dungeon. He noticed Ryuji slumped against the opposite wall, shaking the chains that were hanging from the wall.

"Good, you‘re up.“ Ryuji said when he noticed Ren opening his eyes.

"Kinda hard to sleep with all that ruckus..“ Ren answered, noticing that they weren‘t chained. Beside him, Mishima started to groan, clutching his head.

"Innocent and scared teenagers my ass, those bastards snuck up on us.“ Ryuji cursed, holding the back of his head.

"They must have seen their chance to earn Kamoshidas favour.“ Mishima whimpered.

"Eff that. We‘re getting out of here.“ Ryuji cursed as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Not so fast.“ they heard a voice booming before Kamoshida himself appeared in front of the cell. One of his guards opened the door for him.

"If that isn‘t Sakamoto. Haven‘t I told you that you‘re dead the next time I see your ugly face?“ the man asked as he stepped up to Ryuji, followed by a flood of guards that split up to keep all three prisoners in check.

"And haven‘t I told you to stop ruining kids lifes?“ Ryuji spat back.

"Ruining? Me?“ Kamoshida laughed "Why, I‘m just giving all of these kids a chance.“

"You don‘t give them a chance!“ Mishima spoke up "You torture and harass us!”

Kamoshidas head snapped around to look at the blue-haired boy "Now, now, the traitor dares to speak up too? A piece of advice for you. Next time you try to overthrow me, don‘t announce that you will be coming back with help.“ Mishimas face turned red all over before Kamoshida turned back to Ryuji with a satisfied grin on his face. "I actually thought that you tucked your tail and ran after our little dispute, but then I heard that you were kicked out because you weren‘t able to keep your mouth shut again? It seems that big mouth of yours will never learn.“

"Shut up!“ Ryuji growled through gritted teeth, trying to lunge at the man but was held back by the two guards by his side. Kamoshida slammed a fist into the blonde boys gut. Ryuji grunted in pain.

"I honestly couldn‘t care less about some punk who doesn‘t know when to shut up, but it seems you tend to pull people down with you, don‘t you think? If you hadn‘t assaulted me like you did, I wouldn‘t have had to ask your settlement for retribution, you know? And not to mention all the sorrow you caused your mother…“

"Shut up, shut up, shuddup!“ Ryuji yelled, but it didn‘t sound as angry as before.

"In the end, your whole settlement had to chip in for your misbehaviour. Not to mention the hard work everyone put into persuading me that it was safe to come back.“ Kamoshida paced up and down in the cell while reminiscing. "Now, I have to admit that what happened to your mother was truly tragic. But has it ever crossed your mind, that the council has sent forth all their troops to find this bank, because they were short on money that you cost them?“. A cruel smile appeared on his face while tears ran down Ryujis face. "You‘re so impulsive you don‘t even realize how your actions affect the people around you. And yet again, you drag some new friends into your problems...“ he continued to grin his agonizing smile "But the person who must regret going with you the most...“ he chuckled "is now laying on my bed upstairs.“. He walked up to Ryuji and tilted his head up so he looked him dead in the eyes "I guess you can imagine how long I‘ve been waiting to have my fun with her.“.

This time, Ryujis fist was fast as he outwitted his guard and delivered a hook to the mans square chin. Kamoshidas reaction followed quickly when he punched Ryuji in the face before delivering a blow to his stomach that caused him to sink to the ground. "You‘re pathetic. No wonder that you couldn‘t score with her. Women just don‘t dig losers.“ Kamoshida turned around and walked to the door before calling out over his shoulder "I would have you watch, but I don‘t want you to ruin the mood.“ he looked at his guards "Go teach them a lesson. I will think about what to do with them after blowing off some steam.“. With that, he left.

As Ann was laying on the ugly satin bedsheets, her feet and hands tied to the bedposts, she wondered if it had always been only a matter of time until she ended up tied to Kamoshidas bed. Her throat still hurt from Kamoshidas arm. If those guards hadn't busted in and demanded him taking a look at something, who knew what he would have done. But he had tied her up on the bed while telling her to wait for him. As if she had any other choice now. She had entered this place feeling confident about bringing this pervert down. His face and that creepy grin of his were still as terrifying as she remembered. Some nights, she still woke up sweating after dreaming about the one day that Kamoshida had crept up on her in that alley. His hands on her hips alone had been enough to haunt her dreams even years later. Ann couldn‘t remember if she ever felt as weak as in that moment. She had been used to working with men, there weren‘t many girls that went out scavenging. She knew how to assert herself. And still, when Kamoshida had pushed her against the wall, everything she had felt was fear. Remembering this and imagining how all these girls must feel everyday had made her furious when Mishima told them. But she hadn‘t kept a cool head when she barged upstairs to put on hotpants in the belief that getting inside was the only hurdle. She should have known better. She had acted like a rookie. Shiho… Ann had been so shocked to hear that her best friend had given in to Kamoshidas mindgames, that she hadn‘t been able to think straight. If Ryuji Sakamoto ever got into the position of imploring you to think things through, it was an obvious red flag. And yet she had ignored him, and he had known her for far too long to believe that there was anything he could have said to make her sit down and rethink her strategy. There basically was nothing he could have done except for handing her that switchblade, that was still resting in the backpocket of her pants, completely out of reach for her. She started to wonder how her and Ryuji had been able to survive on their own for so long, with their impulsive behaviours. She liked to think that she was a little more level-headed than him most of the time. But apparently not when it came to her friends being in danger and especially not when there was a tiny part that kept wondering if it was her fault. Ann tried fidgeting with the ropes around her wrists before stretching her entire body to reach the knot by the bedpost. She only needed one free hand… Her fingers hastily tried to mess with the rope until she was able to loosen it a bit so her wrist was able to slip out of the loop. She took out Ryujis knife and cut all her restraints. Her heart stopped when she heard the door open. She barely managed to tuck away the knife in time.

When Kamoshida saw her sitting on the bed, untied, a grin spread on his face "I see that you're on the run… I would rethink that, if I were you. After all, your friends just decided to show up too. You wouldn‘t bail on them, would you?“

Ann tried to hide her emotions. So they had been caught. And all because of her half-assed plan.

"So, either you lied to me, or that blonde idiot and his friend are stalking you without your knowledge. Which one is it?“

It was no use playing stupid "As if I would ever crawl to you for help. It‘s me you wanted, isn‘t it? Let them go.“ she spat.

Kamoshida grinned "Ah, there it is. The hard-to-get Takamaki that I‘ve been looking for.“ he grinned a malicious grin "I left them downstairs for my guards to blow off some steam, but in the end, I will be the one to decide their fate. If you show me a little bit of love, I might forget about the fact that you were trying to run just now and let them live.“

A chill crept up her spine at his insinuation and she found herself as scared as all those years ago. There was noone going to help her.

Kamoshida continued to grin "You kept me waiting for a long time there. I have tried so many things to make you consider my offer, you know? I was fascinated to see how fast your peers were ready to spread the rumour that you and I already had something going on...“

"So you were the one who started it.“ Ann suddenly understood "You were the reason why everyone started to call me a slut.“

"I never used that word, that must have been your peers. Seems like you‘ve already built up a reputation before I showed up.“. When Kamoshida walked up to her and pushed her down onto the bed, she wondered if Shiho felt like this every day. Tears stung in her eyes as she squeezed them shut, trying to block out the reality when she suddenly saw Shiho in front of her inner eye. It was like she was standing there, beside her "Y _ou can‘t let him win, Ann. You‘re stronger.“_. Her eyes shot open again as she looked straight into Kamoshidas eyes, who was now leaning over her. When she tried to punch him in the face, he evaded her by leaning sideways, creating an opening for her to get off the bed. A rush of confidence spread inside of her when she felt the switchblade in her hand. _I won‘_ _t_ _let him win_ she thought as Kamoshida charged at her, his face grimassing in anger.

Meanwhile in the cellar, Ren stared at Ryuji, who was slumped on the ground. He wasn‘t even holding his stomach in pain, he just looked defeated. "Ryuji.“ Ren carefully adressed him. Kamoshida sure was good at playing mindgames. His little monologue seemed to hit right home with the blonde boy.

"Everything was my fault...“ he muttered as the two guards where trying to pull him back to his feet to no avail since Ryuji showed no sign of cooperating.

"You‘re just going to listen to him?“ Ren asked, his voice calm.

"Because he‘s right.“ Ryuji yelled.

"How can you be sure, that he hasn‘t just made all of this shit up to mess with you? Because he‘s a fair player? Didn‘t strike me as such. I know you. We‘ve travelled together for two years now. You‘re not bringing people down.“ Ren said "Whenever we were stuck someplace, you were the one to push us through. You have had my back without even knowing me! Ann chose to come with you on her own free will. And right now, she probably could use our help with that perverted scumbag creeping up on her.“ Ren balled his fists "So get up, Ryuji. I would lie if I told you that you‘re not impulsive, but some fights need to be fought. And hell, it seems like noone here‘s willing to do it but us.“

It reminded Ren of a phoenix rising from the ashes when Ryuji slowly got up, the left corner of his mouth showing a grin. Before the two guards knew it, they each had a fist in their face. Ren grinned too before he grabbed one of his guards wrists to hurtle him towards Ryuji who was already waiting to deliver the next punch. Ren was right in time to duck away from an incoming hook by his second guard. The dark-haired boy quickly delivered a blow to the ribs before securing the guards arm behind his back. "Look, I don‘t want to hurt you. Mishima here tells me that you‘re all scared of Kamoshida, but so far, you‘ve been pretty hostile to the people that came to safe you.“ he muttered into the teens ear before using the trick that Sojiro had taught him. With only a pinch in the right spot, the guard was limply hanging in his arms, unconscious. It didn‘t take long for the two to handle Mishimas guards as well.

"This reminds me of that barfight we got into that one time.“ Ryuji grinned as he felt the adrenaline rush through his veins. "Thanks man… You really got me out of the dark place there.“. Ren nodded when he clapped him on the shoulder. "Now let‘s go get Ann. I hope she kicked his butt by now. Or shot him.“ Ryuji growled before forcefully pushing the cell door open.

As they turned the last corner, they heard a high-pitched scream. They didn‘t need Mishima to tell them which room they needed to go and Ryuji didn‘t hesitate to kick down the door while yelling "Don‘t you fucking touch her-“ before stopping dead in his tracks and staring at the scene in front of him. "HOLY SHIT!“ he exclaimed when he figured that that scream just now wasn‘t Ann.

Ren looked at the man that had enjoyed parading in front of them so much just a few moments ago, now sobbing on the floor, his right hand pinned to the floorboards with a switchblade. Over him towered Ann, one foot on his ribcage, a gun pointed at his head. Her hair was in disarray, they must have fought before Ann managed to get the upper hand.

Ann turned her head to look at Ryuji and Ren. It was obvious that she was relieved to see them.

Ryuji stared at her "Where did you get a gun?“

"Told you, I‘d find one.“ Ann said triumphant. Maybe she would tell him later that this very gun almost killed her if it hadn’t been for that knife he had insisted on giving her. Or maybe she would never tell him. He‘d probably just freak out anyway.

Under Anns foot, Kamoshida squirmed "You!“ he fumed when he laid eyes on Ryuji but the blonde boy chose to ignore him and looked at Ann instead "You okay?“.

"Yeah. Can you help me tie him up?“ Ann asked. Ren and Ryuji didn‘t hesitate when they approached Kamoshida and took out a rope.

"You wanna do the honors?“ Ren asked, pointing at the knife after they were done tying up his legs.

Without a warning, Ann bent down to pull the knife from his hand, ignoring his pained grunting, so her two teammates were able to tie up Kamoshidas arms.

"Not so tough now, are you?“ Ryuji asked as he dragged him back up to his feet.

"The Great Kamoshida, a brave warrior… Or so they say. But do your fans know that all of these kids are your prisoners and slaves?“ Ren asked.

"Screw you. Who do you think you are? These kids parents were happy to offer their children to me.“ Kamoshida taunted.

"But not for you to rape them!“ Anns voice was shrill.

"They treat me like a King, wherever I go. And isn’t this what a King does? Picking out the prettiest girls to back to his court? Their parents are happy as long as they hear from them once a month. Do you really think that they care about their childrens well-being this much, as long as the money comes in every month?“

Ann walked up to him to slam her knee into his groin. The other boys flinched.

After another pained grunt, Kamoshida lifted his head to look at Ann with a horrible grin "You know… The girl you came for.. Suzui… was it?… I would have never even considered taking her with me, if you would have just agreed to my offer. But you had to run away. You left her behind and she was all alone. And so helpless.“

Ann screamed as she drew the gun and held it to his head "You asshole! I‘ll kill you! You fucking piece of shit used her!“.

"Oh, please… As if you would ever shoot me.“ Kamoshidas head jerked towards Ryuji "He‘s the muscle, not you.“ A grin spread across his lips "Am I wrong… Panther?“. After hearing him say it, Ann wasn‘t sure if she ever wanted to be called Panther again. So it really had been her fault all along. She had left Shiho behind. If she had agreed to go with Kamoshida, Shiho would have stayed safe. The gun was shaking in her hand. Her eyes wandered between Ryuji and Ren, who stood on each side of Kamoshida.

"Don‘t give in, Ann.“ Ren said.

"Don‘t blame yourself for what this asshole did!“ Ryuji added.

Ann took a deep breath to calm herself down before looking at Kamoshida "And still I was the one who slammed a knife through your hand just now.“. Her hand was steady again. "You think that I wouldn‘t kill you? After everything that you did to Shiho and so many others?“ with a swift movement, she pulled the hammer of the revolver back. The clacking sound it made was almost deafening when she released it again. It was the greatest triumph when she watched Kamoshidas face change from amusement into fear and shock. He got nervous, but Ren and Ryuji kept him in place. This time it was her turn to smile and she made it as menacingly as possible „I would.“ she was almost whispering. Kamoshidas eyes were squeezed shut when he started to whine and cower in fear, begging for his life. It would have been easy. It would have been tempting to end it for him then and there, so he could never harm anyone ever again. Anns trigger finger twitched before she lowered the gun. When Kamoshida realized that he wasn‘t going to die, he looked up at Ann again, who had put the gun away. "You don‘t deserve a swift death.“ she spat.

As they led a tied-up Kamoshida outside, the boys on guard stared at them disbelieving. It took them some time to process that their times of torment were over. After snatching the keys from Kamoshida, Ann and Mishima went downstairs to the dungeon, where the girls were held. Mishima pointed towards the last cell before Ann made a sprint for it.

The cell was dark, but she could make out a slender silhouette in the far corner. She shoved the key into the lock. "Shiho?“ she asked, her voice quivering.

The girl slowly approached the door, staring at her in disbelief "Ann?!“ her voice was quiet, she was shaking. There were bruises all over her body.

"It‘s over, Shiho. He‘s not going to hurt you anymore.“ Ann cried as she took her friend into her arms.

"I don‘t understand...“ Shiho whispered, slowly returning her hug "What are you doing here?“

"Mishima found us...“ Ann explained while leading her out of the cell.

A smile appeared on Shihos face "Mishima..“.

"Come one, let‘s go and get you outside.“ Ann said, supporting her.

It was unbelievable how many teenagers have been locked up in the castle. But now, that all of them were standing in the big plaza in front of it, the place sure was crowded. And in the middle of it all was a tied-up Kamoshida, on his knees and with a shotgun pointed at his head, since he had the very dumb idea of trying to flee once. They were surrounded by murmuring and crying teenagers, laying in each others arms. Who knew how long some of them hadn’t gotten to see each other, even while living under the same roof. When Ann and Shiho finally walked out, it was Mishima who approached her first, taking Shiho into his shaky arms, whispering something into her ear. Ann decided to give them some space and walked over to Ren and Ryuji.

"The prison is empty.“ Ann reported.

"I think by now the word has also spread to all the boys.“ Ren answered, looking around the place and at all the eyes fixed the two blondes and him.

"I.. think these guys are waiting for something...“ Ryuji said.

“For what?” Ren asked.

“Maybe they want you to give a speech?” Ann wondered.

“I don’t give speeches...” Ren said.

Ruyji and Ann exchanged a knowing look before grinning at him “Oh, you do! You just never notice.” Ryuji grinned.

Ren thought about it for a moment before clearing his throat. Within seconds, he had the attention of everyone. "The reign of Kamoshida is over!“ Some of them started to applaud. "Since there‘s no legal system to deliver him to, we‘re going to leave him here. It‘s up to you, what will happen to him.“ Excited murmuring errupted and Ren leaned towards his team-mates "I think our job here is done. Let‘s get going soon.“. The two blondes nodded before Ann walked off into the castle to retrieve the thing she had laid her eyes on since the minute she entered Kamoshidas office.

As Ren and Ryuji were standing at the gate, surveying the scene, a boy about their age approached them. "I think I speak for all of us, when I say thank you. We would have never dared to do anything and at some point we all started to believe that no one would care anyway.“ he said as he shook both their hands. "What‘s your names?“ he asked.

Ryuji and Ren shared a look before Ren answered "This is Skull, the blonde girl is Panther and my name is Joker.“. It was questionable at best, to assume that using nicknames helped protecting their privacy in any way when they were running around with their faces visible and two bright-blonde teenagers among them, but it did keep a little bit of secrecy when people talked about "Joker, Skull and Panther“ rather than about "Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki“. It also sounded a lot cooler.

"Joker, Skull and Panther“ the boy in front of them didn‘t question it. "I‘ll make sure that noone forgets these names.“

"So, what are you guys gonna do now?“ Ryuji asked.

"As far as I heard, a lot of us will go back to their settlements and to their families.“ the boy shrugged "Me… I talked to some of the others and they were interested in staying here. Making a settlement of our own. Some of us don‘t have places to go to anymore, maybe its time to start a new one.“

"That‘s a great idea.“ Ren said.

"Will you be able to guard it?“ Ryuji asked, remembering the guard that dropped his rifle in fear.

The boy grinned "Some of us can actually handle a gun, so I think we will be alright.“

"Have you decided on what to do with the previous owner?“ Ren asked, nodding towards Kamoshida, who was still kneeling in the middle of the plaza, surrounded by the teenagers he used to torment.

"It‘s hard not to straight-up shoot him after everything he did to us.“ the boy answered "but… I think the majority agreed on him staying here, as a prisoner. Since there are enough cells downstairs...“

"Like in the old days...“ Ren nodded. He had only heard stories from Boss, that before everything had gone south there used to be laws and a justice system that would lock people away, if they broke the them. Nowadays, there were settlements who each had their own set of rules, but everywhere else, there were no laws applying.

"Just don‘t let him get away, okay?“ Ryuji said.

"We won‘t.“ the boy promised.

When Ann left the castle with the small CD-player under her arm, she came across Shiho and Mishima, who were waiting at the castle gate. It seemed like they were saying good-bye. Shiho gave Mishima a quick kiss on the cheek before he walked away.

"So.. Mishima..“ Ann started as she saw how red Shihos cheeks got all of a sudden.

"He.. was always nice to me. Sometimes he snuck down into the dungeon to talk to me or to bring me an extra portion of food.“ Shiho smiled.

"That sounds really sweet.“ Ann said before chewing her lip "So, are you sure, that you don‘t want to join us? We have a great base now. We could share a room.“ she proposed.

Shiho smiled while shaking her head "That‘s so sweet of you, but there‘s a few guys from our settlement who are going back home, so I will join them. I‘m not made for your life. Besides… I want to check on my family.“.

"Oh… I see…“ Ann said, fighting back tears.

Shiho put her hand on Anns shoulder „But.. are you sure you don‘t want to come home with me? I mean… the council only exiled Ryuji...“ she suggested.

Ann turned around to look at the two guys standing at the gate, talking to Mishima. She had to smile when she answered "I… think I already found my new home.“. While leaving Shiho behind certainly had been the hardest part, she had never regreted joining Ryuji on that crucial day.

Shiho smiled too before saying "I understand.“

"I’m so sorry for everything...” Ann whispered. “I left you behind and you were all alone…”

The black-haired girl squeezed her shoulder "You can’t be sorry about that!” she gave her a warm smile “Look at you! You were so strong, barging in to safe the day! This is what you are meant to do! You weren’t made to sit in a settlement, waiting for another job to come by. And I’m so happy to see that you have found the right people to do this with.” She gave her a long hug. "Thank you so much for saving us.“

A tear ran down Anns cheek as she returned her hug "Always.“ she whispered "Stay safe, Shiho.“

"You too, Ann!“ Shiho said before letting her go again "Maybe you can come visit sometime.“

Ann nodded "Yeah, I will.“. She waved as Shiho walked to a group of teenagers who were waiting to leave. She wiped a tear away as she watched her walk off.

Ryuji and Ren watched Ann and Shihos good-bye from a distance when Mishima walked up to them.

"Mishima, your fast running legs played a huge part in the rescue of Kamoshidas Castle.“ Ren clapped him on the back.

Mishima nervously chuckled "Oh… I didn‘t do anything… I was just a coward who was afraid and happened to run into the right peoples home...“

"That‘s another way to put it.“ Ren admitted. "So, what will you do next?“

Mishima shuffled his feet before stammering "I… thought… that may- maybe I could… join you?“

Ren and Ryuji exchanged a look before Ryuji leaned over to whisper "We could use a few guys to guard the place if we‘re gone…“

Ren nodded before looking at Mishima again "You‘re welcome to join us. Besides, now that you know where we live, we would have had to kill you anyway.“. When the boys face turned pale, he grinned "Relax, just kidding.“

Mishima nervously laughed before bowing and taking off to gather a few things.

"You got him good...“ Ryuji grinned before his face turned worried when he saw a sorrowful Ann approaching.

"Everything okay there, Panther?“ Ren asked as she took her place beside them.

"Yeah… Shihos not coming with us though…“ Ann tried to put on a brave face.

"I‘m sorry to hear that… But maybe living in a settlement is the safest place for her.“ Ren said.

The blonde girl nodded before a small smiled appeared on her lips "I know…“

"Hey!“ a high-pitched voice called out to them from across the plaza. The group exchanged a confused look as they watched a kid not much older than 9 approach them with confident strides. "I heard that you‘re looking for recruits and I wanna apply. I‘m the best shooter of any of these dimwits!“ the kid boasted.

"Does Morgana have a brother?“ Ryuji quietly asked Ann, who only shrugged.

"Well aren‘t you confident.“ Ann smiled and reached down to toussle his hair, only to have her hand light but sternly swatted away by the boy.

"Don‘t treat me like a child!“ he protested.

"Huh, sounds like Morgana alright...“ Ren agreed.

"Don‘t tell me that we‘re taking in another Morgana...“ Ryuji groaned.

"You‘re Skull, right? I heard you‘re cool.“ the boys eyes lit up for a second.

"Ha, nevermind, I like him.“ Ryuji grinned.

Ann rolled her eyes before asking "You said you know how to shoot?“

"Yes, maam! I held a pistol since I was three.“ he sounded incredibly proud.

"That‘s… great?“ Ann wasn‘t sure how to reply.

"Look… uh.“ Ren started.

"Shinya“ the boy completed.

"Look, Shinya… We‘re not mercenaries. We actually try to shoot as little as possible.“ Ren explained.

"Okay, then I‘ll just hold one!“ Shinya answered before almost dropping to his knees "Pleeease Mister Joker, you were sooo cool when you took down Kamoshida!“

Ren motioned the boy to wait before he instructed the others to huddle around him "What do you think?“

"I like the kid.“ Ryuji said, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Ugh, just because he called you cool.“ Ann sighed before looking at Ren "I don‘t know… maybe it would be nice for Morgana to have a friend his age?“

"Yeah, Shinya could finally teach the little brat some respect.“ Ryuji agreed, only for Ann to roll her eyes again.

"I guess it‘s settled then.“ Ren said before turning around to the dark-haired boy with the base-cap. "Okay, Shinya, you can come with us.“

"Yes!!!“ Shinya was ecxtatic.

"Okay, I‘m ready!“ Mishima called out as he approached the group with a bag over his shoulders. He looked surprised when he saw Shinya standing with the group "He‘s coming too?“ he nervously asked. He seemed to know the little kid from before.

"Guess he is.“ Ren said.

"Accept it, weakling.“ Shinya boasted, only to shrink down again when Joker glared at him.

"We don‘t take assholes. So either behave, or leave.“ Ren said with a surprising chill in his voice. Even Ryuji and Ann, some of his oldest friends, looked at him in surprise.

"Y-.. Yes, Sir.“ Shinya meekly answered before falling into place a little behind Joker as they started walking.

They were almost at the archway exiting Destinyland when a shrill voice called after them. "Waaaaaait!“. They turned around in confusion as they saw a dark-haired girl running up to them, a backpack with a cartoon-panda in her hands. "I wanna join you too!“ her voice was nasal and she wheezed out of breath.

"Don‘t you have a family to go to?“ Mishima asked.

"My settlement was destroyed, I was one of the only survivors. Kamoshida took me in when I roamed the streets on my own.“ the girl explained.

"Some of the guys stay here and start a new settlement… Don‘t you want to stay here?“ Ren asked.

"I never want to see this stupid castle anymore. The thought of that pervert still living in the cellar gives me the creeps.“ the girl exclaimed. Ann nodded in understanding.

"We‘re not really heading for a settlement, ya know?“ Ryuji said.

"I don‘t care. I just want to go somewhere safe and you seem like people who know how to defend themselves. I‘ll even learn how to hold a gun if you want to“.

"Give us a second.“ Ren ordered the others to huddle up again.

"We‘re gonna take a girl?!“ Shinya asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Excuse me?“ Ann asked.

"Shinya, let this be a core-group problem.“ Ren ordered and the boy willingly shut up.

"I mean… she looks kinda cute...“ Ryuji grinned.

"Seriously? That‘s all you think about?“ Ann sighed.

"Panther, what do you think?“ Ren asked.

"I understand her wish to not stay here anymore… I'm sure there's something she could help us with...“ Ann thought out loud.

Ren nodded before turning around to the girl, who impatiently tapped her foot. She sure had a character. "Well, then Miss…?“

"Eiko“ the girl curtly replied, her hand on her hip.

"Okay, Eiko, welcome aboard.“ Ren said before leading the group homewards, taking the lead with the three newcomers in the middle and Ryuji and Ann bringing up the rear.

"You okay?“ Ryuji asked after watching Ann staring at the ground for the last 10 minutes.

Ann looked up and nodded "Yeah… It‘s just.. sad to see Shiho go so soon after reuniting with her again… I really wish she could have joined us...“

"Ya know… What happened back then… It was my problem… You can still always go back if you want to….“ Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. He had never fully understood why Ann had chosen to come with him and leave the safety of their settlement behind. Sure, the council had screwed her over as much it had him, but at least she hadn‘t been sent to exile. He had burned down all the bridges when leaving, but she could still go back. Even without him, she would still be an extraordinary scavenger and every settlement would be grateful to have her.

Ann cast him a tired smile "When will you stop bringing this up?“. Even when she was sad that she had to let Shiho go once again, she knew that there was no way of her ever going back with her. She would never be able to work for the same people again who had sent their parents to their deaths. She never wanted to be locked in again, only sent out to gather stuff to make the rich richer.

"I dunno...“ Ryuji shrugged.

"Ren‘s right, it‘s better for her to go home. And for me, it‘s better to stay here. With all of you.“ she smiled at him before asking "What about you? You look like something‘s on your mind.“

"Huh?“ Ryuji looked surprised before sighing "It‘s just… down in that dungeon, Kamoshida said some stuff...“

"Like what?“ Ann asked.

"Remember that time the council stressed so much about finding gold and shit while my leg was broken?“ Ryuji started. He didn‘t want to come clean about everything, but he felt like Ann would be a more trustworthy source than that bastard. "It was because that asshole pressed for some kind of retribution...“

"Yeah, but what‘s your point?“

"Kamoshida said that that accident with our parents happened because the council was desperate to get money again after paying everything to him...“

"That‘s total bullshit.“ Ann replied.

Ryuji was surprised by her fast answer "How can you be so sure?“

Ann cast him a sideways glance before shrugging with a slight smile "Because it was me who paid almost all of it. The council only gave it to him.“

Ryuji gaped at her "For real? Why?“

She raised an eyebrow at him "Around the same time you "fall off a roof“ Kamoshida starts pushing for some kind of compensation? We didn‘t learn a lot in school, but I do know how to add 1 and 1“. When Ryuji didn‘t stop staring at her, she rolled her eyes "What?“

"So you knew that I was lying the whole time?“

"I suspected it. But now I know.“ she winked. "So, no. Whatever happened between you and Kamoshida wasn't the reason for our parents death. Your debt had already been settled a long time before that."

"Thanks.“ he said "Like… for all the things you did for me that I don‘t know about.“. He figured that after all these years of walking together, it was about time to say it.

"Likewise.“ Ann smiled at him before pulling his switchblade out of her backpocket to hand it back to him "Thanks, by the way. It did come in handy.“

"Hey, anytime.“ Ryuji grinned. "You can borrow it again next time you wear hotpants.“

Ann rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm, but she couldn't help but smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes the Kamoshida-Chapter and introduces some new team-members:) The next arcs will have a little bit more of a build-up, but Mishima barging in and asking for help just felt right and since Ann and Ryuji already had their experiences with Kamoshida too, it didn't need to be established first that he was doing evil things. 
> 
> I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Let me know what you think:)


	4. The Group Grows

The sun started to set when the group walked up the road to the base. There was a faint light gleaming through the cracks of the barricaded windows of the living room and there was a small gas lantern set up in the attic-lookout. Whoever was up there must have seen them already, for the door swung open as they approached. Shinya and Eiko looked at the villa in awe as they walked up the driveway. Behind them, the gate swung close again and a soft sizzling could be heard when the circuit was closed and electricity ran through the barbed wire that was attached along the fence and the gate. Makoto and Futaba welcomed them in the doorway, unable to hide their surprise when they saw two new faces.

"You found a CD-Player?!" Futaba exclaimed when she noticed the small plastic box under Anns arm, as if she hadn't noticed the two strangers. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" she said, extending her arms.

"Do you think it still works?" Ann asked, hopeful, when Futaba was turning the piece around in her hands, inspecting it from all sides.

"Maybe..." Futaba said before pressing a button. When a lid popped open, her expression turned sad "No way to find out without a CD though..." she said.

Ann let out a frustrated sigh. Another music-less day.They called in a group-meeting to introduce everyone.

Ren cleared his throat before saying "Alright, we got some newcomers. We all know Mishima already, he has asked to "join our cause“ whatever that is...“ he pointed at Mishima, who meekly waved into the crowd. "Then we have Shinya, who appears to be a huge fan of Ryuji.“. The boy nodded at everyone while Morgana looked unbelieving. "And this is Eiko. She thinks we‘re competent.“.

Eiko rolled her eyes "I didn‘t say it like that...“ she said before waving to the group.

Ren grinned before adressing their new team-mates. "At home, we drop the nicknames. So, I‘m Ren. You have already met Ann and Ryuji, the renowned scavengers. Over here, we have the second-in-command Makoto, nicknamed Queen. If I‘m not available, you go to her. Next to her we have Haru aka Noir, she is our camp-manager, overseeing provisions and inventory. Moving on we have Yusuke, codename Fox, artist extraordinaire and a prodigy at fishing. Futaba, or Oracle, our tech-genius and last but not least, Morgana, codename Mona, expert at climbing into small spaces and firing a slingshot.“ Ren introduced everyone before saying "Currently, we have four bedrooms. I‘d say that Mishima rooms with Ryuji and Yusuke, Shinya will be Morganas and my new roomate and Eiko stays with Makoto and Haru.“. He didn‘t fail to notice Makotos shocked look.

It had taken a long time for Makoto Niijima to get accustomed to share a room with others. She had actually been relieved when she got to room with only Haru at their new base. Haru was quiet, which was great when you wanted to relax in your room. Another plus was, that she was very well organized and always kept her part of the room clean, which was a welcome trait after sharing a room with Futaba and Ann back at LeBlanc. She remembered the time were the four girls had to share a room with horror, mainly because of Anns and Futabas habits rather than Harus. She had been looking forward to her quiet and organized room with Haru. But this girl seemed terribly loud and unorganized. And even her cool Buchimaru-backpack couldn‘t cheer Makoto up when she could already see all the clothes scattered over the floor…

They agreed to let the new arrivals go get some rest first. Haru took it upon herself to get everyone a small portion to eat before showing them to their rooms. The rest remained downstairs, listening to Rens report of their visit at Kamoshidas Castle.

"And so the group grows...“ Yusuke remarked while poking the fire in the fireplace.

"It‘s good to hear that they‘re starting a new settlement. With all the news travelling around that more and more are overrun and destroyed by shadows….“ Makoto said, a cup of tea in her hands.

"And it‘s in a castle? That sounds so stylish!“ Futaba said.

"I‘ve never seen a real one! Was it as cool as in the books?“ Morgana asked.

"I don‘t think that it was meant to be historically acurate… But it was pretty.“ Ann said.

"Aw man, you should have seen it, these guys looked at us like we were heroes or something!“ Ryuji grinned as he stretched out on the couch.

"To a degree, you have been the saviours for all of these teenagers..“ Yusuke called to mind.

"It… kind of feels good to know that we helped so many people.“ Ann admitted.

"I can‘t say I disagree...“ Ren said.

"It was the right thing to let Kamoshida live.“ Makoto added.

"Yeah… For a moment, I was a little worried that we handed him over to a blood-thirsty hoard..“ Ren said.

"Honestly, he would have deserved to be torn apart by those he tortured...“ Ryuji mentioned.

"I guess a lot of them felt that way too...“ Ann agreed with Ryuji "I came so close to shooting him. Twice. But the thought of him being locked up in the place where he used to hold all these girls… It serves him right. He should stay in there until he rots.“

"We definitly did a lot of good today.“ Ryuji said, letting out a big yawn. It was completely dark outside by now.

"You were like heroes!“ Futaba exclaimed.

"We‘re not heroes! We just… helped someone in need“ Ren answered.

"But that‘s what heroes do!“ Morgana agreed with Futaba.

"So what? Are you going to sew us capes?“ Ren asked, amused.

"No! But.. we can be crime-fighters! Fighting evil settlement-leaders, freeing hostages from bandits.“ Futaba got excited.

"Let‘s take it slow for some time, okay?“ Ren proposed.

"We can‘t! Now that you freed so many people, we gotta find Sojiro next!“ Futaba said and everyone grew quiet.

"Futaba...“ Ann stammered. Noone wanted to say it and no matter how optimistic Ren was, there was still a small part in all of them, that feared that Sojiro was burried with LeBlanc.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ren stepped in "We will. But so far, we have no idea where he could be.“

"How will we find out if we haven‘t even been back there yet?“ Futabas voice rose "Maybe he left us a note among the ruins, telling us where to find him!"

"We will go back. We got someone to look after this place now, so we can set out soon, all eight of us.“ Ren tried to calm her down.

"Bullshit! You‘re just as scared as I am, that we go back and find him there. Dead.“ Futaba started to cry without realizing it.

Everyone looked shocked.

"You‘re right.“ Ren admitted after a long pause. "I‘m.. really scared of what we might find when we return to Yongen.“

Futaba stared at him in surprise before running at him to lock her arms around his waist. "I don‘t want him to be dead...“ she mumbled against his chest.

Ren gently patted her head, whispering "Me neither..“. The others silently made their exit from the living room.

"Damn...“ Ryuji muttered as the rest of the group stood gathered in the first floor landing.

"I don‘t want to believe that Boss is dead either… But assuming that he’s alive would mean that he’s not at LeBlanc anymore. Where are we even supposed to start looking?“ Ann asked, chewing her lip.

"Come on, guys! You know Boss, I‘m sure he‘s somewhere nice, drinking scotch or something.“ Morgana tried to cheer everyone up.

"I hope you‘re right...“ Yusuke said before he looked at Ryuji "Since our room is now short a bed and you have been out the whole day, I offer to take first watch of the night.“

"Thanks dude!“ Ryuji let out another yawn "I‘m beat.. I can‘t wait to get a few hours of sleep… Night, guys.“ he said before walking to his room.

Yusuke took a bow before climbing up the ladder to the attic-lookout.

Makoto nervously started shuffling at the thought of going to sleep besides a stranger now "Um… I‘m gonna take the other spot…. Good night!“

She was already steering towards the other lookout when Morgana said "But Haru has already agreed to do it.“.

Makoto cursed under her breath before she turned around "Oh… then maybe I‘ll… just relieve her early...“. She noticed Anns suspicious look.

Morgana understood nothing "But.. it hasn‘t even been an hour...“

"Morgana… why don‘t you go to bed too? I‘m sure Makoto and I will be able to solve the problem on our own.“ Ann sweetly said.

But the boy was still oblivious "What? I don‘t understand, Lady Ann… Why can‘t you tell me?“

Ann sighed before saying "It‘s a girl-thing.“

Since living with girls over the last years, Morgana had learned that it was best to be as far away as possible when it came to girl-talk. The boy swallowed before stammering "Oh…. Sure! Good night!“ he scrambled away to his room.

Ann had a contempt grin on her face when she led Makoto to her room. Stepping inside Ann and Futabas room was like reliving a trauma to Makoto. They hadn‘t been here for much longer than a week and already the two girls managed to make it look like the chaos in this room was years old. On Futabas half of the room, there were many tools laying around, a few loose screws and some gadgets that she was either building or dismantling at the moment. The floor on Anns side was littered with clothes that she had gathered all over this house. One of the previous inhabitants must have had the same size and style as her. Ann dropped onto her bed and pointed for her to sit beside her. "What‘s the problem, Makoto?“ she asked.

While it was nice to have friends who knew her well, it was also complicated, because they would always make her talk about her feelings. Makoto hadn‘t been used to this before meeting them. She had been used to living in her own world, where her problems were only hers and noone ever bothered asking or trying to help. She had had no idea how hard it was to confide in people. And even though Anns room was a horror in itself, Ann was pretty good to confide in. Her view on life was very different to Makotos, but she had realized that this offered valuable insights. Makoto swallowed and took a deep breath – her preparation when it came to talking about her feelings – before saying "I.. just wasn‘t prepared to get a new roommate yet...“.

Ann looked at her "Hm… Maybe you just need to get to know her first?“

Makoto shrugged "Maybe… But now she‘s asleep and the thought of sleeping in the same room with a stranger is just so unsettling to me...“

Ann remembered how Makoto never had been on an expedition, sharing a tent with a bunch of almost-strangers. "Why don‘t you just stay here for the night?“ she grinned before adding "If you can bare the chaos, of course.“

Makoto looked at her in surprise. She had never intended to mention how gruesome she found Futabas and Anns living conditions. "How.. did you know?“

Ann giggled "Oh please, it was so obvious on your face when we walked in just now. Back at LeBlanc, I always thought that you didn‘t like the fact that all four of us had to cram into this tiny room. I just thought that you were sick of all of us. But now.. I think I just saw what the real problem is.“

Makoto blushed, embarassed "I‘m so sorry.. I didn‘t want to hurt you… It‘s just…“ she stammered.

Ann laughed "It‘s okay… you‘re not the first one to tell me that I‘m a messy. That‘s why I like rooming with Futaba now. She‘s like me.“

Makoto was still horrified by the fact that she had made her feelings so obvious.

"So.. is that what you‘re scared for with Eiko too?“ Ann asked.

Makoto swallowed again before the words kept flowing out of her mouth "I can‘t live with another messy again! And she just looks like someone who drops her clothes all over the floor and leaves stuff laying around and drawers open.“

Ann stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing "So you‘re afraid she‘s like me!“

Makoto stared at her for a moment before starting to laugh too.

When Ann settled down again, she said "But.. maybe you should give her a chance. Also, you‘re like… kind of her boss now. Maybe you can order her to change.“ she giggled. She leaned over to give her a side-hug. "The offer still stands, but maybe you want to spend one last night before she has time to settle in and mess up all your stuff?“ Ann grinned before raising her hands "Not to scare you though.“

Makoto shook her head before getting up "Maybe you‘re right. Thanks for the offer, but this place horrifies me so much, I‘d rather sleep in a room with a stranger.“. She gave her a small grin.

"Ouch.“ Ann grinned back "Get outta here then! Good night, Makoto!“

Makoto had to smile as she walked across the hallway to her room. She slowly opened the door to find Eiko sleeping on the cushioned bench that was standing in front of the closet. At least she didn‘t snore, Makoto thought to herself as she quietly walked to her bed to lay down. She was about to close her eyes when Eikos voice startled her “Are those your Buchi pajama-pants?”

Makotos eyes shot open when she wondered if the girl had already gone through her closet. She let out a sigh when she remembered that she had hung them over the folding screen. Since she used to share her room with all three other girls, it had been hard to hide her favourite pajama-pants. Needless to say that she made sure that none of them would talk about it to anyone. She had always been a little embarrassed about owning them before, but after moving to LeBlanc, she had realized that being a fan of an old childrens show character was nothing to be ashamed of. Futaba owned many t-shirts with prints of some old shows or games and she actually wore them outside of her room too. Makoto wasn’t ready to present her Buchimaru pajama-pants to everyone out there, but she had gotten used to sharing her little obsession with her room-mates. Since she had noticed Eikos backpack from the start, she figured that the girl wouldn’t make fun of her. “Yes.” she answered.

“They’re so cute!” Eiko didn’t seem tired at all when she sat up. “You seemed like such a stuck-up. I didn’t take you to be a Buchimaru-fan...”

Makoto furrowed her brow. The room was dark, Eiko wouldn’t be able to see her anyway. “Well… that’s something like… my secret. Only the girls know...” she said. She didn’t want to imagine the embarrassment if Eiko ever brought it up in front of the guys.

“Oh, I get it… Guys wouldn’t understand, right?” Eiko said. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” Makoto couldn’t tell for sure, but she felt like Eiko said it with a smile.

“I.. like your backpack too.” she eventually said.

“It’s super cute, right?” Eiko exclaimed “I’ve had it since forever! When I was little, I had a Buchi sweatshirt too, but I grew out of it and then my parents gave it to another family...”

Makoto sat up in her bed. She paused for a moment before asking “Can I ask… how you ended up at Kamoshidas place?”

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly when Eiko answered “You don’t beat around the bush, huh?”. She didn’t sound hostile. “My home-town was overrun by Shadows. We’ve never had the best defences, but until that day we always managed to get by. My parents told me to hide in the forest while they fought them off. So I grabbed my backpack and ran. When I returned a few hours later...” Eiko swallowed “everyone was dead. So I packed up some things and started walking. I’ve never been to any other settlement before, so I had no idea where to go. Somewhere along the way, I ran into Kamoshida and a few teenagers. He asked and I told him what happened and then he said that he could take me in. When I saw those other teenagers, who looked so happy and excited, I thought, why not?” Eiko sighed “He never did any weird stuff with me though… I was a good courier because I had nowhere else to go and nobody would recognize or look for me. So he would send me to do errands most of the time… For the longest time, I had no idea about the girls in his cellar.”

“That sounds tough...” Makoto said “I’m so sorry that you had to go through this...”

“You don’t have to apologize. He should. What a jerk, who takes advantage of scared and insecure teenagers.” Eiko sounded angry. “I thought that it was a joke, when one of the boys told me that Kamoshida was tied up in the plaza with a hole in his hand. I hope he rots in that stupid cell of his.” the girl dropped down onto her makeshift-bed. “You’re pretty cool. It’s super nice that we’re roomies now.” she suddenly switched the subject “And I finally have someone to talk about Buchimaru! This will be so much fun!”

“Thank you...” Makoto was unsure how to react. She wasn’t entirely sure yet, if she really wanted to call Eiko moving in with them “super nice”, but her initial fears had moved to the background for a bit. “Good night.” she said before laying down again.

Downstairs, Ren put a blanket around Futabas shoulders as she cowered in front of the fireplace. He sat down beside her, his legs crossed.

"What if we don‘t find him?“ Futaba quietly asked.

"We will. No matter how long it takes. We‘ll find him and bring him here. To LeBlanc 2.“

Futaba stared at him with wide eyes "You named it without me?“

Ren asked her with a wink "Wouldn‘t you have called it LeBlanc 2 too?“

Futaba grudgingly nodded "Yeah, that‘s a pretty good name. I bet it would look cool on a neon-sign.“

Ren nodded "It really would.“

"Oh, and Sojiro could cook his curry on the kitchen stove! I’m so close to fixing it! There should be enough room for a big pot! We need to find a big pot!“ Futaba rambled.

"You‘re right, we definitly need to find one. God, how I miss that curry..“ Ren agreed, relieved that Futaba was on the positive side again.

"Do you think he‘ll be impressed with my gate?“ she asked.

Ren grinned "He‘ll be so impressed.“

Futaba nodded, huddling into the blanket "I miss him so much...“ she whispered while staring into the fire.

Ren sighed "Me too…“

"I keep thinking and thinking about where he could possibly be.. But I can’t come up with anything. There is no other place that I could imagine Sojiro at, other than LeBlanc...” Futaba sighed “Do you think that he would be okay with me implanting a tracking device on him when we find him?”

Ren winced “Maybe you should ask him that in person.”

“I guess you’re right...” Futaba said before turning thoughtful “Hm… maybe we’re not supposed to find Sojiro yet? Like… we’ll have to advance the story first!” she slowly got up and threw the blanket onto the couch “That must be it! I’m sure Sojiro is fine, he’s just in an area that we haven’t unlocked yet!” she exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing ever. “Thanks Ren! Now go, go, go! Advance the main quest!”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Right now?”

Futaba let out a theatrical sigh “Fine, I guess you can start tomorrow…” she said before exiting the living room.

Ren looked after his “little sister” with a smile. Futaba loved to treat life as a video game. Which was strange, since she never played one in her entire life. It was unbelievable, but Futabas gaming-knowledge was purely theoretical and based on printed gaming-guides. She once told him that reading a 100%-guide book for any video game was almost as good as reading a novel. Maybe she was right. Maybe they would find Sojiro at a later stage.


	5. Panther and Skull

2 years ago

  
"This one looks untouched!“ Morgana anounced as him and Ren approached the last house of the street. They were out to gather some resources, mainly tech stuff for Futaba and maybe some food, if they were lucky. The small town that they chose to search today was completely empty, most of the houses were cleared already. But Morgana was right, the house they were approaching now looked untouched. 

"Let‘s hope there‘s something useful… We‘ll never hear the end of it if we don‘t get Futaba some copper wires...“ Ren sighed, adjusting the backpack on his back, that was already filled with a few cans and trinkets, that the previous raiders had deemed unnecessary to take. They were almost at the front door when they sensed movement behind them, followed by a loud voice. 

"HEY!“ it sounded angry. Whoever it was, was obviously not trying to sneak.

It would have been stupid to draw a weapon while facing them with their backs, so Ren and Morgana calmly turned around to see two blonde teenagers about the same age as Ren, approaching them. The boy that had been calling out to them looked incredibly pissed. He carried a light-metal baseballbat in his hand and a shotgun was strapped to his back. He wore a bright-colored t-shirt and a pair of baggy pants. His haircolour was clearly not natural. The girl that walked besides him on the other hand… Her eyes were a pearcing turquoise and her hair had a much more natural shade of blonde. She too was wearing fitted cargo pants combined with a tanktop. At her hip, a rolled-up whip was hanging on her belt. In her hands was a submachine gun that was now pointed at them. Ren saw how Morganas jaw fell open in the corner of his eyes, but it wasn‘t out of fear. 

"What are you doing here? We‘ve been spotting this house for hours now! This is our turf.“ the boy angrily said. 

Ren shrugged "Didn‘t see your names there...“ 

"Well now you know!“ the boy defiantly said, toying with the baseballbat in his hands “So beat it!”

“Why don’t you fight us for it, you punk?!” Morgana retorted, raising his fists. Ren had no idea why, but this guy seemed to get the little kids blood boiling. 

“Bring it!” the blonde teenager replied, cracking his knuckles. 

The blonde girl cast her partner a disbelieving look “You’re not going to fight some kid!”. It sounded both like a question and a warning. Her gun was still pointed at Ren and Morgana.

“I also wouldn’t advise shooting us.” Ren started “Not because anyone would come seeking revenge but… you know… it would kinda suck…”

The blonde girl furrowed her brow. After a few moments, her partner started chuckling.

A wry smile appeared on Rens face before he said "Look… it‘s a big house… I assume that you‘re not looking for copper wires, so let‘s go in together, get what we came for and then we all go our separate ways again.“.

The two blondes exchanged a quick look before they both nodded. "Okay.. but no funny business. Got it?“ the girl spoke up before slowly putting down her gun. 

"Yes…. Ma‘am“ Morgana squeezed out, still entranced by the girl. 

Ren and Morgana let the two blondes go ahead. When the front door proofed to be difficult to kick open, the blonde girl pulled out one of her hairpins to mess with the lock on the nearby window. After her and her companion pushed it open, she gracefully climbed inside to open the door for them. Morgana and Ren exchanged an impressed look. Inside, the two blondes quickly spread out while Ren remained at the fuse box in the hallway, ripping out some cables. Morgana explored the first floor in the meantime.

The boy came back down after 15 minutes, a triumphant grin on his face "Look, Joker!“ he held up a sparkling amulet. "We‘re gonna get so much money for this at the market!“

"Nice one, Morgana.“ Ren said before signaling him to put it away, when he heard two pairs of footsteps approaching. 

"Well, it‘s been an honor looting with ya, but I guess this is good-bye.“ the blonde boy said with a grin.

"Likewise. It‘s always nice to meet people who talk before shooting.“ Ren said. 

"Doesn‘t happen a lot these days...“ the girl said while zipping up her bag. 

"Are… you around here a lot?“ Morgana stuttered.

"Not from around here, are ya?“ the blonde boy answered, much to Morganas distaste.

"Not quite… we‘re on a little trip, so to speak...“ Ren said.

"Pease tell me you‘re not going to brag again...“ the girl sighed, but the boys grin said it all. 

"We‘re kinda famous around here.“.

The girl facepalmed. 

"I guess it‘s not for your humbleness.“ Ren answered. 

"What was that?“ the boys grin turned into a snare. 

Ren raised his hands "Just joking.“

"Ugh, we don‘t have time for this. Come on, Skull.“ the girl said and pushed him towards the door. 

Skulls mood seemed to flip again when he started to grin "Fine, fine. Don‘t be so boring Panther. See ya around!“ he crossed his arms behind his head as he walked through the door.

"P-...Panther...“ Morgana muttered more to himself than anyone else. 

Panther was almost out the door when she turned around to look directly at the boy. "Awww, aren‘t you sweet!“ she grinned before bending down to toussle his hair. Morgana looked like he was about to faint when she ran off to catch up to Skull, turning around one last time to flash them a sweet smile and a peace sign. 

The two blondes were out of sight when Morgana was able to speak again "What a gorgeous girl...“ he dreamily said. 

"You do realize that she stole that amulet you just found, right?“ Ren asked, amused. 

"WHAT?“ Morgana screeched, nervously searching his pockets only to find out that the necklace indeed was gone. 

  
Their second encounter with Skull and Panther took place on the road a few weeks later, when Ren, Futaba and Morgana were making a delivery for someone from a nearby settlement. 

"Well look at that!“ Ren called out when he spotted the two blonde heads walking towards them from the distance "So we meet again!“. Futaba looked confused and Morganas cheeks turned red. 

They stood at a few meters distance from each other when Ren said "You owe the poor boy a necklace. It was really pretty too.“

The girl smiled innocently at Morgana "Aww, poor Morgana...“ she purred. 

"She remembers my name...“ the boy whispered incredulous.

Skull flashed a wide grin "Was worth a lot too...“ 

Futaba seemed curious for moment before her eyes went wide "You met Skull and Panther before and didn‘t tell me?“ she asked, unbelieving. 

"You know them?“ Ren asked, confused.

"They‘re the reason why Sojiro has such a huge stock of curry-powder.“ Futaba explained. 

"Told ya we‘re famous.“ the blonde boy grinned that cocky grin of his, the metal bat resting on his shoulder. 

"It seems you were right..“ Ren had to give it to him.

"So.. if you want to find that pretty necklace again, you can just hire us to find it for you.“ Panther grinned. Ren didn‘t remember her being as cocky as her partner. 

"Thanks for the offer, but I think we‘ll be fine.“ Ren answered. „So, who‘re you off to rob next?“

The girl feigned hurt "So harsh. It wasn‘t like it was yours to begin with. Morgana stole it too, just minutes before I took it.“. 

That left Ren speechless for a moment. She had outwitted him there. "Fair point..“ he grudgingly admitted. 

"But since you asked, we‘re off to some old factory a little further west.“ Skull casually answered. "You wanna come? We could do a competition on who finds most?“ he suggested. 

Ren looked at him in surprise. He found himself liking these two. "Sorry, but we‘re here on some other business today. We have to keep going the other direction.“ he apologized as he started walking past them. 

"That‘s too bad. Another time, then.“ Skull grinned, slapping Ren on the shoulder when he walked past. 

  
From then on, they kept running into each other almost every week, be it on the road or in an empty house that they both wanted to loot. Sometimes Ren and Morgana stole something miniscule from them and sometimes it was the other way around. It had turned more into a game than serious theft. 

It was just another day and just another house that Morgana and Ren wanted to loot for food, materials and jewelry, when Morgana suddenly started whispering "I hear footsteps, someone‘s coming!“.

Ren drew his gun before stepping outside on the front-porch. A small grin flashed across his face when he saw the two blondes walking up. He slowly put down the gun again before calling out to them "You know.. Maybe we should just team up, if we start bumping into each other that much.“

Panther grinned "Wouldn‘t you like that?“

Skull grinned too "We‘d make a pretty good team.“ 

They went about their usual routine, Skull and Panther scavenging one part of the house while Ren and Morgana did the other before they would switch sides. Ren had noticed for a few weeks now, that the two weren‘t looking for special items anymore, but rather for food, clothing and other everyday-things. Once he had even seen Skull packing up a blanket. He decided to let Morgana continue his search before he walked over to the others. "I don‘t mean to intrude but… Did something happen at your settlement?“ he asked. He wondered if their home came upon hard times or if they suffered an attack from either raiders or shadows. 

Skull and Panther shared a look before the girl started to talk "We… left.“

Skulls jaw twitched before he interrupted "I got exiled. That’s why.“ 

Panther looked at Skull with conflicted eyes. 

Ren suddenly noticed how sad they both looked. They hadn‘t shown it in the beginning, but it seemed like he had caught them a little off-guard when he walked in on them. "What happened?“ he asked. 

Skulls jaw was clenched so tight that Ren feared that he would hear the blonde boys teeth shatter any moment now. Panther looked like she was about to fall to pieces. When she spoke, it wasn‘t much more than a whisper. "There… was an attack while we were gone…“ tears were streaming down her face and her body was trembling before she sobbed "Both of us lost our parents..“

The blonde boy cursed "They sent untrained people out to fight! They were always preaching how protecting our homes was the most important thing and then they sent the troops off to find some stupid old bank and left them to die.“. A vein started to pop out on his neck. 

Ren was shocked as he looked at Skull and Panther, one of them on the verge of exploding, the other one at the edge of a breakdown. 

"FUCK!“ Skull screamed and kicked a nearby bucket. There was a tear glistening in the corner of his eye. 

"Ryuji...“ Panther whispered before walking over to him and reaching for his hand. It was the first time that she used his real name. 

Ryuji took a deep breath, his body started trembling too as his eyes were fixed on the floor. Panther slowly moved up in front of him before carefully wrapping her arms around his waist. In the blink of an eye, Ryujis arms locked around her. Rens heart bled as he watched the two blondes clinging to each other, sobbing in unison. He made a quiet escape into the hallway to give them some space. 

  
Ren and Morgana were sitting in the hallway when the two blondes came out of the living-room. Both of them had puffy eyes, but they looked a little more collected. Ryuji meekly rubbed the back of his neck "Huh… sorry you had to see that.“

Ren shook his head "No need to apologize. It sounds like you‘ve been trough hell over the last weeks.“. There was a short silence before Ren spoke up again "You should stay with us. I meant it, we‘d make a good team. Besides.. I have no idea how you do it, but somehow you manage to find more useful stuff in half the time than we do...“ Ren said. 

Skulls eyes grew wide "For real?“ he asked. 

Ren and Morgana nodded in unison "Yeah! You should come with us!“ Morgana said, probably more directed at Panther than Skull. 

A tear appeared in the corner of Panthers eye again before she started to smile "That sounds great.“. There was a short pause before she started "I guess that means we‘re past nicknames now.“ Panther smiled. "My name is Ann. Ann Takamaki.“

"Lady Ann...“ Morgana whispered, to everyones irritation.

"What‘s wrong with that kid?“ Ryuji asked, his eyebrow raised.

"HEY! Who are you calling a kid?“ Morgana protested.

"That‘s Morgana.“ Ren explained.

"Wait, so that wasn‘t his nickname?“ Ann asked, now confused as well. 

"Yes and no… he doesn‘t really have another one...“ Ren answered for the boy.

"Aww, we‘re going to change that.“ Ann smiled at Morgana, who seemed happy all of a sudden again. 

"Yeah, because Morgana sounds like a girls name...“ Ryuji remarked and the boy almost jumped at his throat. 

"My name is Ren.“ Ren introduced himself. 

"Good to meet ya, Ren. I‘m Ryuji Sakamoto.“ Ryuji gave him a fistbump. 

"Great, now that that‘s settled, let‘s pack everything up and be on our way. It‘s a bit of a walk back home.“ Ren clapped his hands and the rest nodded. 

It would have been wrong to say that that was the day they had become friends. As Ryuji liked to point out later: Their friendship had started when they didn’t shoot each other on their first meeting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to make Ann and Ryuji this kickass adventurer duo, it just works so well :D


	6. Girls Trip

"Boooooooored!“ Eiko groaned, her head dangling from the edge of the sofa in the living room.

Makoto sceptically looked up from the book that she was reading. At this point, she was sure that she would never get used to Eikos regular loud complaints.

"There is surprisingly little to do today...“ Haru realized. Upstairs, the guys were working on the house, but aside from that, their leader and commander had nothing planned for them.

"It feels so weird, having nothing to do the whole day...“ Ann yawned.

Occasionally, they could hear some noise from the kitchen. Futaba was working on some appliances, mainly trying to get the stove working again.

"Oh, oh! I know what we can do!“ Eiko suddenly jumped up, waiting until all of the girls attention was on her "We should go shopping!“.

„Oh right, there was this huge house that I walked past with Yusuke und Ren last time! I bet there‘s one of those huge walk-in closets in there!“ Ann exclaimed.

Makoto furrowed her brows. The thought of walking to an abandoned house and trying on all the remaining clothes there didn‘t seem very appealing to her. Especially not when she finally got the chance to read a book in peace.

"It is getting warmer again...“ Haru reluctantly agreed before putting on a smile "Okay, I‘m coming too.“

"Yay!“ Eiko exclaimed before grabbing Makotos wrists and pulling her to her feet "Come on, Makoto, let‘s go!“

Makoto panicked. She wasn‘t used to being dragged around by anyone. Normally she was the one to go ahead. But in this case, she found herself helpless. She had absolutely no idea of how to get out of the situation. Eiko had been living with them for a few weeks now, and the biggest thing she had learned about her was, that she wasn‘t denied very easily. Especially when it came to the things that in Makotos eyes were far too "girly“ and trivial. And while she pondered over the fact that she wanted to stay behind and read in peace, she let herself get dragged out of the living room by Eikos surprisingly firm hands.

"So what are you all up to?“ Ren asked as he came down the stairs the second Eiko opened the front door.

Makoto froze. She had a high rank in this group. Wasn‘t she supposed to be a person of authority? And yet here she was, being dragged out of her comfortable reading spot to something as mediocre as "shopping“, which was nothing more than raiding a house for clothes. She was still searching for a less embarassing answer when Eiko confidently announced "Us girls are gonna go shopping!“. Makoto wished that the ground would swallow her up. She could feel her cheeks flushing. If Ren had noticed, he made a pretty good job covering it up.

He wiped his sweaty forehead before shrugging "Okay, have fun.“

Makoto stammered "Okay…. Thanks….“

"We will! And we‘ll be super careful, don‘t worry. Ann said she spotted the house out before.“ Eiko bragged before skipping outside, leaving Makoto and Ren standing by the staircase.

Makoto nervously cracked her knuckles "I‘m… just joining to keep them out of trouble.“

Ren grinned at her "It‘s okay if you just go with them for fun, you know? Live a little.“

Makoto despised that phrase. Ren had told her that so many times. And she still had no idea what exactly to make out of this. What was wrong with prefering a book over… trying on clothes? Clothes were utility. You needed to wear them to keep yourself warm and for storage purposes. As soon as you owned three sets of clothes, you were basically set for life. At least in her eyes. But apparently that was only her. Ann and Haru were storming past her and towards the kitchen, each a bag slung around their backs. "I‘d really rather live a little while doing something whichs purpose I understand...“ she sighed.

Ren looked at her, amusement curling the corners of his mouth.

"What?“ Makoto asked when she noticed his look. "Oh, don‘t say it.“ she sighed when she realized what was on the tip of his tongue.

"Beep boop.“

Makoto let out a frustrated sigh "You‘re not helping.“. She turned around to walk outside.

"Futaba, do you wanna come too?“ Ann called on the other end of the hallway, only to have the kitchendoor slammed in her face.

"I guess that means No...“ Haru said.

"Then at least open the gate for us!“ Ann called out before walking out the house with Haru. Futaba must have dared to leave the kitchen again after hearing the frontdoor closing, for as the girls crossed the courtyard, the gate slowly swung open.

You had to give it to Ann, she had an eye for real estate. She just had a feeling about where to find stuff. Of course she had. Her codename wouldn‘t be known in such a wide area if all of their findings had been pure lucky shots. While Makoto appreciated Haru for being calm and dignified, a gentle soul with a quiet personality, she was reminded once more that Haru too occasssionally wanted to do "girly“ things. The fluffy-haired girl looked like she was enjoying herself with Ann and Eiko, perusing the big walk-in closet of the master bedroom they were now standing in. Makoto had taken a seat at the windowsill, where she was able to survey the front of the house.

"OMG, Haru! Retro is soo your style!“ Eiko called out when she saw the fluffy-haired girl trying on a knee-long dress with polka-dots and short sleeves.

"That looks so cute!“ Ann agreed before placing a huge sun-hat on top of Harus head "You have to take this!“

Haru giggled as she looked at herself from every angle in the huge mirror.

In the meantime, Eiko tried on a pair of tight hotpants and a top that barely covered the minimum. Makoto wanted to ask how that would protect her in battle but then decided against it. If there was something that Eiko was peculiar about, it was her style. And noone wanted to have drama with her. Her fighting skills were below average, but she had a sharp tongue that would always find a weak spot.

Ann cast her a sceptic look as well. While she certainly wasn‘t opposed to showing some skin now and then, it seemed like this was too much even for her standards. She put on a grin "Who are you trying to impress?“

Eiko made a waving hand gesture before saying "Noone really… Besides, all the guys here are either into someone else or super strange… That settlement that I‘m spotting out right now has some cute guys though...“ she said while spinning around in front of the mirror.

The other three girls shared a look before Haru asked "Who do you consider strange?“.

Eiko looked at Haru "Well, Yusuke of course. I mean.. he knows how to paint and stuff, but honestly… he‘s just sooo weird. What‘s with him and that creepy obsession with lobsters? I thought we finally get some fancy dinner, but no. He painted them before handing them back to the merchant.“

Haru shrugged. "They would have been expensive…“ she pointed out

Eiko continued "And Mishima is just straight-up boring. Shinya and Morgana don‘t count of course, they‘re kids.“

Ann continued looking through the closet while saying "None of them seem to know how to capture a girls heart… Ryuji sure is obnoxious...“

Eiko looked at Ann with a knowing grin "Ryuji is actually kinda cute, but he‘s soo into you that noone stands a chance.“

Ann almost dropped the coat-hangers that she just held "What?“ she screeched. Even Makoto had to hide her grin now.

"Oh please. The way he looks at you says it all. And all this pretend bickering… why don‘t you just admit that you want to tear each others clothes off?“

Anns cheeks turned bright red as she frantically schook her head "He stares at every girl. He‘s not into me. We‘re just… professional partners.“

Eiko snorted "Yeah, right. I bet his eyes will pop out if you return in one of those ballgowns.“

"Yeah, because it‘s Ryuji. His eyes are always close to popping when there‘s a girl around.“ Ann sighed, remembering how his only comment on whether to take Eiko in or not was, that he thought she was cute. But something held her back from telling her.

"I think you‘re giving him less credit than he deserves.“ Haru remarked. "He worries about noone as much as about you.“

"That‘s probably more because of that stupid promise that he made to my parents than anything else. He‘d rather die than break a promise.“

"I‘m telling you, you‘ll end up together.“ Eiko insisted. "Exactly like Ren and Makoto.“

While Makoto was actually slightly amused by Ann squirming under Eikos interrogation, she was now terrible uncomfortable when all eyes were on here. She could feel her cheeks heating up again. "Wh-...what?“

"Oh, please! You‘re already acting like an old married couple. You‘re like our parents. Sending us to bed, giving us chores. And you should have seen the look he gave her before we left!“ Eiko rambled.

"That‘s just the job a leader has to do..“ Makoto stammered. She should have just stayed home. As if shopping wasn‘t bad enough, now she was also caught up in serious girl-talk. Talking about which of the boys in their group was hot was terribly unprofessional…

But Eiko smelled prey, so she continued "You know… you keep pretending that you don‘t care about your looks and that you‘re this tough girl with the brass knuckles. And still, everytime Ren enters the room, I see you adjusting your outfit. You‘re sooo trying to impress him… just in your own way.“

Makoto was speechless. It was extremely uncomfortable to be read like a book by your obnoxious roommate. She was used to the other girls, but noone was quite as annoying as Eiko when she was right.

"Makoto, why don‘t you look for something too?“ Ann asked while holding a few tops in front of her body.

"I.. think I‘m good. Thanks.“ Makoto said.

Eiko rolled her eyes "You always act like everything human is beneath you. Why don‘t you just accept your quirks, Miss Buchimaru pajama pants? We‘re here to have fun, so why did you even come if you‘re just gonna sit there and look down on us?“

Makoto furrowed her brow "Because you dragged me here.“

"Oh, please. As if I could have forced you to do anything that you didn‘t want to!“ Eiko approached her, that arrogant grin on her face "I think you secretly want to be here, but you‘re embarassed.“

Haru looked at her, hurt "Is that true, Mako?“

"No! Of course not!“ Makoto tried to find an excuse.

"Why were you so embarassed then, when Ren asked?“ Eiko wanted to know.

"I… I don‘t know...“ Makoto stammered. She really didn‘t know. Ren and the rest of their group were the first people who had actually looked at her like a human being with feelings. But letting go of old habits was hard. Even before Jinbocho, her upbringing had always been rather… cold. Her sisters plans on stepping into their fathers footsteps had been dominating her entire childhood.

"It‘s okay if you don‘t want to try stuff on, Makoto. Leave it be, Eiko.“ Ann stepped in, her voice gentle but firm at the same time.

Makoto put her index finger on her chin in thought. Maybe Eiko was right. She was most of the time, even if it was terribly annoying to admit. She had been embarassed to admit to Ren that she was off to have fun with her friends. She didn‘t want him to think that she was taking a day off when others were working. She didn‘t want him to think any less of her. But it seemed like everytime she did something in fear of looking bad in front of him, it made her appear robotic. Even as she was sitting there on the window sill, thinking about her actions, she could hear Ren saying "Beep boop“ over and over again. She sighed before getting up "You know what…. Maybe I‘ll take a look.“ She flinched when three girls started giggling and rounding up on her to trap her in a group hug. It surely wasn‘t something that Makoto was comfortable with. But she found that she could get used to this.

"Oooh, you have to try this on! This will look super good on you!“ Ann said as she pushed a bundle into Makotos hands.

Makoto sighed. Agreeing to join them had motivated the girls to pick out something for her. So far, they had only given her things that had a pretty good balance of practical, comfortable and not too shabby-looking. She appreciated it. As she unpacked the bundle that Ann gave her, she felt a little bit unsure, but decided to put it on nonetheless. So far, Eiko and Ann had catered to the amusement by intentionally dressing up in the most horrible clothes that they could find. What Makoto was putting on now surely couldn‘t be as bad.

Haru had a wide smile on her face when Makoto stepped in front of the mirror. Ann had picked out a white blouse-dress and black leggings. Around her waist, there was a narrow black belt, giving the dress a little shape.

"It looks really mom-like, but it totally fits you.“ Eiko said. Makoto decided to take it as a compliment. As far as she knew, Eiko had nothing against her parents.

"You look so pretty, Mako-chan!“ Haru beamed.

Ann looked incredibly pleased with herself as she watched Makoto staring into the mirror. "I… like it.“ Makoto said, a slight smile spreading across her face.

"You‘re totally taking this.“ Eiko said.

Makoto pondered for a moment "But.. where would I ever wear this?“

Ann rolled her eyes "You‘re overthinking it. We‘re not even paying, so if you like it, you take it. We‘ll just make ourselves a situation to wear it!“ she grinned.

"You would look so good while reading!“ Haru giggled.

"Ren won‘t be able to take his eyes off of you!“ Eiko cackled.

"That‘s.. not what I‘m going for...“ Makoto squirmed.

"Ugh, enough with the boy-talk. We‘re not dressing up for them.“ Ann rolled her eyes.

"I wish I could talk like that, but I don‘t have a guy following on my heels wherever I go.“ Eiko huffed.

"He‘s not following me! We‘re just going into the same direction a lot!“ Ann debated.

"Also, wasn‘t it Ann who followed Ryuji out of their settlement?“ Haru asked, immediatly regreting it when Ann shot her a look.

"Wait, WHAT?“ Eiko shrieked in excitement, grabbing Ann by the shoulders "You really left BECAUSE of him?“. Ann wanted to cover her ears when Eiko directly yelled at her. "Could it be any more OBVIOUS?“ Eiko was almost jumping. If Makoto hadn‘t known that Eiko couldn‘t read, she would have said that that girl had read too many romance-novels.

Ann brushed her hands off "It wasn‘t like that!“ she defended herself. She hated that Eiko portrayed her and Ryuji as some love-sick teenagers, like there was no moment of their days that they weren‘t thinking about each other. They had been through far too many hardships together to be downgraded like this by a desperate teenager who knew less than a quarter of their story. But Eiko was too far gone into her imaginative world, where everything was about love and secret crushes. Maybe it was some kind of trauma, after suffering under Kamoshida who had never loved anyone else than himself. It was still horribly annoying at times. Especially because now both Ann and Makoto would have to be on the look-out to not get into any ambiguous situations with Ryuji and Ren, for it would only fuel her ideas.

While Ann was brooding, Eikos attention had shifted to something else in the closet "Oooh! We should totally go on a beach trip someday!“ she suddenly exclaimed.

"Where are you getting these ideas from?“ Makoto asked, surprised about the sudden change of topic. While Eiko had been busy with shaking Ann, Makoto had changed back into the clothes that she had arrived in. She decided to take the dress with her. Ann was right, nothing spoke against taking it. Even if she would just look incredibly good while sitting in her favourite reading chair.

Eiko held up several small pieces of cloth "Because I just found Bikinis.“.

"I think I‘ve never been to the beach before...“ Haru said.

"I‘ve only seen the old harbour, but there was no beach there...“ Ann said.

"I think it‘s a pretty long way to go… Definitly too long to march...“ Makoto said.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I‘m leaving them here.“ Eiko sighed.

"I think we‘re done here, then. We should get going soon, we shouldn‘t be out after sundown.“ Ann said before stuffing all her new-acquired clothes into the brought bag.

"Oh, I would like to check downstairs for provisions.“ Haru said after packing the rest.

"Yeah, good idea.“ Makoto agreed.

"I would kill for something sweet right now...“ Ann muttered as the group was walking downstairs.

"Me too…“ Haru sighed as she looked around the downstairs hallway. „I‘ll go check the kitchen. Could you look around the other rooms?“

The girls nodded before Ann and Eiko wandered off to the dining room and the living area. Makoto remembered a garage, so she started looking for a door. Sometimes, people stored some cans and stuff in there. When she saw a door that aligned with her memory of the outside, she carefully opened it. Since there were no windows, the place was dark, but there was a faint outline of something big, that made her catch her breath. "Guys… Can you come give me some light here?“ she called out.

Ann and Eiko appeard, Ann had already dug out her flashligh. She looked alert "Shadows?“ she mouthed.

Makoto shook her head before motioning her to direct the flashlight into the garage. The three girls gasped when they saw it.

Coming across a working, or at least promising-looking car, was very rare nowadays. It was also very rare to find fuel for it. And still, as Makoto, Ann and Eiko stared at the pick-up truck in front of them, they couldn‘t help but hope that it still worked.

"Can we take it?“ Eiko blurted.

Makoto was sceptic as she carefully walked around the vehicle. She hadn‘t seen a lot of working cars. The principal used to have one and he had taught her how to keep it in shape. From the looks, it looked promising, but who knew about the tank.

In the meantime, Haru had returned from the kitchen, her bag looking a little fuller than before. But her mind was in a completely different place when she saw the car. "Can you jump-start it, Mako?“ she immediatly asked. Besides Makoto, Haru was the one who indirectly had the most experience with cars. As the daughter of one of the richest men, they had had a few cars of their own.

Makoto carefully opened the drivers door "We won‘t even need to. The key‘s still in the ignition.“ she said.

"Oh, this is almost too good to be true!“ Haru beamed.

Makoto carefully got behind the wheel and turned the key. After a few coughs from the engine, the car jumped to life under loud cheering from the girls. "What does the tank say?“ Ann yelled over the engine-noise.

Makoto couldn‘t hide a wide smile when she answered "Almost full.“. She switched off the engine again before getting out and saying "Come on, we have to get the garage-door open!“

With combined effort, the four girls managed to push open the garage-door. Makotos hands were shaking when she got behind the wheel again. She couldn‘t believe it. Haru was beaming too as she slid into the passenger seat beside her. In the back, she could hear Ann and Eiko climbing up onto the loading space. When Ann gave the roof a slap, Makoto gently pressed down the accelerator. There were loud cheers coming from the back as the car slowly crept forward.

Back home, Ryuji and Ren were sitting on a rickety bench in front of the house, exhausted from a day of hard work. Beside them, Yusuke was sitting on the ground, carving another wood-sculpture that would end up completely beyond recognition. Morgana and Shinya were off shooting some cans with the slingshot and Mishima was taking a nap in the living room.

"Man… I‘m freakin tired, but I feel like we got a lot done today.“ Ryuji yawned.

Ren nodded "Yeah, the reinforcements around the look-out posts are looking good. Now we just have to hope that we will never be in the situation to be grateful for them.“

Like an animal on the flight, Yusuke suddenly lifted his head, looking around in confusion. His brow furrowed before he said "Do you hear something odd approaching us?“

Ren and Ryuji strained their ears. "There is some rumbling that grows louder...“ Ren had to agree, carefully getting up in suspicion.

Ryuji stretched his arms before saying "So what? The gate‘s closed, no way anyone's coming in through there without turning into toast.“

"This doesn‘t sound like a someone, but a something.“ Yusuke now got up as well, grabbing his rifle.

"Dude, don‘t make such a drama“ Ryuji looked bored as he reluctantly got up. "Would it make you feel better if we stand by the gate?“. He reached for the shotgun that had been resting beside him until now.

Upon arrival at the gate, Ryuji turned around to look at the guys "See? Nothing here. Don‘t know where this rumbling's coming from, but it‘s not here for us...“ he said before realizing how wide Rens and Yusukes eyes became all of a sudden. He turned towards the gate again. "What the-?“ he cursed before raising the shotgun at the sight of the pick-up truck approaching them. The angle of the sun made it impossible to see through the windshield.

"They‘re not gonna crash the gate, are they?“ Ryuji panicked.

"How did anyone find us here?“ Yusuke asked, slowly raising his rifle too. Whoever this was, if they got a car, they belonged to some bigger clan.

Ren raised an eyebrow when the car slowly came to a halt in front of the gate. The tension in his shoulders disappeared when a blonde mop of hair popped up from behind the drivers cabin, grinning and waving at them.

"What the shit, Ann? We almost shot you!“ Ryuji yelled when Eiko popped up too with a "Tadaaa“-pose. Yusuke ran to the house to flip the gate-switch to let them in.

After Makoto carefully drove the car up front, Eiko and Ann hopped off the back. Futaba emerged from the house to stare at the car "No way!!“ she exclaimed.

The noise had drawn out the two boys and Mishima too. "Whoah! How cool!“ Shinya said.

"Mako found it.“ Haru smiled as she walked around the car. "We also found some more stuff to eat!“ she said as she walked inside, followed by Eiko.

Ann mustered Yusuke and Ryuji, who still looked a little perplex and pale. "What‘s wrong with you two?“ she asked.

"We thought that we were going to get invaded by a gang...“ Yusuke said.

Ann shrugged before pushing past them to get inside before the others followed her, until only Ren and Makoto were left outside. She was still sitting in the drivers seat, unwilling to let go of the steering wheel.

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest, a grin on his face "Didn‘t know that that‘s what you were shopping for.“

Makoto smiled "Me neither...“

A meek grin spread across his face when he said "Looks good on you.“. He turned around and walked inside again.

A week later, Makoto found herself on another day off, lounging in her favourite reading chair with a book in hand. With a little bit of convincing from Haru, she had put on her new outfit.

It was getting dark and the group that went out that day was about to return soon, when Ren walked past her to start the fire. Except for that a few steps later he abruptly stopped to walk backwards and cast her a confused look. Makoto gave him a puzzled look back and until he must have realized how weird he acted. He put on an impish grin before saying "Sorry… you just look… different.“. He walked to the fire place, looking flustered. Makoto tried to hide her blushing and pretended she didn‘t notice the occassional looks Ren threw her while he pretended to start a fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just formed out of pure silliness, I just felt like having some fun with the characters. If you know my other works, you will also know that I have never written anything from Makotos view, but I think I'm getting the hang of her - or at least how I imagine her to be - and the relationship between her and Joker. But let me know what you think:) I really like the whole dynamic of Eiko being a kind of person that Makoto doesn't know what to do with. 
> 
> Next chapter will be another glimpse into the past before we get started with the next arc!:)


	7. Fox

1,5 years ago

The small settlement Yongen didn‘t share a lot of similarities with its name-patron. But when the sudden shadow-infestation emerged from the cities underground train-system, the first thing that people did was leave the city. Assuming they were able to escape. In an attempt to feel as homely as possible under the new circumstances, people had started naming their encampments after Tokyos districts and neighborhoods. What had first started with a group of tents soon turned into makeshift shacks that turned into real houses. The new Yongen wasn‘t far from the city-border, but there had never been a shadow-assault in the almost 50 years of existence. Yongen was established as a good trading place. A lot of its inhabitants were growing vegetables, a valuable good in times where there was no industrial production anymore. A lot of houses were selling goods from their windows. It was a market, that drew a lot of visitors, even from other settlements. Situated a little outside of Yongens gate stood a small country house with a tavern on the groundfloor, that was well-known for its coffee (from home-grown beans) and curry. The tavern was run by a man around his fifties and was a popular meeting-place for both the villagers and weary travellers, who would sometimes spend a night in one of the empty rooms upstairs. 3 of those rooms were always reserved though. One for the owner, Sojiro Sakura, one for his adoptive daughter Futaba Sakura and one for the two other two boys that he had taken in 2 years ago. Sojiro had been childhood-friends with Rens father, before the Amamiya had decided to set out and settle down somewhere else. Sojiro had only found out from a letter that his childhood friend had found love in his new hometown. It had been an even bigger surprise when one rainy day, an exact copy of his friend was standing in his door, telling him that his parents were dead and that they had told him that he should go look for Sojiro Sakura if something happened to them. Of course Sojiro couldn‘t tell him No. So Ren Amamiya became part of his family. Futaba, who wasn‘t good with people most of the time, took to her new "brother“ suprisingly quick and the boy soon proved to be useful when it came to errands or tending to the garden. But Sojiro would have never thought that the boy would bring in more and more people from time to time. It had been six months after Rens move-in, when the boy brought a young kid in, who had no parents. Of course Sojiro wasn‘t able to deny the little kid a home either, so the boy with the strange name Morgana had moved into Rens room with him and they continued their lives. Until two weeks ago, when Ren and Morgana brought home two homeless teenagers. A boy and a girl, both bright blonde and terribly loud. And still Sojiro found that he liked them. For a short moment, he thought that maybe the blonde girl named Ann was something of a romantic interest for Ren, but he soon sensed that there was something between her and the other boy, Ryuji. It just seemed that they themselves didn‘t know about it yet, but Sojiro had a few more years on his back and owning a tavern had taught him to read people. And so their "family“ had grown once more and the old man found himself enjoying the company and the help. Ann soon became everyones favourite waitress (although Sojiro wasn‘t too happy to see that some people purely liked to gawk at the pretty girl), Ryuji had actually developed some skills as a fairly decent bartender (he also looked like enough muscle to act as a bouncer, if the need ever arose). Sojiro had decided to teach Ren and Futaba his popular curry-recipe, so these two took their turns in the kitchen. Morgana was mainly used to do the dishes while Sojiro had his hands free to practice the art of coffee-making. Seeing the tavern bustling with life in the evening was a heartwarming sight. Life was good.

Ren awoke to faint noises from the adjacent room. Sojiro must be getting up. The old mans bed was on the verge of breaking down and made the most horrible noises. Lucky for everyone, that Sojiro barely moved in his sleep. Ren sat up in his bed to stretch his arms before looking at his roommates. Morgana was curled up in a blanket on the double seater on the other side of the room. Ryuji was faintly snoring on a matress on the floor, his arms and legs sprawled out in every direction. With three people living in this room, it started to feel crowded. Ren silently got up and got dressed, almost losing balance when he tried to not step onto Ryujis hand. As he walked into the hallway, the opposite door opened to reveal Ann, her hair stuffed into a messy bun, stifling a yawn. "Good morning.“ Ren grinned.

"Oh! Sorry, good morning.“ Ann smiled.

"Futaba‘s still asleep?“

The girl nodded "Yeah… she‘s holed up in her pillow-fort.“

The two walked downstairs and sat down at one of the booths. Ren made them a quick cup of coffee. Out of their group, Ann and him were the only ones who enjoyed it. Ann smiled as she took the cup from him, wrapping both her hands around it.

"So, how‘re you feeling? Have you settled in alright?“ Ren asked.

Ann swirled the coffee before saying "Yeah. I can‘t believe that Boss was so okay with us just moving in. I really like it here.“ she chewed her lip before saying "We will always be in your debt. If you ever need anything, please, let me know.“

Ren nodded before saying "I‘m glad you‘re here. And I think Sojiro likes you too.“ he watched her staring at her coffee. "You know… as far as I know, there‘s a few traders that are travelling between your old settlement and here. If.. there‘s anyone that you want to know you‘re okay.“

Ann looked up, speechless for a moment. “That would be great.“ she smiled again “Thanks.“

"Can I ask you a question?“ Ren suddenly asked.

"Sure.“ Ann answered.

"Back at your settlement… What happened, that Ryuji got exiled?“

Ann pondered for a moment before answering "Our settlement was all about every household contributing as best as possible. If you were useful for the settlement, they would protect you in return. Ryujis father wasn‘t there, so he had always worked hard to take some weight off his moms shoulders. We went to school for a few years, before we both decided that we wanted to see what‘s going on outside. So we joined our settlements exploration team. After Ryuji and I decided to go solo with the whole scavenging, other settlements asked for our help and the council saw the chances and started to "sell“ our services. We were in a pretty high position all of a sudden. The only demand that we ever had was that our parents stayed safe.“ she swallowed before continuing "When we returned that one day, they had been already three days into rebuilding everything, so it wasn‘t obvious to us what happened. We just went home to find our parents gone.“ her jaw was clenched when she stared at her coffee "We had to go and ask the council before they told us that our parents had died at the frontline, fighting off bandits.“. A single tear ran down her cheek "At first, they had the guts to tell us that they had volunteered, but we both knew that they would have never done that. The commander of the security-brigade told us, that the seasoned troops had all been out raiding a bank and that the settlement was guarded by a minimum over the last days. They must have been spotted out by the bandits a few days prior. When they attacked, they were able to get in in no time and so the council started to order everyone else to take a stand. There even is a bunker, they could have just hidden there. But they didn‘t. The council ordered everyone to fight because they didn‘t want to lose their riches. Our parents weren‘t the only civilians that died that day.“ she balled her fist. "I guess by now you can guess how Ryuji reacted. He was furious. For a second I thought that they would shoot him on the spot when he tried to leap over the table. But I think that they knew that they had messed up. They knew that we would never forgive them and that Ryuji would never stop to make their life hell, so to save their faces, they exiled him.“. Her hands were shaking as she finished.

"And you went with him...“ Ren continued.

A small smile appeared on her face "Yeah… I know how this must look… Back then, when they escorted him to the gate, they paraded him around the street, like he was the bad person. And I followed. I don‘t know why but...it was without a question that I would go with him. Not only because I could never look at or work for the people who sent my parents to their deaths, but because we grew up next to each other, we went to school together… not to mention the whole "Skull and Panther“-thing… I… really can‘t remember not knowing him. We‘ve been through so much together already. So… I‘ll always have his back. And I know that he will always have mine.“ she chuckled "It sounds so cheesy...“

Ren grinned "You sure have a connection.“

Ann nodded "I guess that‘s what growing up together does to you.“

"Does what?“ Ryuji asked as he jumped down the stairs to throw himself into the booth beside Ann "What were ya talking about?“

"You have really bad breath....“ Ann wrinkled her nose.

"So? You have bags under your eyes.“ Ryuji answered.

"Don‘t we all?“ Sojiro shook his head as he walked in. "And what way is that to talk to a lady?“ he reprimanded.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow "She‘s no lady. You have no idea how many people she kicked in the crotch. What lady does that?“

"I‘m sure Lady Ann had her reasons! You sure deserved it!“ Morgana said upon entering.

"She didn‘t kick me, you idiot!“ Ryuji hissed.

Ann covered her face "Can we please stop talking about me kicking crotches?“

"No way! I wanna hear all about this!“ Futaba said as she appeared in the room and squeezed onto the bench beside Morgana.

Sojiro stood behind the bar, smiling. He didn‘t miss his quiet mornings.

It was around midday when the group wandered through the streets of Yongen, doing some shopping for Sojiro and finding one of the traders to take Anns letter. They had split up for a while to each peruse the market and the settlement on their own before meeting up in the city-center again. Ren and Morgana each had a bag with groceries for the tavern. Ryuji came back with an apple in hand.

"Man, it‘s been a while since I had a fresh apple...“ Ryuji grinned before taking another bite.

"The people here sure know how to grow stuff...“ Ren said.

"No shit..“ Ryuji looked happy.

In the meantime, Morgana was nervously scanning the place "Have you seen Lady Ann? She‘s late!“

Ryuji shrugged "I‘m sure she‘s fine, she probably got caught up at some stand...“

Ten minutes later, the blonde ponytail appeared in their line-of-sight, looking bothered.

"There you are. Have you seen the apples that they have here?“ Ryuji asked, eating the last piece.

"Huh? Oh.. yeah. Looks great..“ Ann absentmindedly said, nervously scanning their surrounding.

"Something wrong?“ Ren asked.

"No. It‘s nothing, let‘s just go.“ Ann answered, casting a nervous glance over her shoulder before starting to walk.

Ren, Morgana and Ryuji shared a confused look before following her.

As they were walking back to the main gates, Anns strange behaviour didn‘t let up as she continued nervously watching her back and flinching whenever someone rounded a corner. They were almost at the gate when Ann turned around to them, whispering "I think someone‘s following us...“

Ryuji looked at her with a raised eyebrow "I dunno… we‘re walking to the maingate…“

"Ugh, listen to me! I had a feeling since I gave my letter to that guy...“ Ann was annoyed.

The blonde boy sighed before saying "Fine… Come on, guys.“. He pushed past Ann, motioning the other guys to come with him.

"What are you doing? You can‘t leave her behind like that!“ Morgana whined as he had trouble keeping up with Ren and Ryujis pace as they approached the main gate.

"Will you relax for once? We‘re not leaving her behind.“ Ryuji said through gritted teeth before shoving the two into a side-street. The three peeked around a corner and watched as Ann walked towards the gate only to stop a few steps before it, staring into the distance. She was right, there actually was a tall, lanky creature approaching her with confident steps.

The stranger had almost reached Ann when Ryuji left his cover again with huge strides. The lanky stranger reached out with his hand to grab her by the shoulder only to have it swatted away by Ryuji, who built himself up between Ann and the stranger. Morgana and Ren quickly took their places beside him. Ren mustered the stranger, that must have been about their age. He definitly didn‘t look like a robber. He looked frail, as if a gust of wind could blow him away. His hair was blueish-black and a few loose strands hung into his eyes as he stared at the group in surprise, absent-mindedly rubbing the hand that Ryuji just slapped.

Besides Ren, Ryuji looked confused before he turned back to Ann "Seriously? That‘s the one you were scared of. This twig?“ he asked incredulous.

Ann huffed as she eyed her stalker before angrily replying to Ryuji "I didn‘t get a proper look at him! I just knew that I was being followed!“

"May I ask what this is about?“ the tall stranger politely asked. He acted incredibly noble and correct. He looked like he honestly had no idea what he could have done wrong.

Ann gaped at him before stepping forward "That‘s my question! Why were you following me?!“ she shrieked.

"Yes, how dare you?“ Morgana tried to act tough while beeing three heads shorter than their opponent.

"My apologies, I didn‘t mean to scare you. I just caught a glimpse of you in that alley and thought that I had to meet you.“ the stranger bowed before adding "My name is Yusuke Kitagawa.“

Ryuji raised an eyebrow "For real? You just came to hit on her?“

The demeanor of Yusuke changed immediatly before answering, a little affronted "That is outrageous, my pursuit was of a purely professional nature.“

Ann crossed her arms in front of her chest "So you need us to go look for something for you?“

Yusuke looked confused before answering "No…. Nonetheless, I do have a business offer for you, Miss…?“

"Panther.“ Ann answered curtly, looking tired of him beating around the bush.

"Miss… Panther... when I saw you in that alley, I felt something that I haven‘t been feeling for a long time...“

"Dude, gross...“ Ryuji made a face.

Yusuke threw him an annoyed look before continuing "Inspiration.“ That left all four of them gaping.

"What?“ Ann asked, confused.

"I would like to ask you to model for me. I‘m a painter and I have been facing this creative slump for a while now. I feel like with your help, I could finally create something to be proud of again.“ Yusuke explained.

"You want to paint her?“ Morgana looked unsure of what to think about this.

"I mean… how much are ya willing to pay?“ Ryuji shrugged, immediatly flinching when Ann whacked him across the back of the head.

"What the hell? Stop selling me off!“ she shrieked.

"Chill! If he just wants to draw you some place pretty, it‘s easy money!“ Ryuji defended himself.

Yusuke eagerly nodded "Indeed. I would merely require you to pose for me for a couple of hours. If your friend insists, I would be willing to pay, although I have to warn you that my funds are rather limited.“

Ann suddenly smiled. "I mean… I love art and if I would be able to help an artist in need…. I would be honored.“

Ryuji cast her a suspicious sideways-glance before snorting "Since when do you care about art?“

"Since always!“ Ann huffed "Art is very important!“

The lanky teenager nodded before saying "You have no idea how grateful I am.... I already have the perfect setting in mind. With your assistance, I will be able to paint the most breathtaking nude painting ever.“

Ryujis jaw dropped so far, that Ren feared that it would hit the ground. Morgana did likewise while Ann instinctively covered herself with her arms before shrieking "WHAT?“.

"You could have said that earlier...“ Ren remarked.

"La-… Lady… Ann.. nude?“ Morgana stammered, his cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Great, now you broke the kid!“ Ryuji said, an amused grin spreading on his face before he turned to a pale-faced Ann "So… art is important, right?“. He was obviously amused by her horrified face "Guess you‘ll have to go nude...“ he sang.

"No, no, no, no! Hold on! I haven‘t agreed to anything!“ Ann panicked.

Yusuke looked hurt "But… Panther.. I thought that you would help me...“

Ann squirmed "I do want to help you… but there has to be another way...“

The lanky teenager sighed "It‘s no use… I will never find inspiration again...“

The blonde girl looked compassionate when she stepped forward and placed her hand on his upper arm "Maybe… I can help you find something else to paint? Maybe I can be your muse… but in a… clothed… way?“ she proposed.

Yusuke didn‘t seem entirely convinced when he reluctantly said "Maybe… it‘s worth a try...“

Ann made plans to meet up with Yusuke the next day. Since the artist stated that he felt smothered inside of this settlement, they decided to look for inspiration outside of the gates. The next day, Yusukes initial smile when he saw Ann approaching immediately turned sour when he saw the three boys walking with her.

"Panther… I didn‘t know that you would bring your friends again...“ he couldn‘t hide his disappointment.

Ryuji crossed his arms "Like hell we‘re going to leave her alone with you.“

Morgana puffed out his chest "Lady Anns chastity is on the line!“

Ryuji and Ren cast the kid an exhausted look "For real?“ Ryuji sighed.

Ann herself didn‘t look entirely pleased to have a 12 year old kid talk about her chastity, but she decided to ignore it. Ren almost felt pity for her, since all of yesterdays evening had been spent with Ryuji being terribly amused by how her try to look sophisticated and charitable had backfired so marvellously and Morgana, who fulminated about how Lady Ann needed to be protected. By the end of the day, she had looked like she was ready to kick out both of them.

Ann sighed before saying "Please ignore them, you won‘t even notice them being here. And since someone was unable to stick to codenames-“ she shot an angry glance at Morgana “you can call me Ann”. She put on a smile "So, where should we start?“

"I have been thinking, and I thought that we could visit the nearby lake. Maybe something will spark my inspiration there...“

"Sure!“ Ann smiled before leading the way. It was a sunny day, the roads around Yongen were busy and for a moment, life actually seemed peaceful.

"So, Yusuke. How did you end up in Yongen?“ Ren asked as they were strolling along one of the paths.

"Well, I have been travelling for some time now. Since my mothers death, I‘m on my own. As a painter you can‘t really stay in the same place for too long.“

"Why‘s that?“ Ryuji asked.

"At some point, everyone who wants a painting from you, has one. Also, I suspect my staying far too long in my last location is the reason why I find myself in this creative slump today.“

"You‘ve been on the road your whole life?!“ Morgana asked, disbelieving.

Yusuke nodded "Yes. It used to be only my mother and I. She was an exceptional artist. My mother always was most inspired while travelling. Whenever we were on the road to the next settlement, she would stop whenever something piqued her interest. And then she would paint, right then and there. The paintings that sprouted from our trips would always sell in the next town. Sometimes, people even lined up in hope of getting a hold of one of my mothers works of art.“ he turned thoughtful. "I think her paintings served as a window for those who never dared to go outside the gates...“

"That sounds really beautiful.“ Ann softly said.

"Everything I know about art, I learned from my mother. But no matter how hard I try.. I was never able to love the sheer beauty of a landscape as much as she did. And that showed in my paintings.“

"But… there‘s gotta be something else that sparks your inspiration!“ Ann said.

"Except nudes...“ Ryuji muttered from the back row, making Ren chuckle.

They arrived at a small pond. Hence the beautiful day, here too was a lot of commotion. There even was a rowing boat out on the calm water of the lake.

The group stood on a clearing, observing the scenery. Ann turned to Yusuke "So? Do you feel anything?“

Yusuke pondered before forming a rectangle with his fingers, traversing it from left to right. "Hm… This couple on the rowing boat… This is it! I can feel it!“ he hastily drove his easel into the dirt and put the canvas that he had carried around with him on his back on it.

Ann cast an unsure glance at the guys before shrugging.

"That was fast...“ Ren muttered to Ryuji who seemed equally baffled.

"So we just had to escort him to a lake?“ Morgana sighed.

For the next hour, Yusuke was in a trance and focused on nothing else than the canvas. The others had sat down in the grass, enjoying the warm air while waiting for Yusuke to come back to reality. Morgana was wandering around, inspecting bugs. Ryuji enjoyed another apple while Ann was laying in the grass, her eyes closed, enjoying the warming sun. Ren leaned against a tree beside Ryuji, toying with the knife that he always carried around.

"Maaan, how much longer is this gonna take?“ Ryuji sighed.

"Patience, Ryuji… Like making good coffee, art takes time.“ Ren recited.

"You sound like Boss...“ the blonde boy answered.

"Where else would I have learned a coffee-reference?“ Ren answered with a smug grin.

"But man, I can‘t believe that we‘ve been here for almost 2 weeks now… Guess we had a lot of sleep to catch up on..“ Ryuji said, his head resting against the tree.

"I‘m glad that you decided to stay with us. And I know that Boss feels the same.“

"Yeah, I‘m glad too.“ Ryuji grinned before taking another bite of his apple.

"Yesterday morning… Ann told me about what happened at your settlement. I‘m really sorry...“ Ren said.

Ryuji clenched his jaw before saying "Thanks… It‘s probably best that she was the one who told you. I tend to start yelling.“

"I can‘t blame you...“ Ren shrugged.

Ryuji took a deep breath before saying "I.. think I'm slowly starting to work through it..“ he cast a quick look at Ann, who was dozing in the grass in front of them "Right now.. All I wanna do is keep the rest of my family safe.“. With a grin, he faced Ren "And that means all of you now.“

Ren had to grin "I can tell that Sojiro already feels a lot safer since that one time you literally threw that guy out the door….“

Ryuji grinned wide.

"I think I‘m finished!“ Another hour had passed until Yusuke finally spoke the magic words.

"Finally!“ Morgana and Ryuji groaned in unison, slowly getting up from the ground.

"Can we see it?“ Ann asked as she walked up to him.

Yusuke reluctantly stepped aside for the others to see it.

"It‘s really pretty!“ Ann said.

"So you went for the boat.“ Ren remarked as he eyed the painting.

Yusuke nodded "Yes. Something about these two rowers has caught my eye. They look so enamored with each other… I have always wanted to put some more emphasis on feelings in my paintings.“

Ren creased his brow "Enamored, you say?“. His gaze wandered between the canvas and the small rowing boat in front of them.

The lanky artist answered "Don‘t you agree that they look very much like lovers on a romantic date?“

Ryuji looked at bit confused when he too looked at the models on the lake. "I dunno… Doesn‘t it look like they‘re just… fishing?“ he asked when he noticed the fishing rods.

"Fishing can be a very romantic activity.“ Yusuke argued and even after only knowing him for less than a day, noone doubted that he actually meant it.

Ann tried hard to hide her disagreement with his statement and instead put on a warm smile.

Ren squinted at the rowing boat once more before turning to Yusuke "I‘m really sorry, but I‘m pretty sure those two are the son and daughter of one of the fishermen in Yongen...“

Yusuke took a step back "You mean…?“

Ren nodded "Yeah… those two are siblings...“

Ann looked at him with wide eyes while Ryuji was clutching his stomach, shaking with laughter.

Yusuke looked like someone slapped him across the face. "But…. What I saw...“ he stammered.

Ann hastily looked for something to say "You know… maybe you just sensed their…. Deep connection… like siblings have sometimes?“ she nervously tried to calm the perplexed Yusuke down.

The artist shook his head "No.. I was so sure that I saw passion and love in their eyes...“ he muttered.

"Well… they are pretty far away...“ Ren tried to reason.

Ann shot Ren an annoyed look before putting her hand on his shoulder "It‘s still a beautiful painting! So what if your original models weren‘t lovers? You just painted another reality.“

"A reality where two siblings are in love with each other?“ Morgana asked, disbelieving.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes before pointing at the painting "Who can say, that the two people in this picture are the exact same people that are sitting on that boat? Yusuke just saw a boat with two people in it and then imagined that this would be a nice setting for a romantic date. Nothing in this picture says that the two people in it HAVE to be the two people we see now.“ she argued.

Yusuke sighed before shaking his head "You speak kind words, Takamaki.. But the truth ist still, that I misread my models. And to think that I wanted to accentuate their feelings… I failed miserably.“ he looked depressed as he collected the canvas and his easel. "Maybe I was always destined to paint portraits...“

"Wait! Don‘t you want to give it another try? Maybe we can find something else?“ Ann said.

Yusukes shoulders were slumped "I appreciate your offer, Takamaki, but maybe I should just stop trying..“

"You can‘t give up after one try!“ Ryuji agreed.

Ann nodded before grabbing the painters arm "I told you that I was going to help. And I will. We all will.“ she smiled at him.

Yusuke sighed before agreeing "Thank you.“ he looked at the lake one more time before saying "But let‘s go back for now. I feel kind of drained...“

The group nodded.

It took another week until Yusuke Kitagawa requested the groups assistance in his pursue of art once more. Before parting the last time, Ren had given the artist the location of LeBlanc, stating that he should come find them as soon as he was ready to continue. And so it happened that one morning, the tall teenager stepped foot into the tavern.

"I have found another perspective.“ Yusuke anounced as they were seated around one of the tables, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"So, what pair of siblings do you want to draw next?“ Ryuji asked, immediatly catching a mean look from Ann.

Yusuke chuckled before answering "I have come to the conclusion, that there are more emotions to feel. So I wanted to try something else. There should be a small church somewhere nearby. I would like to go there today.“

Inside the church, it was cold and musty. It didn‘t look like a lot of people visited this place anymore. The group was standing at the altar, quizzically looking at Yusuke, who tried to "capture the essence“ of the place.

Ren cleared his throat "So, why exactly are we here?“

Yusuke put on a faint smile before saying "Today I want to dive into another human emotion.“ he put in a dramatic pause. "Anguish.“

"He‘s going to kill us!“ Morgana shrieked.

"I knew I shouldn‘t have come with you!“ Futaba complained. After hearing of their bizarre lake-adventure, she had been surprisingly interested in meeting Yusuke.

Ryuji looked annoyed when he cracked his knuckles "For real, man? You gotta be shitting us...“

Yusuke shook his head "Please, settle down again. I do require your work as my models, but I would rather have you reenact the anguish, than truly feel it.“

"You seem awfully convinced that you could cause all of us anguish...“ Ren said.

"I‘m no stranger to katana and rifle.“ Yusuke deadpanned.

"You‘re still short-handed.“ Ryuji argued.

"Can we get started already? It‘s really cold in here.“ Ann cut through their argument.

Yusukes easel was placed on the bottom of the five steps that lead up to the altar. On top of the stairs, the rest of the group was standing, confused with the instructions the artist tried to give them.

"Okay, now give me a pose of anguish!“

"What does that even mean?“ Futaba leaned over to Ren.

"Maybe just do a cross-pose?“ Ann whispered a suggestion.

"This is so stupid...“ Ryuji muttered.

"MORE ANGUISH!“ Yusuke ordered.

In a sudden flash of insanity, Ren pulled his left knee up and stretched his hands into the air. The others looked at him with obvious amusement before imitating him, stifling their giggling while doing so.

"PERFECT!“ Yusuke exclaimed, making the whole situation even funnier when he frantically started painting.

"How long do we have to stay like this?!“ Futaba complained after 5 minutes, starting to hop around to keep her balance.

"I haven‘t even done the outlines yet!“ Yusuke answered, causing everyone to groan in annoyance.

"I think my leg‘s about to fall off...“ Ryuji whined.

"Funny you mention it. Wasn‘t it you, who said that modeling is just about sitting somewhere pretty?“ Ann asked.

"We wouldn‘t even be here if you would have just agreed to go nude.“ Ryuji retorted. Ann let out on offended gasp before she started to elbow him, causing Ryuji to try to defend himself as much as possible while standing on one leg.

"Get it together, you two!“ Morgana exhorted, doing a few hops to escape their fight zone.

Another 5 minutes of Ann and Ryuji mock-fightig and teasing passed before the blonde girl definitively lost her balance and crashed into Ryuji, who then set off a chain-reaction that took the other three down with them.

"Can we go home now?“ Futaba groaned as they were all laying on the floor, enjoying the moment for a few seconds.

"Yes please...“ Ryuji sighed, holding his gut where Anns elbow had punctured it during the fall.

"Art is exhausting...“ Morgana sounded defeated.

The group slowly got back to their feet again when Yusuke anounced "I think I‘m done with the rough outlines.“

"Please don‘t tell me we have to do this again.“ Ren sighed as he walked up to the easel.

There were a few moments of silence as the group stared at his picture.

"I… really like it.“ Ann almost sounded surprised.

"I have to agree...“ Ren added.

Yusuke looked pleased before he asked "Do you feel the anguish? The pain?“

"I feel pain, but it‘s coming from my legs...“ Futaba sighed.

"I dunno… Maybe I‘m just bad at art.. but this makes me feel kind of… hopeful?“ Ryuji said.

"Oh, now I see it too!“ Ann exclaimed.

"It does look like we‘re celebrating something...“ Morgana said.

Ren noticed how Yusukes modest smile turned upside down.

"I would love to see how it looks when it‘s finished.“ Ann summed up.

Yusuke looked lost "But… once again it completely failed to capture the one thing that I wanted it to...“

"But isn‘t it much more fun to look at something uplifting than anguish?“ Morgana asked.

"I mean… if you want to see something sad, you could just walk around on the outside a little...“ Ren said.

The artist seemed at a loss for words.

"Please! Just finish this! I‘ll even buy it from you!“ Ann looked at Yusuke with her huge eyes "And… maybe you can draw yourself into it too. So it‘s like a group-shot.“

"That sounds awesome! Oh! We could hang it at LeBlanc!“ Futaba exclaimed.

Yusuke still looked depressed.

"I seriously don‘t get how Boss agreed to hang this here...“ Ryuji sighed as they sat together for Breakfast two weeks later. Yusuke had dropped the finished painting off a few days before, claiming that he needed some time to think before going out on another trip.

"It does look a little strange… But I kinda like it...“ Ann said before taking a sip of her coffee.

Ren looked at the now framed picture that hung over the booth that they were sitting in. Yusuke had actually done a pretty good job with recreating their facial features afterwards. Although to someone who had no idea of the origin of this picture, it looked like someone had brought a fever-dream to canvas, he still liked it for the same reason that made Ann buy it. The memory and the fact, that every one of their strange outcast family was in it. Given that Ann had offered money, Yusuke had actually granted her wish and added himself into the picture.

"I think it looks cool. Even if my legs start to hurt as soon as I start to remember that day.“ Futaba said.

"I‘m not surprised. When was the last time you left this place before your little trip with the painter?“ Sojiro asked from behind the bar.

Futaba stuck out her tongue.

"I hope that this was the last time that he wants our help...“ Morgana sighed.

"I feel kind of bad… I said that I would help him and so far we‘ve only brought him down...“ Ann sounded sad.

"Did we though?“ Ren asked. "We told him that we liked it. But we just didn‘t like it the way that he wanted us to like it..“.

"When you put it that way...“ Ryuji said,

"So complicated. What a weirdo...“ Futaba mumbled. They all ignored the chiming of the bell by the door.

"Speak of the devil.“ Sojiro said with a warm smile on his face.

Ren raised his head to look at Yusuke who stood in the doorframe, giving a formal nod to the owner before turning to the group seated around their breakfast table "Good morning. Please forgive me appearing before opening hours.“ his stare was caught on the wall behind them, where his picture was hanging. "I… didn‘t think that you would display my work so prominently.“ he was caught off-guard. "You.. must truly like it.“

"We do!“ Ann assured him with a smile.

"You want some coffee?“ Sojiro asked when Ren invited the lanky artist to sit with them.

"I would appreciate it.“ Yusuke answered.

"Oh, by the way… Where have you been staying all this time?“ Ryuji asked, eating a spoon full of curry.

"I was lucky enough to find someone who lets me stay in their attic for a small fee.“ he answered. „It‘s not comfortable, but it‘s dry and cheap.“

"You‘ve been living in an attic for weeks?“ Futaba was incredulous.

The artist nodded. "I have spent a huge part of my life staying at barns or other places that people were kind enough to offer up for a small price. I have learned to get comfortable in places with no comfort.“. There was a short silence before he continued "But I didn‘t come here to talk about my housing situation. I came to ask you a last favour. But I have to warn you. It‘s a dangerous one.“

"Finally it gets interesting!“ Ryuji grinned.

"I request your escort to Mementos. I want to go down there to capture the essence of humanitys doom.“

The table grew quiet when everyone exchanged unsure looks.

"That‘s… a big project...“ Ann stammered.

"I know. But something… draws me there...“

"Ha! Draw...“ Futaba cackled before everyone threw her a look. "You know… because he‘s a painter...“ she quietly added.

"A death wish, maybe?“ Sojiro huffed from behind the bar.

"Not a lot of people go down there...“ Morgana squirmed.

Ren put a finger to his chin before saying "I mean… why not?“. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "We know how to fight. We‘re stocked up on ammunition… Also.. who knows what other things can be found down there?“. Ann and Ryuji reluctantly nodded. "I guess that means Yes. So let‘s pack up. Futaba and Morgana, you stay with Sojiro.“ Ren ordered.

"What? No! I can come with you and fight!“ Morgana protested.

Futaba eyed him with amusement "You have a slingshot and a toy sword. How do you want to beat a shadow with that?“

"I… I could!“ the kid huffed.

Ann had gotten up from the table and patted Morgana on the head "It‘s okay Morgana. You just stay here and help protect the tavern, okay?“ she said in her sweetest voice, knowing that he could never protest against that.

"Y-..Yes Lady Ann….“ Morgana meekly asked.

15 minutes later, the four teenagers were gathered in front of LeBlanc, weapons equipped and armored as well as possible. It took them another hour of walking until they reached the old city limits. As they strolled through rows and rows of empty houses, they eventually arrived at a staircase downstairs. The access to the Tokyo underground train system. The place where the shadow infestation had emerged all those years ago. Since the outbreak of the shadows had thrown the whole city including its infrastructure into turmoil, there had never been a way of knowing if the same incidents had occured all over the world. Since noone ever came to help, Ren assumed that they weren‘t the only ones in a situation like this. Within a few days, every way of communication had ceased to exist, throwing them into a world without telephones and internet. Since all of this had happened 50 years ago, they only knew about the old days from stories. As far as news had travelled, the bigger the city, the more shadows had suddenly started to emerge from the underground. Within days, everyone had deserted the cities and was fleeing into the country side. Ren hasn‘t been inside the city often. He got a chilly feeling everytime. It seemed like he wasn‘t the only one who felt like this. He saw Ann and Ryuji throwing a nervous look at each other before they all started to descend. The underground tunnels were eerily illuminated by something red. It almost looked like veins were crawling along the walls.

"I don‘t like this place at all...“ Ann muttered, her voice shaky.

"I think these things don‘t like us being here either...“ Ren said before pointing at a wobbly creature that slowly approached them. Reports said that the so-called "shadows“ looked purely supernatual with only occassional similarity to animals. This one was a moving glob with eyes. It looked slimy.

"Eww… What is that?“ Ann made face.

"I hope it doesn‘t swallow up my bat...“ Ryuji said.

Before Ren could answer, a light-footed Yusuke rushed past them, approaching the shadow with swift steps before cutting it in two with his katana. Instead of falling apart, the shadow turned into smoke and disappeared. The other three shared a surprised look.

"Not bad, man!“ Ryuji grinned.

"You weren‘t lying about knowing how to use a katana.“ Ren admitted.

They continued going before Ann eventually said "You know… there‘s no way that a train could make turns like these...“

"It does feel unpractical...“ Yusuke said.

"But there‘s no way that these slime-things built a whole new tunnel-system, right?“ Ryuji argued.

"I mean… something also made these strange beings appear, so I wouldn‘t rule anything out...“ Ren answered.

After a few more fights, the group reached a slightly bigger platform with a stairway leading further down. Yusuke formed a rectangle with his fingers again, scanning his surrounding. "Yes… I think this is the right spot...“

"So it‘s waiting again.“ Ryuji sighed, leaning against one of the pillars.

"This place gives me the creeps… It feels like something‘s lurking for us around every corner...“ Ann complained, absentmindedly rolling up and unrolling her whip while nervously shuffling about.

"I think we should be good for now… So far, none of these shadows have given us real trouble either…“ Ren said, skillfully spinning the dagger in his hand.

"We didn‘t even have to bust out our guns.“ Ryuji grinned as he patted the baseball bat beside him.

"I wonder what the shadows had looked like on that day...“ Ann said.

"Sojiro said that they were huge and that they looked like creatures from hell...“ Ren told them. While Sakura himself had only been a little boy when the shadow-infestation happened, he had still happened to see far too many of them over his life. "He told us that in the beginning, the shadows used to roam around on the surface more often. Especially before there were these established encampments, that were secured...“.

"That‘s so messed up...“ Ryuji muttered.

"But.. what I never understood was Why? What do the shadows want from us humans?“ Ann asked.

"Beats me...“ Ryuji shrugged before turning to Ann "Remember that old lady back then, who always told us that the shadows feast on humans and if we wouldn‘t behave, that they would throw us out to get eaten by ‘em?“

"A lot of people think that...“ Ren said "There was this one guy in Yongen who claimed to have seen a shadow kill someone. He swore that they didn‘t eat humans.“

"So what, they‘re just killing for fun?“ Ryuji asked.

Ren shrugged "You‘re guess is as good as mine… Maybe there‘s just some things that we don‘t understand...“

"Too bad we can‘t really go and ask them...“ Ryuji said.

"I don‘t know if I would even want to do that...“ Ann shuddered.

"I‘m done.“ Yusuke anounced after an hour of both nervousness and boredom. He packed up his easel and the canvas again, strapping it to his back with two girths.

"You won‘t even show us?“ Ren asked.

"To be quite frank, I would rather show it to you in the sunlight. Also, I feel like I need to leave this place. The atmosphere in here is… crushing...“

"No shit...“ Ryuji sighed.

The quartet made their way back through the twisted track system when Yusuke suddenly stopped and turned around in confusion. "Do you hear that?“ he asked.

"Hear what?“ Ryuji asked.

"It sounds like…. Chains?“ Ren looked at the others, who seemed as confused as him. Only seconds later, they got to see where the sounds were coming from. The creature that turned around the corner was as tall as the tunnels were high. He was coated in a billowing black cloak. Chains were floating around him and there was a huge scythe in his hand. The sound of his clanking chains got louder and louder by the second. There was no face visible under his black hood. Behind him, Ren heard Ann scream in terror.

"Run!“ Yusuke said, spinning around and starting to run.

Ren nodded as he too began running.

"Fuck! Come on!“ Ryuji yelled, grabbing a rooted Anns wrist and starting to drag her away before she herself started sprinting.

"What the hell is this?“ Ryuji cursed as the group was running through the tunnels, the cloaked figure floating after them at a disturbing speed.

"We‘re gonna die, we‘re gonna die, we‘re gonna die!“ Ann whined, already panting.

"We‘re almost at the exit!“ Yusuke called from the front, his canvas and easle shaking around on his back.

"I really hope your painting is good!“ Ren called back, his thighs already burning when he gave it all he got.

He had almost caught up with Yusuke at the front when he heard Anns worried voice behind his back "Ryuji!“ both of them had slowed down, Ryuji grimaced as he clutched a hand to his thigh, wobbling forward as fast as he could.

"I‘m fine! Just my leg acting up again… Just go!“ he yelled at Ann who made no intention of turning her back on him.

Even meters away, Ren could see Ryuji gritting his teeth before he seemed to push through the pain and started sprinting again, Ann not far behind him. They climbed the steps three at a time. When they reached the top, they dared to turn around only to find the reaper standing downstairs, seemingly unable to move up and into the sunlight. The quartet walked a few steps before they collapsed on the ground, panting and wheezing, desperate for air.

"And I thought posing at the church was exhausting...“ Ren brought out inbetween deep breaths.

"I think I never want to move again… Just leave me here...“ Ann whined.

"That thing sure gave us a good work-out...“ Ryuji winced as he kneaded his thigh with his fingers.

"You okay, Ryuji?“ Ren asked.

"Yeah… just some old injury… I haven‘t been running like this for while..“ the blonde boy answered.

"I think I never ran like this my whole life...“ Yusuke said.

"You were pretty fast for that...“ Ann noted.

"I have long legs.“ the lanky artist stated matter-of-factly. Noone objected.

"So.. can we see the reason why we almost got killed by the floating reaper?“ Ren asked after everyone had caught their breath again.

Yusuke unpacked the canvas before turning it over to show them. The other three stared at it for a moment before Ren said "This… really conveys the feeling I felt when we were down there..“

"It‘s eery… and fascinating at the same time.“ Ann said.

"This gives me serious Mementos-vibes.“ Ryuji agreed.

Yusuke looked pleased when he packed up again.

"But what about you? Do you like what you did?“ Ren asked.

Yusuke pondered for a moment before he said "I do feel proud of this one. Especially since I finally was able to convey the emotions that I intended to convey.“

"So… that means we helped you, right?“ Ann asked with a proud smile.

"Huh.. I guess you are right. Thanks to your persistance, Panther, I have finally brought forth a painting I‘m proud to look at again.“ Yusuke said as he got off the ground.

"Well, as Futaba would say: What a side-quest.“ Ren said as they started walking.

"Whaddaya gonna do next?“ Ryuji asked, his arms crossed behind his head.

Yusuke seemed caught off-guard by the sudden question "I… haven‘t thought about my next steps yet…“

"I probably wouldn‘t recommend going in there again...“ Ren said.

Yusukes face suddenly turned sad "How odd… Over the past weeks, I didn‘t feel like I needed to paint to survive but really because I enjoyed it… But now… I guess I need to make a living again for a while...“

The three shared a look before Ren said "You know… It‘s not your previous lifestyle… But you could always stay with us at LeBlanc until you figure out what to do next.“

Yusuke stared at him in shock before saying "I.. appreciate the offer, but of what use could I possibly be to Sakura?“

"You have two hands. He‘ll find something.“ Ren smirked. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the two blondes falling behind them a few steps, caught in a conversation of their own.

"I‘m truly grateful for your help. If there is any way that I could help out at the tavern, I would be happy to give something in return.“ Yusuke humbly said.

"It‘s not because we want something in return. It‘s just an offer. I can imagine that being an artist must be hard in times like these… Especially when you‘re on your own.“ Ren said.

"I won‘t lie, I can‘t remember if I ever slept on something more comfortable than a futon and I don‘t know when I had two meals a day the last time.“ Yusuke stated. "But… it‘s all I know.“

"That sounds harsh…“ Ren said. "But, whatever you do next… you‘ll always have friends back here. You‘ll always have a place to stay when you‘re in the neighborhood. And it‘ll be more than a futon.“

"I‘m… truly grateful.“ Yusuke said. "If I‘m honest, I don‘t have a lot of people I can go to.“

Ren gave him a smile "Now you do. You‘ll stay with us as long as you like.“

They hadn‘t noticed Ann and Ryuji catching up with them again. Ryuji clapped both of them on the shoulder "What‘s that I hear? We get a new roommate?“ he grinned.

"It must get really crowded in your room…“ Ann remarked. "But I‘m happy to hear that you‘re staying with us, Yusuke!“

"I guess we should start looking for some aditional furniture in the next days...“ Ren said. "Can‘t have two of you sleeping on the floor...“

"If it‘s too crowded, I can always stay at Takamakis room.“

"What?!“ Ann shrieked.

Ryuji couldn‘t help but stare at the ease with which the artist conveyed the idea.

"I think Futaba might have something to say against that… And most likely Sojiro too...“ Ren said.

"I‘m not okay with this either!“ Ann protested.

"Guess you‘ll have to content yourself with Ryuji, Morgana and me.“ Ren grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are so many hilarious events in Yusukes confidant-story, I just had to use them all:) I figured that it made more sense to introduce Yusukes story before the beginning of the next arc. You can probably guess that Yusuke will be involved a lot with Madarame;)
> 
> Let me know what you think;)


	8. Out On The Town

Over the next month, the group got to know a few new repopulated neighborhoods close to their base, that they occassionally helped out in return for some food and other necessities. Haru had started to grow her own vegetables in their home garden, providing a valuable source of re-growing nutrition as well as a possible source of income. Eiko and Shinya had taken on regular jobs with some of the villagers, giving LeBlanc2 a steady income that Futaba would tap whenever she came across a trader that offered some electronic goods. The core 8 remained flexible helps for hire, be it either in the expertise of Ann and Ryuji or something else, that the townsfolk would ask them. Mishima had taken it upon himself to act as their manager, always having an open ear in case anyone needed help. Soon, the group actually started to act like protectors and detectives, solving mysteries such as who sent threats or other things. Things were going smoothly and soon it felt like they fell into somewhat of a routine.

About a year ago, Haru Okumura had thought that she would never get used to sleeping in a room without curtains, and now here she was now, living in a bedroom without any window-panes. She sat up on the big matress that she shared with Makoto. They had known each other for some time now and back at the original LeBlanc, the room that the four girls had shared had been like one huge sleeping space in the end anyway, so sharing a bed now wasn‘t something that any of them found strange. You had to take whatever you could use. And everyone could use a bed. The bedframe, that the matress originally had been placed on, had already been broken down for fire-wood. Across the room, Eiko was sleeping on the cushioned bench, tugged into a thin blanket. Makoto was rolled up beside Haru, her back facing her. The brown-haired girl quietly got up to get dressed before she snuck out of the room. As she stepped into the hallway, she took in the eerie yet beautiful vibe of the completely quiet house. Everyone was either still asleep or waiting for their watch to end. It was one of the most peaceful moments for her, she thought to herself as she walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Noone had ever instructed her to be the camp cook or the camp manager, as Ren liked to call her. But Haru Okumura enjoyed cooking for the team and supporting them by making hot meals. Growing up, her father always told her that she should ask their servants, if she wanted anything, but Haru found it much more rewarding when she was able to give something to others, rather than demand for herself. And so she got up early every morning to get breakfast started for everyone. She imagined that it was something that her mother would have done too, if she would have ever met her.

Thanks to everyones help, the kitchen now looked much more inviting than before. The stove was working again and with a good scrub, the counters started to look cleaner too. They had collected and repaired some more chairs and now, there was a huge table that was able to accomodate their whole group. Haru had a hum on her lips as she set up some water to cook. She craved for some of Sojiros coffee, but there was no way that she could ever grow beans like he had. And so far, none of the traders had come across any beans either. So for now, hot herbal tea from her home-grown herbs was all there was for hot beverages. After a look in the pantry, Haru decided to cook some hot porrdige with the rolled oats that she had traded a few days earlier. While everythings was cooking on its own, Haru cast a glance outside into her garden. Her plants had produced a lot lately.

"There‘s nothing better than waking up to the comforting smell of porridge.“ Yusukes voice startled her when he entered the kitchen.

"I agree.“ Haru smiled before she walked over to the stove "Tea?“ she asked.

"I could never deny that lovely tea of yours.“

Haru poured two cups before walking to the table to sit down. "You‘re up early.“ she remarked as she slid the mug towards him.

"To be honest, I‘m having trouble sleeping lately...“ Yusuke said as he inhaled the steam rising from the cup.

"Is something bothering you?“ Haru asked.

"I can‘t quite put a finger on it… But recently I felt rather alone in my creative endeavours.“ Yusuke carefully phrased. "Please, don‘t get me wrong. I enjoy the live we have here, but sometimes, I wish that I had a fellow artist to talk to.“

Haru gave him a sympathetic smile "I think I understand.“

Yusuke continued pondering over his tea.

"I was planning on going to the town today to trade some of my vegetables. Why don‘t you join? Maybe we‘ll meet someone interesting.“ she suggested before carefully sipping her tea.

"That is not a bad idea.“ he nodded "I would be happy to join you.“

Futaba and Ann sleepily entered the kitchen, both of them wearing sweatpants and loose hoodies or sweat-jackets. Haru admired them for being able to just walk around like this. Her whole life, she had been drilled to never leave her room without being dressed adequatly. It had stuck. She smiled as she put a cup of tea in front of both of them.

"Thanks, mom.“ Futaba groggily muttered, almost falling asleep with her head on the table again.

From time to time, the rest of the group started to pour into the kitchen, drinking tea and eating breakfast together, before everyone went to their daily duties. Since Haru had lots of vegetables to sell and since Shinya and Eiko needed to go to the village anyway too, they decided to take the car. They had been pretty economical with the car-usage so far, so they still had a decent amount of fuel to go.

"Are you sure that you don‘t want to come with us?“ Haru asked into the round as she put one of the crates onto the loading platform of the truck.

"I think I‘m gonna go lie in the sun for a bit.“ Ann yawned once more.

"Yeah, I think I‘m gonna go take it easy too...“ Ryuji said.

"Mishima has this contact who needs something, so Makoto, Morgana and I will go and check that out.“ Ren added.

"Very well. Then let‘s get going.“ Yusuke said as he climbed up into the back of the car, shortly followed by Shinya.

"Take care!“ Makoto smiled as she handed Haru the keys.

"You do know how to drive, right?“ Eiko asked before she hopped into the passenger seat.

"I drove a few times.“ Haru said as she slid behind the steering wheel and put the key into the ignition.

Their neighboring village had been in the build-up when they first discovered it. With the help of the group, they had put up some fences for security and set up a makeshift gate, keeping the village center safe. On the outside of the city walls, there were a bunch of grain fields that were tended to by the villagers during the days. Since shadows didn‘t seem to care for food, the fields would only need protection from outcasts and lone wanderers. As the pick-up truck approached the gate, the guards immediatly recognized the people approaching and let them in without question.

The enclosed area was nothing more than a street crossing with four houses around it. The population number was in the lower two-digits. Everyone had a task. There were three designated cooks who kept the whole village fed. The other villagers would work in the field during the day, look after the children, stand guard or whatever other need arose. Haru slowly drove up to the house she knew all the cooking was done in. They were immediatly greeted by a kind middle-aged woman "Miss Noir, how nice to see you again. I take this as good news for all of us?“ she smiled.

"I‘m happy to be here. So much has changed since the last time.“ Haru smiled as she walked around the car. Eiko and Shinya walked to their respective places of work while Yusuke and Haru unloaded the two crates of vegetables from the back.

"Oh my! I think we‘re gonna have a wonderful dinner tonight.“ the woman exclaimed as she eyed the crates. She motioned them into the house. The entire groundfloor had been refurnished to act as a storage and kitchen. A slightly younger woman was sitting in the former dining room, kneading dough. She gave the two teenagers a warm smile when she saw them entering.

"So, what can I offer you in return?“ the older woman asked after showing them where to put down the crates.

"Do you happen to have some more of those rolled oats? They make a great breakfast.“ Haru smiled. "Oh, and I saw that you were making bread… Is there a possibility that you could spare a few loafs?“

The woman nodded "I‘m sure that can be arranged. The bread will take a few more hours though. I hope you brought some time?“

"It‘s okay. We‘ll wait. Take all the time you need.“ Haru smiled.

"Oh, while you wait, you can meet our other visitor. I think he‘s trying to promote something.. You can‘t miss him, he should be somewhere in the middle of the crossroad.“ the woman said.

Haru and Yusuke exchanged a surprised look before Yusuke answered "Thank you for your recommendation.“

"How strange….“ Haru wondered as the two walked out of the house, turning their heads to look out for todays visitor.

"I have to agree… A promoter surely is not a common job...“ Yusuke said.

"What could he even be promoting?“ the brown-haired girl asked as they strolled to the middle of the junction.

It didn‘t take long until a 25-ish man in elegant clothes approached them. He held a bunch of papers in his hands as he cheerfully introduced himself as Nakanohara. "Lady and gentleman, you look like you could take an evening off of worrying and instead enjoy yourself in a classy establishment, surrounded by marvelous art.“ all of his gestures were grande.

Yusuke, while first looking sceptic, suddenly was intrigued as soon as the word "art“ fell out of the other mans mouth.

"You are in luck, for not far from here, the great artist Madarame has set up shop with the sole wish to bring back art to our desolate and rough days. An evening at an art gallery, accompanied by a tasteful bar surrounded by equally creative minds who want to escape the harsh reality for a while and indulge in the simple joys of the old days.“ Nakanohara was rambling and Haru watched as Yusukes eyes grew wider and wider.

"Madarame?“ Haru asked.

"Yes, the proclaimed patron of the arts. He has taken it upon himself to nurture the most talented young people while himself creating the most stunning paintings.“

While Haru wondered who had proclaimed this Madarame the patron of the arts and what not, Yusuke was hanging at Nakanoharas lips, swallowing every word he said.

"Where can we find this establishment?“ the lanky teenager eventually asked.

Nakanohara handed him a piece of paper from the stack in his arms. Drawn on it were coordinates and a makeshift-map. "I recommend a visit in the evening.“ he said before bowing.

"I suppose you want to meet this Madarame, right?“ Haru asked as they walked back to the provisions house.

"An establishment made for the arts. It‘s something that my mother and I had always dreamed of. I need to see this.“ Yusuke sounded ecstatic in his own way before he stopped to look at her "Lady Okumura, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to an art gallery?“ he gallantly asked. An art gallery. He only knew about these from stories and had admired the people who got to experience them. What a time it must have been, where people had enough spare time and space to simply take an evening to admire art. Yusuke was sure that he had been born into the wrong times.

Haru was surprised by Yusukes sudden enthusiasm. She slightly blushed before she did a small curtsie, stating "I would be honored, Sir Kitagawa.“.

After receiving their loafs of bread, rolled oats and some flour, Haru and Yusuke drove back home. Shinya and Eiko would walk back later, as soon as they were done. Haru had never seen Yusuke this bubbly and excited about anything. It was a refreshing change from the normally rather gloomy and lost-in-thought teenager. The rest of their group was surprised too when Yusuke kept talking and talking once they returned home.

"What‘s this about?“ Ann muttered to Haru as she helped her unpack in the kitchen.

"There was a man at the village today, promoting this Madarames gallery...“ Haru recaped.

"Doesn‘t this sound a little bit strange?“ Ann asked. "I mean… are there really so many people freaking out like Yusuke about some paintings?“

Haru shrugged "I don‘t know… Maybe there‘s more. This man also said that he was some sort of patron, taking in the talented youth and protecting them.“

"This just sounds like a very risky business idea…“ Ann said "And that‘s coming from me, so I guess Makoto and Ren will have even more explicit words for it.“

"I guess you have a point… But have you ever seen him this happy?“

Ann shook her head "I honestly haven‘t. I never thought that the corners of his mouth could go this high...“

Haru smiled "Maybe, if it really is what it is, it could be a nice evening.“

A grin suddenly spread across Anns face "You know, this is like.. a fancy occassion. It totally paid off that you took that dress with you last time!“

It didn‘t take long until Makoto, Ren and Morgana returned with Mishima only to be immediatly hijacked by Yusuke to be instructed about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of enjoying a night out at an art establishment. Like Ann had predicted, instead of utter hapiness about the good news, Ren and Makoto had a lot of questions about this Madarame and his so-called establishment of the arts.

"This has got to be a trap..“ Makoto was quick to decide.

"He has a gallery in the middle of nowhere. How is that a good spot to open up a night-club?“ Ren wondered.

"They invite you at night? This sounds really shady...“ Mishima had to agree.

"There is nothing that you can say, that will keep me from going. Haru has already agreed to go with me.“ Yusuke argued. It was an odd scene, where the much taller son tried to argue with his same-aged parents. The others stood beside them and watched in confusion.

"Then we‘ll come with you. Four‘s better than two.“ Makoto said, not taking No for an answer.

Ren cast her an impish look before grinning "Who would you like to be your companion for the evening then?“. It was obvious that it would be him going with them, but he just enjoyed messing with Makoto.

Makoto immediatly blushed. She had taken it as a given that it would be her and their leader going with them, but now Ren seemed to enjoy to see her squirm. "Well, it would make the most sense for our leader to come with.“ she said, trying to pull it off without stammering.

Their leader still looked amused when he answered "What a boring proposal… But very well.“ he turned to Yusuke, who seemed at peace with the choice of company "Makoto and I will join you. Who knows, maybe this really is a good opportunity to learn about the fine arts.“. He took a bow before walking upstairs.

"Where are you going?“ Futaba asked.

"I‘m gonna go look if I can find a suit somewhere in this place. This is almost a date, after all.“ Ren said without bothering to look back. He already had an idea of the look on Makotos face.

Makoto immediatly felt the heat rising in her cheeks again. She noticed how Anns grin wandered inbetween her and Haru, who cast a slightly embarassed look at Yusuke. Apparently she hadn‘t seen this as a date so far either. She was just glad that Eiko wasn‘t there to freak out.

"He‘s not wrong… As far as I heard, going to an art establishment calls for some elegant clothing...“ Yusuke mumbled before walking upstairs too.

"Man, I‘m glad I‘m not going..“ Ryuji sighed.

"Have you ever even worn a suit before?“ Ann asked.

"You tell me...“ the blonde boy shrugged.

The blonde girls attention shifted to Makoto and Haru again "Let‘s go! I wanna help you with your looks!“ she almost squealed, suddenly looking almost as excited as Yusuke.

The sun was starting to set outside, when the two men stood by the car, waiting for their companions to arrive. They had actually both found some kind-of fitting suits. Yusuke had even managed to find a dark blue tie.

"So, when will we know that we should start looking for ya?“ Ryuji asked as he sat on the bench beside the door.

"I guess it would be adequate to freak out when we haven‘t returned by dawn.“ Ren eloquently put, trying to find a matching persona for his suit.

"That‘s a really long time!“ Futaba exclaimed. "I mean.. who knows how many nude paintings someone could make of you until then?“ she cackled.

"Especially as a skilled painter!“ Mishima hadn‘t quite caught onto her joke, making his addition sound like an honest concern.

Ren looked uncomfortable when he answered "Let‘s.. not talk about thi-“

Everything grew quiet when the front door opened to reveal Makoto and Haru, followed by a proud-looking Ann.

Haru wore the red polka-dot dress from their shopping raid, combined with some red-lacquered heels, that Ann had found in one of the rooms. Makoto was wearing a tight-fitting black business-dress, combined with matching shoes and a red scarf draped around her shoulders. The guys stood and stared in awe for a moment.

"Ladies..“ Yusuke gallantly said opening the drivers door.

Ren swallowed when he couldn‘t take his eyes off of Makoto as she walked past him to get into the drivers seat, nodding to Yusuke, who quickly went to offer Haru his elbow to walk her to the passenger seat.

Futaba walked up to the transfixed Joker to wave in front of his eyes before muttering "You‘re acting creeeepyyy...“

Ren slowly returned to reality before nodding a thanks to Futaba. He jumped onto the truck, patting the top of the drivers cabin, signaling Makoto to go.

Futaba opened up the gate for them while Ann stood in the driveway, waving after them.

"Someones looking proud.“ Ryuji remarked.

"I did my best.“ Ann grinned "Did you see the look on Rens face?“

"Girls...“ Ryuji sighed "What if he gets shot because he can‘t stop staring at her?“

"Not everyone‘s like you, you know?“ Ann replied.

"Shuddup. That was one time… And I didn‘t get shot!“ he argued.

"Yeah, but it was really close..“ Ann grinned at him and patted his shoulder before walking inside again.

"Argh, you‘re just jealous because noone asked you to go to that artsy hut, Miss "Art is important“.“ Ryuji called after her as he followed her back inside.

15 minutes later, the truck rolled along a narrow path that eventually revealed a three-story building, iluminated by chains of lights. There was faint music to be heard from the inside as Makoto parked the car. Ren sceptically eyed the establishment but didn‘t fail to notice Yusukes entranced look.

From the outside, the building didn‘t look like anything special but Yusukes senses were tingling in anticipation as he pictured what was awaiting on the inside. He jumped off the car to open up the passenger door for Haru. His mother had raised a gentleman after all. The girl smiled her kind smile as she hooked her arm into his elbow. When Ren and Makoto arrived too, looking much more sceptical than him, he started walking. There weren‘t many words exchanged, but before the group reached the door, Ren said "I suggest we stick to code-names from here on out.“. The rest nodded.

The guy that had introduced himself als Nakanohara back in the village was manning the entrance today and immediatly remembered Haru and Yusuke. After a short introduction of Ren and Makoto, the young man lead them inside.

The ground floor consisted of a bar with a few tables. There was a record player standing in a corner, playing some elegant classical piano tune. Aside from them, there were a few other guests, seated at the tables, a drink in hand. There was a stage on the other end of the room, furnished with a small table and two chairs.

"This is our lounge area. Sit down, have a drink and relax. Every full hour, Master Madarames newest prodigy, a young and talented Shogi player graces our viewers with a display of her unique skills in a battle with one of our visitors. If you would be interested in a challenging match of Shogi, please talk to our bartender.“ Nakanohara explained before he pointed at the staircase "Up there is Master Madarames art gallery, where all of his master artworks are displayed. There is a small entrance fee to be paid, but let me assure you, it will be worth your money.“

After the young attendant had left them to dwell on their own, the four exchanged a look. Yusuke was still unable to grasp that he was able to experience a place like this, but the focus of his attention was on the staircase to Madarames gallery.

Ren grinned "Well, Fox, why don‘t you go check out the art already?“

Yusukes eyes lit up like a kids "Will you accompany me, Noir?“ he asked.

Haru nodded before they walked off together.

Makoto looked around before sighing "I can‘t believe someone is making a living out of this. A place solely to enjoy yourself? How many customers could this place have?“

Ren cast her a look before he said "As far as I heard, it‘s what people used to do in their free time after a day of work. I‘m sure some people want to experience something from the "old days“... I mean, Fox is one of them. Also, not to forget that we ourselves were living in a tavern. This is just a little bit fancier.“ he shrugged.

Makoto had to agree with him "In that case... I know what to do at a tavern. So, would you like to go to the bar?“

Ren grinned before he extended his hand towards the bar "After you, Queen.“

They sat down at the bar, facing the room "Would you like to challenge that Shogi-prodigy?“ Ren asked as he looked at the stage. He noticed that on the table, there was a Shogi-board. That prodigy must surely be a good attraction, if they displayed the games on the stage. He had played a few rounds with Sojiro now and then, so he was aware of the basic rules.

"What? I have never played Shogi before. I read a little bit about it, but I‘m certainly not capable of putting this to practice...“ Makoto studdered.

"I‘m pretty sure you could, overachiever that you are.“ Ren gave her a wink "You‘d probably be better than me too.“

Makoto blushed before getting a hold of herself again. She knew what he was doing. A competitive spirit was something that they shared, but Ren had a very flustering way of awakening that side in her. "Well then, why don‘t we make this a little competition? We both try and see who fares best.“ a sly smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, you‘re on.“ Ren grinned back, leaning against the bar. "Now we just need to find that bartender.“

As they spoke, their backs turned towards the bar, a person walked up to them "Well, well, well. What can I get ya?“ a deep, warm and all-too-familiar voice made Ren and Makoto immediatly spin around. When they processed who was standing in front of them, their eyes went wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, welcome to Madarames gallery! I suppose you can guess which confidants we're going to meet next;)


	9. An Evening of Shogi and Art

"Boss?!“ Makoto asked, her mouth agape. Besides her, Ren was unable to speak, baffled to find his "father“ again in a situation like this.

"As I live and breathe.“ Sojiro said while polishing a glass.

"You‘re alive!“ Makoto was visibly relieved.

Sojiro nodded before motioning them to keep their voices down "It was a close one, but here I am.“

"How did you end up here?“ Makoto asked after realizing that she couldn‘t count on Ren talking for now.

"Well… you know how it goes.. Your own tavern blows up and you start missing serving people booze and then suddenly some guy offers you a job.“

"So LeBlanc‘s really gone...“ Ren finally brought out.

Sojiro looked sad when he nodded "I went back a few days after the explosion.. Almost all of Yongen‘s blown to pieces too.“

"Do you have any idea how this happened?“ Makoto asked.

Boss shrugged "Noone does. No idea how someone managed to plant a bomb in Yongen. Must have been a pretty big one too, since it managed to blow up almost the entire settlement and our home outside..“

"How many people survived?“ Ren quietly asked.

"Not many...“ Sojiro sighed.

Ren and Makoto shared a sad look.

"What about you? Everyone okay?“ Sojiro asked, pouring them something to not look suspicious.

Ren nodded "We found a new home too. You can get out of this depressing hole and come with us again.“

Sojiro looked conflicted when he asnwered "Look, kid.. there‘s some things going on here, that I need to take care of first.“

Ren shot him a confused look but Boss ignored it "So, you want to challenge the Shogi Princess?“ he put on a grin. "You know, the little matches that we used to play won‘t help you. She wiped the floor with me several times.“

Joker flashed a smug grin before saying "The sweeter the victory, if I manage to beat her.“

When Haru and Yusuke reached the top of the stairs, a huge room opened up in front of them, hung with the most beautiful paintings Yusuke had ever seen. He knew that every artist had his own unique style, but this Madarame seemed to have many. Be it a landscape or a portrait, every painting managed to have its own unique style. When he turned over to see Harus reaction, she seemed equally blown away. They strolled around the big room, inspecting all the different artworks when Yusuke found himself captured by a certain painting of a landscape. A beautiful forest of cherry blossoms. The choice of colours almost appeared too bright to be realistic, and still, it felt like he was looking at a piece of nature. He was almost able to smell the scent of the blooming flowers and grass. Haru had moved on in the meantime, looking at another picture. Yusuke didn‘t realize that a short man had taken his place beside him.

"Nature sure is something beautiful.“ A wise-sounding voice said and Yusuke whirled around to look at a white-haired man, his hair tied back behind his head. He looked like a modest and humble old man.

"It is.“ Yusuke agreed before realizing, that this man must be Madarame himself. "Madarame, is that correct?“

"It seems my name has preceeded me. But what is yours, young man?“ he replied.

Yusuke stopped for a second when he remembered Rens advice to stick to nicknames. They only used them to protect their identities in dangerous situations. Sharing his name with an old man, and a fellow painter nonetheless, sure didn‘t count as such. "I am honored to meet you. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa.“

The wise man kneaded his brow in thought before saying "Kitagawa… That name sounds familiar.“

Yusuke took a step back in surprise "Could it… be possible that you knew my mother?“ he asked.

Madarame seemed to inspect Yusukes face a little closer before softly saying "So she really had a kid...“ he smiled "It‘s beautiful to see that she has brought up a child with an eye for art in these complicated times.“

Yusuke was touched by his words. So this kind old man had actually known his mother. And taking from the way he spoke of her, he must have hold some respect for her art as well. "Did… you know her well?“

"Back when I was travelling as a small artist.. I used to come across her a few times. It always feels refreshing to meet people that share your outlook on the world.“

Yusuke had never thought that someone talking about his mother could make him both so melancholic and happy at the same time. "I… would love to hear more about her.“ he said.

"Why don‘t we talk at my office?“ the kind man offered.

Yusuke nodded before motioning to Haru that everything was okay. She gave him a smile before continuing to look at the pictures.

As the clock struck the full hour, Nakanohara stepped onto the stage to get the crowds attention. The establishment had gotten more and more crowded by the minute. It was a mystery to Ren and Makoto, as to how so many people took the risk of walking outside of their settlements during night. But it seemed like no matter where you eavesdropped, everything was about the great Madarame and his eye for talent and art.

"Ladies and gentlemen!“ Nakanohara cleared his throat "You know what the strike of the clock means. Please, welcome to the stage the one and only Shogi Princess.“ he cheerfully announced before a teenage girl stepped onto the stage. She was wearing a knee-long dress with a geometrical pattern, her black hair was straight with bangs covering her forehead. She looked terribly uncomfortable with being the centre of attention. The crowd in the room erupted in applause as the Shogi Princess took a seat at the table.

"And our first challenger of the evening will be a mysterious young man, going by the name of Joker!“ Nakanohara announced before Ren hopped off the bar-chair before turning around to Makoto one more time.

"May the best win.“ he said with a grin, causing Makoto to sigh.

"You are terribly full of yourself. It will be my pleasure to rub that smug smile off your face later.“ Makoto replied, her competitive side fully awake now.

Ren feigned offense before walking away and up the stage, taking a grand bow in front of the audience, whose applause had dimmed down a bit. He sat down opposite the Shogi Princess, giving her a nod "I am looking forward to witness your skills first hand.“ he politely said.

The girl looked a little perplexed before giving a firm nod.

"Let the game begin!“ Nakanohara anounced before stepping off the stage.

"So… Shogi Princess.. Did you come up with that name by yourself?“ Ren quietly asked as he made his first move.

She looked surprised by his question "I did not ask to be called a Princess.“ she whispered before putting her piece onto the board.

"I‘d say it helped you build up a reputation...“ Ren answered while advancing with the strategy that he had in mind.

"Is this a desirable reputation though, Mister Joker?“ she asked, her face emotionless as she put forward another piece.

Ren looked at the girl in front of him "You might have a point..“. He made his next move before flinching when the girls expression suddenly changed as she forcefully slammed her next piece down onto the board before exclaiming "Black Knights Commando!“. She was almost standing before she realized her outburst, immediatly sitting down again. Ren stared at her in disbelief.

"No matter how you put it, I win. Please… admit your defeat.“ she quietly said before the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

Ren was perplexed before a smile spread on his face "Truly impressive. You should be called the Shogi Queen.“ he said as he got up. "But don‘t tell your next opponent I said that.“. He walked off the stage to be greeted back to the bar by a satisfied grin from Makoto and an "I told you so“-look from Sojiro.

"It‘s not what I would call impressive...“ Makoto said.

"It‘s a little bit early for you to talk, don‘t you think? Gotta beat those three turns first.“ Ren said as he sat down at the bar again, throwing an intrigued glance at the Shogi Princess, who was walked off the stage by Nakanohara again, followed by applause from the crowd.

"Hey, Boss… You said you know the Shogi Princess. What‘s she like?“ Ren asked.

Sojiro seemed to ponder for a moment "She‘s very quiet. Wasn‘t really used to quiet teenagers before…“

"Thanks for that side blow.“ Ren stated before knocking back his drink.

"Jokes aside, she doesn‘t talk much. She plays Shogi, eats and sleeps. She‘s a polite girl, but.. it seems like there‘s a lot of feelings bottled up inside of her....“ Sojiro said.

"Where is she from?“ Makoto asked.

"I have no idea. All I know is that she was taken in by Madarame. She lives here, like all of his protegees and employees.“

"The word protegee gets thrown around a lot here...“ Ren noticed.

Sojiro sighed "It makes it sound like Madarame gave these kids a chance to live… But as far as I see it, he gets more out of it than them...“

"What other "protegees“ does he have?“ Makoto asked.

"Only the girl, at the moment, especially the artists come and go…“ Sojiro answered.

Ren and Makoto exchanged a doubtful look.

Madarames "office“ was nothing more than a slightly larger broom closet. After drinking some tea and exchanging stories about Yusukes mother, there was a faint knock on the door, before a girl about his age entered.

"How did the game go, child?“ Madarame asked.

The girl never looked up when she spoke "I beat him in 3 turns.“

Madarame nodded and looked pleased "Very well. Yusuke, please let me introduce you to Hifumi Togo, otherwise known as the Shogi Princess.“. The girl did a quick bow.

"It’s an honor to meet you.“ Yusuke nodded.

"The pleasure is mine.“ the girl quietly answered before taking her leave again.

"A talented girl. She is the star downstairs. Sometimes, people are lining up for the chance to play a match against her.“ Madarame explained after the door closed again. "It would have been a waste of her talent, if she had to work in the fields like all the rest… There is so much talent in this world, but it seems like the people forgot that there‘s more to life than plain survival.“

Yusuke nodded in agreement. He had never felt so understood since the death of his mother.

"Tell me, Yusuke, do you paint?“ the old man asked as he stroked his goatee.

He nodded "Ever since I was little.“

"Please, would you give me a demonstration?“ the man kindly asked, pushing a sketchbook and a pen into Yusukes hand. "Just… whatever comes to mind.“.

Yusuke felt nervous from being put on the spot like this. He slowly reached for the pen, thinking hard about what he could draw. He decided to go for the first image, that came to mind. His hand carefully started to move over the paper.

Downstairs, Haru had joined Ren and Makoto, but not before crushing Sojiro into a hug across the barcounter. So far, Ren had been under the impression that Boss didn‘t want it to look like they knew each other that well, but there was no escape from Harus embrace.

"So, did we miss a lot by not going upstairs?“ Ren asked.

"The paintings are beautiful, but that‘s about it.“ Haru answered.

"Where‘s Fox?“ Makoto noticed.

"He had the honor of meeting the Master in person. They went off to have a talk somewhere else.“

"Pff, and he calls himself a proper gentleman.“ Sojiro whistled.

"It‘s okay, Boss. I don‘t mind. He looked so happy, don‘t you think?“ Haru had an honest smile on her face.

"You‘re right.“ Makoto said, a little worried. Ren and Makoto both started to get the feeling that this place wasn‘t as charitable and innocent as people wanted to believe. It felt like there was a secret, waiting to be uncovered by them. And if it was one thing, that Makoto Niijima was obsessed with, it was solving mysteries. And this new one seemed terribly intriguing.

"You‘re almost up, Queen.“ Ren grinned as he took a look at the clock on the wall.

"Don‘t say you‘re going up against the Shogi Princess?“ Haru asked in surprise. "I‘ll cross my fingers for you, Mako!“ she smiled.

"Thanks. I‘ll just need to survive three turns.“ Makoto sounded determined.

Right on time, Nakanohara re-entered the stage, announcing the Shogi Princess once more before announcing "This hour, we‘re having a battle of the royals, for our beloved Princess goes up against a Queen!“ he dramatically announced before Makoto stepped onto the stage, slightly embarrassed. She looked to the bar, where Ren and Haru sat, cheering loudest of all.

Makoto gave a curt bow to the Shogi Princess before taking her seat. She replied with an equally curt nod. It was a professional understanding. She looked at the board in front of her, trying hard to recall as much as possible from the books that she had read back at Jinbocho. There had been a lot of books on Shogi and the different strategies. Too bad that while reading them, she never imagined that she would ever need the knowledge to win a battle for honor against Ren.

"Please, make a move.“ the princess patiently said after a few minutes of silence had passed. She was talking so quiet, that only Makoto was able to hear it. Her hand was placed at the corner of her mouth, blocking her lips from the view of the audience.

It wasn‘t like Makoto to make lame excuses but she figured that maybe she could break the ice and earn the girls trust. "I‘m sorry… I was just trying to remember that strategy that I once read about..“ she put on a shy smile.

She was correct, that did grab the girls attention "Which one?“ she asked.

"I don‘t recall who wrote it…. But back at Jinbocho, there were a lot of books on Shogi.“ she watched as the girls eyes grew a bit wider with admiration when she heard the word "Jinbocho“.

"You‘ve been to Jinbocho?“ she asked.

Makoto nodded before making her first move.

"How… how is it there?“ the girl almost sounded excited. Makoto felt reminded of herself. And still, without giving it further thought, the Princess made her move.

"It‘s… beautiful… You could spend your entire life reading.“ Makoto remembered, ignoring the worse sides of Jinbocho for a moment and concentrated on remembering her quiet evenings when she got to sit in her room, reading a book by the dim light of the petroleum-lantern. She placed her next piece.

"That sounds wonderful.“ a faint smile hushed across the girls lips before she turned sad again "I wish I could see it...“. She made her move.

"I‘m sure Jinbocho is not the only place that has books about Shogi...“ Makoto said, carefully placing her third piece, praying that she would get to play a next turn.

The princess sadly shook her head. She seemed frozen for a moment.

After observing her demeanor, Makoto was sure that there was something going on that the gracious Madarame didn‘t show. "You could always leave, couldn‘t you?“ she quietly asked.

The Princess looked at her with troubled eyes before saying "It‘s not that easy...“.

"Why?“ Makoto was on the edge of her seat. "What‘s keeping you here?“ she asked when she felt that the Princess was on the verge of breaking. "Are you being threat-?“.

A loud "clack“ cut through her voice as the Shogi Princess slammed her piece onto the board, her eyes troubled yet stern.

Makoto looked at the board in disbelief. She had given the Shogi Princess an opening and she hadn‘t even noticed.

"Please...“ the princess meekly said "...stop.“

Makoto stared in disbelief. Her time was over and she hadn‘t gotten the answers to all of her questions. "I concede.“ she grudgingly admitted as she got up. The crowd erupted in applause again, but the Shogi Princess looked like she didn‘t notice anymore.

"Seems like we‘re equals.“ Ren said upon Makotos return to the bar, but she was in no mood for light bantering with him. It wasn‘t even because she was a sore loser (which she could be), but because she was disappointed that she couldn‘t get everything she needed out of the Shogi Princess.

"Cheer up, Queen. You can try again another time.“ Haru encouraged her.

"There‘s something wrong here...“ Makoto quielty said.

"Didn‘t know that you were such a terrible loser...“ Ren grinned before turning serious when Makoto shot him a look. "I feel it too… Maybe Yusuke can tell us something about the master of this establishment later...“.

"I‘m done.“ Yusuke stated as he looked over his finished pencil sketching one last time. His knees felt wobbly despite sitting when he handed the sketch over to Madarame. It wasn‘t his finest work. But noone could expect that in half an hour of drawing. It was a sketch of Haru, as she was admiring one of the paintings. It was a picture that had suddenly became prominent in front of his inner eye when Madarame had asked him to sketch something.

"You truly put a lot of heart into your art.“ Madarame said as he looked over Yusukes sketch.

"It‘s what my mother always told me to do.“ Yusuke said. _People will only feel something from looking at your_ _piece_ _, as long as you yourself have felt something while making it._ That was what she had always preached.

"She was a wise woman...“ Madarame said.

"An art gallery… she would have loved to see this.“ Yusuke said, a little sad. "Her art would have belonged in a place like this, not hidden away from view on the wall of the one who bids most...“

Madarame seemed to ponder for a moment before saying "You know… you could carry on her legacy in her stead.“

Yusuke looked at the old man in confusion "What are you trying to say?“

"I would like to offer you to stay with me. I can teach you a few things, make you a more complete artist. You don‘t have to worry about where you‘ll sleep, what you‘ll eat… All you‘ll have to think about is your art.“ Madarame said.

Yusuke stared at Madarame in disbelief. Just art. He had no idea what it felt like to not worry about how long that particular pencil or brush would make do. Ever since they had moved to LeBlanc2, he had had a home, but the occasional handy-work that was required around the house and the many explorations could mess with his creative flow. But on the other hand, he had grown quite accustomed to his new family, even if they weren‘t the most art-savvy. After all, they had given him the chance to stay with them, giving him a home, something that he never really had before. "I… I‘m honored by your offer…“ Yusuke started "But.. I‘m a little reluctant to leave my friends behind like this…“

Madarame gave him a kind smile "Yusuke, boy… If they truly are your friends, don‘t you think that they would be happy to hear about your opportunity to live and breathe the thing that you love the most?“

Yusuke pondered for a moment before saying "I am truly greatful for your offer. Please, give me some time to think everything through.“ he slowly got up from the chair that he had been sitting on. He took a bow before he left.

Downstairs, another round of Shogi was being played on the mainstage, but this time, the three teenagers were sitting on the sideline to watch. It seemed like the contestant of the hour was more of a Shogi-veteran than Ren and Makoto, for this time, the match actually went on for more than a few minutes.

Ren turned around when Sojiro slightly tapped his shoulder.

"How‘s my girl?“ Sojiro asked under his breath.

"She‘s good. But she misses you. A lot.“ Ren answered. He couldn‘t shake the feeling that the old man didn‘t want to show that he knew the three of them. "You know that she‘ll kick down the door as soon as we tell her you‘re here?“ he smirked, imagining Futabas reaction.

A troubled smile spread over Sojiros face "I‘d rather not have her come here… It‘s dangerous enough as is...“

Ren furrowed his brow "What‘s dangerous about this place?“. When he noticed how Sojiro avoided his eyes, he poked further "What do you know, that we don‘t?“

Sojiro shook his head "It‘s not this place.. It‘s going out in general… You know her, she‘s not used to all of this wandering around...“

"You have no idea how great she did when we were wandering around. She was like a navigation system. She has pretty sharp eyes too..“ Ren answered. "I don‘t understand, why won‘t you just come with us? Futaba needs you… We all need you.“

Sojiro scanned their surroundings for eavesdroppers before whispering "I will. But there‘s people here that I can‘t leave behind. I know that you‘re going to be fine without me.“ he had a stern yet kind look on his face, the one that didn‘t allow any arguments.

Ren grudgingly admitted defeat. Who was he referring to? But no matter what, Ren knew that Sojiros gut-feeling had never been wrong so far. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuke entering the bar-area, stopping and staring when he noticed Sojiro, polishing glasses, like he had always done back at LeBlanc.

"Huh.. this evening is full of surprises..“ Yusuke remarked as he approached the bar.

"It‘s good to see you, Fox.“ Sojiro gave him a nod.

"It‘s getting late… We should get going soon.“ Makoto said to everyones agreement.

"I agree. I‘m sure they‘re already sharpening their knives at home because we‘ve been gone for so long...“ Ren said before leaning over the bar to whisper to Sojiro "When you‘re ready, go to the village in the west and tell them you‘re looking for us. We‘ll pick you up.“

The older man nodded before looking at the rest of the group "Take care.“

"You too.“ Makoto said.

Makoto carefully drove the car homewards while everything around them was pitch dark. Streetlights must have been a nice invention. Ren and Yusuke were sitting in the back of the pick-up again. The leader didn‘t fail to notice that Yusuke looked troubled. It seemed like the artist was on the verge of saying something.

"Can I ask for your advice?“ he eventually asked.

"Sure, shoot.“ Ren said.

"If… you were presented the opportunity to do the thing that you always dream of… but in turn leave your current life behind.. Would you do it?“

"Hmm… would that hypothetical opportunity have something to do with a passion equal to your passion for art?“ Ren asked.

Yusuke nodded. It didn‘t come as a surprise that Ren already seemed to have a vague guess of where this was going.

Ren put a finger on his chin before saying "You know.. I don’t think a lot of people are this passionate about anything than you are about art. So I guess it‘s hard for me to say.“ after a short silence, he continued "The life we have now… I‘m okay with it. We‘re all healthy, we‘re not hungry or thirsty, we have a safe place to stay… To me, that‘s as good as it gets.“ he shrugged "But I understand that there‘s more to life, and I understand, that you want more.“

"Madarame offered to mentor me. But… that would require for me to move there…“ Yusuke explained.

"That‘s… a pretty big offer.“ Ren admitted.

"I know…“ Yusuke stared into the darkness ahead "Do you think that everyone will be mad? I feel like I‘m betraying them.“

"I don‘t think that they will be happy but… I believe that they will respect your decision.“ Ren said. He felt like this Madarame would be able to drive a wedge between Yusuke and their group. He needed to stay on good terms with him, keep his trust, so he would be more inclined to come to them, if he ever needed anything. Yusuke was a proud man. It had never been easy for Yusuke to confide in anyone, so Ren feared that if anyone said a bad word about his new mentor, he might take it the wrong way.

"That‘s what I hope too.“ Yusuke answered.

Ren had a sad smile on his face when he said "We‘re gonna miss you, man… We‘ve been through a lot together.“. He remembered the tormented face of the Shogi Princess and wondered once again, if this place was the reason for it. He wondered if Yusuke would have the same look on his face after a few weeks. He needed to look into this Madarame-guy. There was an uneasy feeling in his gut, but there was no use. He was pretty sure that Yusuke wouldn‘t hear any of it.

Yusuke nodded "Yes… And I will always treasure it.“

"That‘s good to hear.“ Ren smiled "So, how long until we‘ll have to say good-bye to you?“

"I probably should be leaving as soon as possible… I will pack up my belongings tomorrow.“

"No farewell-party then?“ Ren asked, trying to hide his hurt. Having one of their team-members leave was a fear that always travelled with him. He wasn‘t mad, he had always known that Yusuke would go where the art would tell him to go, but still, they had been companions for over a year and after living with Futaba, Morgana, Ann and Ryuji, it had been a welcome change of pace to have someone with a calm personality.

"I won‘t be far away. I hope, that you‘ll be able to make it once one of my artworks gets displayed in the gallery.“

"We‘ll be there.“ Ren smiled.

Ren hadn‘t been wrong with his asumptions, for when they came back home, it seemed like everyone was awake, waiting for them.

"Joker! We were starting to get worried!“ Morgana came running up to the truck.

"For real. We almost came looking for you.“ Ryuji agreed.

"How did it go?“ asked Ann.

"We found out that Makoto and Ren are equally bad at Shogi.“ Haru smiled. That girl was able to deliver the meanest insults with the sweetest smiles.

"Shogi?“ Mishima was confused.

"Let‘s not talk about it..“ Makoto said.

Ren looked at Futaba "We found Sojiro.“ he said.

"WHAT?“ she yelled. "Where?“

The rest was equally surprised.

"He works there.“ Makoto explained.

"But… why didn‘t you bring him back?“ Futaba asked.

"He‘ll come.“ Ren said. He didn‘t want to tell everyone about Sojiros cryptic reasons to stay behind. "He said he needed to get some things done first. But he knows how to find us.“ he reassured Futaba, who seemed partly appeased by this.

"I‘m so glad he‘s okay.“ Ann said as they all walked inside and into the living room, where a fire was crackling.

"On another note..“ Yusuke started, casting a look at Ren in the hope that the leader would break the news of his departure.

Ren nodded "Guys…. Yusuke will be leaving to study under Madarame.“

Everyone stared at Yusuke, flabbergasted.

"Yusuke?“ Haru asked, not wanting to believe that their leader was telling the truth.

Makoto furrowed her brow but remained silent, she shot a questioning look at Ren.

"Dude, what?“ Ryuji asked.

"Madarame has offered to mentor me and help me become a better artist. I want to carry on my mothers dream of having a painting displayed at a gallery for everyone to see.“ Yusuke explained. Beside him, Haru had tears in her eyes. Ann and Futaba were fighting back tears too.

"So you‘re just gonna leave?“ Morgana asked.

Makoto looked around the room, where especially their core-group looked shocked by the news. But what confused her the most was how Ren was able to tell them so calmly, when an hour before he had agreed with her that something shady was going on at Madarames place. How could he be so relaxed about this? She felt like their friend needed to know of any potential risks. "Yusuke… I think there‘s something sketchy going on at this place.“ she finally said.

Ren cast her a surprised look. This wouldn‘t go well…

Yusuke too looked at Makoto now, his face aghast "Why would you even think something like that?“

Makoto wasn‘t unprepared "First, how is this place surviving? All they make is money, what are they trading their food for? Second, why are people so invested in a Shogi-match? Why are tons of people wandering around at night to look at paintings and watch a match of shogi?“

The others looked at Makoto, confused. They didn‘t seem to buy all of her concerns. But they also hadn‘t experienced this place and the face of the Shogi Princess first hand.

"Enough!“ Yusukes voice cut through her arguments. "I anticipated that not all of you would be happy about the chance given to me, but for you to go so low as to insinuate that an honest and generous man like Madarame could have his hands in shady business is outrageous.“. Until this point, noone had ever seen the lanky artist this angry.

"But...“ Makoto stammered, shocked by Yusukes sharp words.

"I won‘t hear it. I have made my decision and I will leave tomorrow morning.“ he said before angrily walking out the living room, leaving the rest behind.

After a few moments of confused and shocked silence Futaba spoke up "What just happened?“. Noone seemed to have an answer.

Ren, rather perplexed himself, looked around the group before saying "I think we should all go get some rest…. Except for the watches… of course...“

When noone made a move, Ann put her hand on Futabas shoulder "Come on, let‘s go.“ she gently said before leading her out, calling out a "Good night!“ to everyone remaining in the living room.

"Um, yeah… Mishima and I are on watch… Night, guys.“ Ryuji said, pushing Mishima out the door.

Haru looked at Ren and Makoto before leaving the living room without a word.

"Is… is he really leaving?“ Morgana squeaked.

"You should go to bed, Morgana...“ Ren said when he felt Makotos stare on him. There was something boiling inside of her that she wanted to get out and the less people there to witness it, the better.

"But...“ the kid argued only to meekly trot out the living room when he caught Rens look.

When only the leader and second-in-command were left, Makoto crossed her arms in front of her chest "I thought we agreed that there was something sketchy about this place.“ she said.

"We do. But as you noticed, telling him of our suspicions didn‘t go too well.“ Ren answered.

"But why didn‘t you tell him when he first told you? Maybe he would have listened to you?“ Makoto replied.

"Because he spent an entire evening with this guy. I‘m pretty sure Madarame spun him a nice little tale. Also, the old man can offer him something that none of us can: knowledge of art.“

Makoto was quiet. She hated it when he had a good argument, that she hadn‘t thought of before. "What if he walks into a trap? You should have seen that Shogi Princesses face, she clearly was not there on her own free will!“

"If it‘s a trap, we‘ll get him out.“ he cast her a look "If all of us would have been happy for him instead of blurting out all our conspiracy theories, maybe he would have been more willing to invite us over in the future...“. He was aware that this one hit home, but he had hoped that Makoto would go with his lead instead of going solo and burning down the bridges that he so carefully tried to maintain.

Makoto felt really dumb all of a sudden. She had thought the he had been irresponsible all this time, when he had actually just read Yusuke correctly. She hated it even more when Ren was so smug about being right.

Ren sighed "Look, it‘ll be okay.. I‘m sure that he‘ll be calmer tomorrow. Let‘s just… give him a good farewell. We‘ll figure out everything else after that. He‘ll be with Sojiro, he‘ll be in good hands.“. It seemed like there was already someone else at Madarames that Sojiro wanted to protect… But that needed to wait.

"You‘re right...“ Makoto admitted.

"Besides, being on the inside maybe means that Yusuke gets to know more about the organization.“ Ren said as he walked towards the hallway. "For now, we just have to put on a good face and wait. We will find out what‘s going on in this place, but this will actually need some investigating. Good night, Makoto.“ with that, Ren walked out.

Upstairs, Haru was on her way to her bedroom when the memories of earlier wouldn‘t let go of her. She found herself walking in the other direction and towards Yusukes room. She could hear noises from inside before even opening the door. She lightly knocked before peeking inside.

Yusuke was standing in front of a desk, trying to pack up his painting supplies when he saw Harus fluffy hair appear in the door before she stepped inside. The boy cast her a look before pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers "I beg you, no more about Madarame exploiting his protegees.“

"I just wanted to ask if you need help.“ Haru said.

The lanky artist looked surprised before sighing "I appreciate your offer. I‘m trying to fit everything into my backpack, but so far, I‘m already struggling with packing all my supplies.“

"Is it really necessary to bring your own paper?“ Haru asked while watching him try to stuff his big sketchpad and a canvas into his hiking backpack.

"You might have a point..“ Yusuke said before turning to her "Would you hold on to this for me?“

"Of course.“ Haru smiled.

"Do you think that I was too harsh to Makoto?“ he suddenly asked.

Haru weighed her answers before saying "I think she only meant well… You know how she can be. I‘m sure she just wanted to protect you from any potential danger.“

"The Madarame I met… I could never imagine him doing something shady. Not to mention dangerous...“ Yusuke stated.

In fear of upsetting him again, Haru kept quiet about how he had only talked to him for an hour or so.

"He knew my mother too.“ he said. "I feel like I can get closer to her again, if I study under someone who knew about her and her aesthetics.“

"That sounds wonderful.“ Haru couldn‘t help but feel sad to see him go.

Yusuke looked at the girl "I don‘t want you to think, that this has been an easy decision. Leaving this place and all of you… But I feel like I need to take this chance, or I will always regret it.“ Yusuke cast a glance at the single bed, that he had been sleeping in for months now. "I will truly miss you all.“

Haru couldn‘t hold in her tears any longer. She would miss their chats in the morning over a cup of tea, enjoying the peace and quiet before everyone else started their day. Yusuke was the only one that she could point out random moments of beauty on their travels, because she knew that he was the only one who appreciated it at least as much as her.

Yusuke felt uncomfortable seeing Haru cry across the room. He had never been good with handling these kind of things, mainly because he never had to deal with them his whole life. If it concerned himself, he would take a walk or sketch something while internally discussing the matter with himself. During his time with his mother, she had never spoken about her feelings. And then, after joining Ren… there had always been someone else more suited to handle emotions. Mostly it was Ann or Ren. Or Ryuji and Sojiro when the emotions concerned Ann and Ren. He dug deep inside of his memory to remember some of their techniques as he uncertainly crept closer to Haru, who was wiping away tears to no avail. As he stood in front of her, he did the thing that he had seen Ryuji do sometimes when Ann was upset. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around the girls shoulders and just stood there, unsure of what this would do and how this was supposed to act out.

When Haru felt Yusukes arms close around her, she was perplexed. She had never thought that he was someone to hug others. She had never even seen him do it either. Normally, he was kind of reserved about body-contact. Now, that she found herself in one of Yusuke Kitagawas rare embraces, she decided to close the last remaining distance between them when she wrapped her arms around his waist in return. She could feel his uncertainty before his arms eventually tightened around her shoulders. And under all these tears, she managed a faint smile.

Yusuke couldn‘t tell how much time passed before Haru let go of him again. Her eyes still looked puffy, but there was a faint smile on her lips.

"I‘m sorry.“ Haru composed herself again "I didn‘t want to make such a scene. I‘m truly happy for you.“ she wiped away a last tear.

Yusuke smiled "I appreciate it. And I won‘t be too far away. Please, feel free to come visit me anytime. Besides, maybe we‘ll run across each other at the village too.“ he said.

Haru nodded "I would love that.“

The artist remembered something "By the way...“ he rummaged in the backpocket of his trousers to pull out a folded piece of paper "I think of this as the drawing that caused this huge opportunity. I want you to have it.“

Haru looked surprised "I… I can‘t possibly take this. Don‘t you want to keep it with you?“

"No. I think you‘re the one it should stay with.“ Yusuke insisted. It was only fair to hand his sketch to success to his unaware model.

The girl reluctantly took the folded paper and carefully unfolded it. It took a few moments before her eyes went wide "Yusuke...“ she gasped "You drew me?“

He nodded "It was the first thing that came to my mind when Madarame asked me to sketch something for him. I hope you like it.“

Haru blushed before smiling "I feel honored and I will always treasure its.“

Yusuke smiled back at her "I‘m glad to hear that.“. He was in thought for a moment before asking "I think we should get some rest. It has been an eventful evening.“

"You‘re right.“ the fluffy-haired girl smiled and turned around to walk to the door.

"Haru...“ he called after her before she could open the door "Can I request a last morning tea and conversation tomorrow morning?“ he uncertainly asked.

Haru turned her head and smiled "Of course. I‘d be happy to.“

Yusuke nodded, relieved "Good. Then I wish you a good night. See you in the morning.“

"Good night, Yusuke.“ Haru smiled before walking to her own room with a both light and heavy heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! It's Sojiro! And Hifumi! 
> 
> Also: Haru and Yusuke are two characters that seem very likely to share the same interests.
> 
> Let me know what you think so far;)


	10. Goodbye Fox

Yusukes last morning at LeBlanc2 started with waking up to the snores of Ryuji and Mishima. While normally, the lanky artist at least didn‘t mind the noise, he suddenly felt a little sad about the prospect of not being able to hear them in the future. Since he shared a room with Ryuji ever since he had joined the group, he had gotten kind of used to the blonde boys irregular snores. As he sat in the kitchen with Haru, drinking tea and eating porridge that the girl had prepared for him, they had a chat like they had had all those mornings before. Looking at the fluffy-haired girl with the kind eyes, Yusuke realized that she would be one of the members, that he would miss the most. He just felt understood by her, as if she appreciated the same things. She had an eye for beauty and sometimes she would find it in the best hidden spots, that she would then share with him. He didn‘t fail to notice, that this morning Haru couldn‘t hide the sadness in her eyes. As they chatted along about everything and nothing, the kitchen slowly started to fill up with the rest of the group, as it had done every other morning before as well. Only today, everyone seemed somehow perturbed. Even the ones who usually were in a good mood seemed rather gloomy today.

After their breakfast, Yusuke retrieved his packed bags from upstairs. As he stepped out the door, he found the rest of the group lined up outside, waiting to say good-bye.

"I won‘t be far away. Please, feel free to visit whenever you feel like it.“ Yusuke directed at everyone.

"You too, Fox.“ Ren said as he approached him "You‘ll always be welcome here.“. The dark-haired leader shook his hand.

"Yeah, don‘t be a stranger, man!“ Ryuji said, forcefully clapping him on the shoulder.

"We‘ll always be here for you.“ Ann said as she gave him a quick hug while adding "But no nude-paintings, okay?“. Yusuke nodded. It was beyond him, how this one simple request had stuck with him for all these years.

"I‘ll miss you Inari.“ Futaba said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, strangling him and pressing his arms against his sides. "Say Hi to Sojiro for me!“.

"I will.“ Yusuke answered, unable to move until she generously let go.

When he found himself standing in front of Haru, he took her hand and indicated a handkiss, gallantly saying "Lady Okumura.“

The fluffy-haired girl giggled before doing a small curtsy, replying "Sir Kitagawa.“. Her face turned soft before asking "Are you sure, that we shouldn‘t drive you there?“.

Yusuke shook his head "You are too kind, but I couldn‘t ask that of you. I will be fine walking.“

After saying farewell to Mishima, Shinya and Eiko, Yusuke was standing in front of Makoto, who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I‘m sorry, for what I said yesterday. I hope that you still consider us friends.“ she said.

Yusuke offered her his hand "I accept your apology. I know that you were merely trying to look out for me, like a true leader should.“ he smiled when Makoto shook his hand.

He turned around one more time before he walked out the gate "I hope I will see you all again soon.“ he called out as the group waved good-bye.

As Yusuke wandered along the road, he realized how long it had been since the last time that he had walked alone. Ever since he joined Ren, there had barely been an occasion where he was wandering around on his own. Maybe only for exploring in Yongen. While before, he hadn‘t known anything else than travelling alone, he suddenly felt lost as he walked his chosen path, farther and farther away from the place and the people he had called home for so long. He shook his head. He would find a new home under Madarames wings. He would see Sojiro there and he would see his friends too from time to time. And he would get to paint. All day long. The idea felt surreal. He looked across the fields, where a few people were working on the crops. Manual labor had never been for him. He had realized pretty early that his hands were made to create art. It was a useless skill, like a lot of people had told him and his mother, whenever she had offered one of her paintings in return for something to eat or other necessities because they didn‘t have anything else to offer as payment. They were probably right. But Yusuke felt obligated to keep the art alive, especially after his mothers death.

After an hour-long walk, Yusuke arrived in front of Madarames modest building. In the daylight, without the colourful lights shining outside, the house looked rather boring and fragile. Yusuke carefully stepped up to the front door and knocked. It took a few minutes until the door opened to reveal two burly men and Nakanohara. When the young man realized who was standing in front of him, his eyes grew wide.

"I came here to take Sensei Madarames offer. I would love to become his protegee and study under him.“ Yusuke politely said.

Nakanohara smiled "Of course! I‘m so happy to hear that! Sensei will be very pleased too. Please, come inside. Welcome home!“ he stepped aside to make way for him.

_Welcome home._ Yusuke was reminded of Rens words back then when they had decided to stay at the nowadays LeBlanc2. He stepped inside to see the bar-floor empty. Not even the bar was manned yet.

Nakanoharas stare fell to the assault rifle and the katana that he carried. He cast him a smile before saying "This is a place of peace. I hope you don‘t mind that our security personnel will take care of your weapons. Have no fear. As long as you're under this roof, you will be safe." After Yusuke obliged, the young mang lead him upstairs to the gallery, where there was an easel standing in the middle of the room, a canvas placed on it and behind it, a short man, pondering over something. "Sensei, please forgive our intruding, but Yusuke Kitagawa is here and he would like to stay with us.“ Nakanohara anounced.

Madarames head popped out from behind the canvas, a smile on his face. "Yusuke, my boy. I am happy to hear that. Please, feel right at home. Nakanohara, why don‘t you show him to his room so he can get settled in.“

Nakanohara nodded obediently before leading Yusuke upstairs to the second floor. As they reached the top of the stairs, a narrow hallway opened up in front of them, doors lined up one both sides. Nakanohara knocked on the first one on the right.

"Yes?“ a grumpy and deep voice answered before Yusuke saw Sojiro sticking his head out the door.

"We have a new head under our roof. Why don‘t you show him to his room?“ Nakanohara said before turning back around to Yusuke "This is Boss, he tends to the bar at night and keeps us as all fed. He‘ll show you to your room. Go get settled in, you can join us later in the gallery.“ he said before walking downstairs again.

As Sojiro stepped outside his room, he motioned Yusuke to follow him with a blank expression on his face. He led him through the second door on the left, which lead to a spacious room equipped with a comfortable-looking bed and a big table with enough room to spread out his brushes, paint and pencils. After he was done admiring his new home, he turned around to Sojiro who looked anything else but happy to see him.

The old man closed the door before letting out deep sigh "Hoo boy….“

"Is something wrong, Boss?“ Yusuke asked.

"What are you doing here?“ Sojiro asked, massaging the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"Madarame has offered to mentor me and I agreed.“ he explained.

Sojiro seemed to grasp for words before finally saying "Look kid… That old man down there is not who you think he is…“

Yusuke felt reminded of Makoto, but hearing it from a person who actually worked for him made him reconsider giving an annoyed answer.

"Do the others know that you‘re here?“ Sojiro asked.

Yusuke nodded.

"Good.“

"What exactly makes you suspect him this much?“ Yusuke quietly asked.

"It wasn‘t long ago, that Madarame had taken in another "student“… It was only a few weeks later, when he suddenly disappeared.“

"What happened to him?“

Sojiro shrugged "Either noone knows or someone won‘t tell. I suspect it‘s the latter and I feel that Madarame knows what happened. After all, his "protegees“ are never allowed to leave this place.“

Yusuke looked surprised "All of this sounds like a horror-story.“ he shrugged it off. There was no way that a frail man like Madarame was capable of making people disappear.

"Just… be careful.“ Sojiro said.

Yusuke knitted his brow "If there are so many sketchy things happening, why are you still working here?“

Sojiro was almost out the door when he turned around to answer "Besides you, there‘s someone here that shouldn‘t be left alone with them.“. He didn‘t wait for an answer when he closed the door.

Yusuke decided to take Sojiros words with scepticism. While running across sketchy people sure was likely, he felt that Madarame wasn‘t someone like that. He slowly started to unpack his stuff from his two bags.

The sun was starting to set when another knock came from his door. "Yes?“ he called out. The door slowly opened and the girl that had been introduced to him as Hifumi the day before peeked inside.

"May I enter?“ she politely asked.

"Please.“

The Shogi Princess entered and looked around the room with a pained expression on her face.

"How can I help you?“

The girl put on a meek smile "Madarame asked me to welcome you. It’s nice to have someone my age around again.“

"Thank you. I am happy to be here.“ Yusuke replied. As he looked at the girl, he didn‘t fail to notice how unhappy and scared she looked. He wondered what that was about. "Please, feel free to come to me if you ever need something.“

The girl nodded before saying "I think that dinner should be ready downstairs. Shall we go?“

As the two teenagers entered the lounge-area, Sojiro, Madarame and Nakanohara were already seated at one of the tables, that was decked with cutlery and bowls of some kind of vegetable-stew.

"I hope you have settled in alright, Yusuke?“ Madarame asked after everyone started eating.

"I did, thank you very much, Sensei.“

"Do you have any idea for your first painting yet?“ Nakanohara asked.

"On my way here, I came across some beautiful sceneries. I‘d like to set out in the next days to capture the essence of the nature first-hand, just like my mother used to do.“

Madarames face suddenly changed when he said "Oh dear boy… The outside is very dangerous. You‘re under my wings now, I can‘t have you walk around outside and risk being robbed or worse.“

Yusuke looked surprised when he said "Believe me, Sensei, I can defend myself if need be. Besides, the road here looks rather safe.“

Madarame shook his head "I‘m sorry, I can‘t allow it.“

"But...“ Yusuke wanted to argue but Madarame cut him off with a surprisingly intense glare that allowed no further discussion. Yusuke noticed how Hifumi had tensed up beside him. Across the table, Sojiro was looking indifferent.

"Sensei Madarame is very worried about his protegees safety. There were some.. incidents with previous students that made him come to this decision.“ Nakanohara tried to explain.

Madarame seemed to have calmed down again "Please forgive me. But you see, this talent that you have… You can‘t let it go to waste. Besides, a truly outstanding painter can paint from his memory.“ he lectured.

"But does that mean.. you won‘t ever let us out?“ Yusuke asked, looking confused.

Madarame cast him a smile "As long as you wish to be my student.“ Hifumi dropped her spoon, hastily picking it up again before the old man continued "Besides, what could you possibly want from the outside? We have food, we have water… We might not live in luxury, but it‘s a modest life. Riches are something to be despised anyway for a painter. Wealth kills creativity.“

Yusuke realized that there was no use in debating anymore. An unsettling feeling started to spread in his stomach. And there he was, unarmed.

"On another note, I heard that there will be quite a lot of people visiting tonight. But all of you know the drill by now. Yusuke, why don‘t you take tonight off, get accustomed to your new home, start working on a new project. If you need any supplies, there‘s a closet upstairs where you can find anything you need.“ Madarame was back to his warm and kind-hearted tone again as he finished his meal "Thank you very much, Boss. It was as outstanding as ever.“

Sojiro nodded before clearing the table. Madarame got up and walked off to the galery. Nakanohara motioned Hifumi to the bakstage area. The girl meekly obeyed.

When only Yusuke and Sojiro were left at the table, Yusuke quietly asked "How am I going to stay in contact with the others?“

Sojiro continued wiping the table while quietly answering "You won’t. That‘s why it‘s good that they know where to find you.“

Yusuke felt like the rug had been pulled from under his feet. What had seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime had turned foul in the matter of half a day. Both Sojiro and Hifumi seemed to know that they were in grave danger, but so far, he failed to understand what motives and what power a frail old painter could have. He didn‘t understand a thing.

Sojiro scanned their surroundings before leaning over the table to whisper "The second door on the right is his room. He will be at the gallery the entire evening, so you should be able to walk freely. Use that opportunity.“

Yusuke nodded. He understood what Sojiro implied. With swift strides, he walked upstairs. Before going back to his room, he stopped by the supply closet to pick up a canvas and some paint. As he scanned all the supplies in there, he remembered Makotos question about how Madarame was able to obtain all these things. He had been so fascinated by the thought of endless creative freedom, that he had forgotten to question where it all came from. He spent the next two hours attempting to bring his confused feelings to canvas. For once, he didn‘t feel stressed about wasting a valuable canvas by just letting his heart guide the paintbrush.

After making sure that downstairs was busy enough, Yusuke slowly walked up to Madarames room. The closer he got, the shakier his knees became. He held his breath as he slowly opened the door to slip inside. After closing the door, Yusuke flipped the light-switch. Displayed on the dresser and on the night-stand were various glimmering trinkets. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were several rings and amulets made of gold and silver, embellished with diamonds and other gems. There was an elegant wall-carpet hanging above the incredibly comfortable-looking bed. Yusuke furrowed his brow. Hadn‘t Madarame just told them this evening that they were leading a "modest“ life without luxury? Why did Madarame own these things, if in his opinion wealth was the killer of creativity? Yusuke was disappointed in himself, that he had been so wrong about the man that he had hoped to be a mentor and a role model for him. His gaze fell upon an easel that stood by the window. On it was a big sketchbook with an unidentifiable sketching on the top page. A bunch of torn-off pages lay crumpled on the floor. As Yusuke filed through them, he deduced that Madarame must be trying to draw something particular. These seemed to be many attempts of the same, before Madarame must have thrown them away.

As Yusuke stood in the middle of the old mans room, his eyes landed on a small book laying on top of a desk. He carefully flipped it open, making sure as to not change its position. As he peeked inside, he only saw lines and lines of alien abbreviations and numbers. It could have been something like a ledger, but Yusuke had no way to tell for sure. He closed the book, turned off the light and quietly snuck out the room again.

His heart stopped when he ran into Hifumi, who looked equally shocked. She grabbed his wrist and shoved him into his room.

"What are you doing?“ Hifumi asked, panic and confusion in her voice.

Yusuke didn‘t think of her as an enemy, but she already looked stressed enough "My apologies, I was looking for the supply closet but must have entered the wrong room.“ he tried to keep his cool while his heart was beating like crazy.

Hifumi stared at him before saying "It‘s too late. You sealed your fate. We will never get out of here. No matter how hard you look!“. Her hand was still gripping his wrist.

"What do you know?“ Yusuke asked.

Hifumi gaze was intense when she answered "I know that noone leaves this place alive.“. She let go of his wrist and left the room again.

Yusuke was perplexed. So far, looking into Madarames room had brought him no new information beside the fact that the old man was a fraud who did enjoy luxury and seemed to be in a creative slump. Nothing he found in this room would have led him to the conclusion that noone left this place alive. Fuelled by more confusion, he went to the canvas again.

Many miles away, there was another group of heads thinking about the mysterious Madarame. The more Ren and Makoto thought about it, the more suspicions arose and so they called in a group meeting in the evening to jog everyones brain.

"Basically Ren and I came up with two big questions. First: How is this place surviving? Second: What do the Shogi Princess and Sojiro know? “ Makoto summarized for everyone.

Haru spoke up first "They seemed to be making good money with entry-fees and drinks..“

"But that can‘t be their sole income, right? They need to eat too. Noone in their right mind trades food for money. Money is only used for luxury goods these days...“ Ren argued. In times where people would only sell food if they had too much of it, there needed to be an equally interesting offer that would make up for the items they just traded away.

"We know from Inari that paying in paintings isn‘t very popular.“ Futaba added.

"So they have to be trading with something else too.“ Ann summarized "Could it be that Sojiro grows some vegetables and stuff?“

"Possible..“ Ren agreed.

"How long is this place there anyway? Why did we only learn about this now?“ Eiko threw in, toying with her hair.

"That‘s right! Sojiro must have joined them like what? 2 months ago, max?“ Ryuji said.

"Because he was at LeBlanc before that!“ Morgana added.

"So it would also be interesting to know since when this place is in business.“ Makoto said.

"There‘s just so many questions… Where do we even start?“ Ann sighed.

"Why don‘t we just go and ask?“ Shinya asked.

"I‘m afraid that we won‘t get any answers there.“ Makoto sighed, vividly remembering the Shogi Princess pleading to stop asking questions. Ren didn‘t disagree.

"Maybe we should start asking around in other settlements? If they get their produce from the outside, it must be a place close by.“ Haru proposed.

Ren nodded "That makes sense. Why don‘t you, Morgana and Makoto take a look into that tomorrow?“

The three nodded.

"What about us?“ Ryuji asked.

"We have something else I want to look into.“ Ren said. The two blondes cast him a puzzled look. "There‘s just a feeling that I can‘t shake…“. The statements by the Shogi Princess during Makotos match combined with Sojiros cryptic messages had given him a nagging suspicion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke leaves the nest only to stumble upon a new mystery. What happened to Madarames previous protegees? What's with all the gold in Madarames room? Why is the Shogi Princess so scared?
> 
> Next chapter will be all about investigations;)


	11. All His Little Secrets

The next day, the two task-groups walked to the crossing that lead to Madarames gallery together before they split up. Makoto, Haru and Morgana walked ahead in search of other settlements while Ren, Ryuji and Ann made their way towards Madarames place.

As they started walking, Makoto, Haru and Morgana had no idea how far it would to the next settlement, but they were in luck when a high fence appeared in sight after half an hour. It made sense for at least one settlement to be close by, since people probably wouldn‘t take on a long walk to go to a bar in the evening. As they approached the main-gate, they had no idea what awaited them or if this investigation would even bare fruits. While travelling with a group of guys usually led to suspicion when approaching a new settlement, two girls and a kid were welcomed more warmly and they had no problem entering. The settlement was one of the bigger ones but still managed to look rural. There was lively commotion on the streets. The three exchanged a look before going ahead and splitting up to chat up different people.

Of course Haru was drawn to the vegetable-beds at the east-side of the settlement. She found an old woman who was busy picking eggplants.

"Those look beautiful.“ Haru admired.

The woman seemed surprised but she turned around with a smile "Oh my, thank you. But I‘m afraid at the moment we can‘t spare any.“ she apologized.

"Oh, that‘s not a problem. I‘m actually trying to grow some myself back home.“ Haru answered with a smile. "Is everything okay? Do you have a food-shortage?“

"Oh no, don‘t worry, dear. It‘s just that there‘s more and more mouths to feed.“ the woman sighed.

"I… actually wanted to ask if you knew anything about a man named Madarame? He has an art gallery and a bar somewhere down the road?“ Haru asked.

The womand nodded "Oh yes, Madarame! Such a kind and sweet old man. Spends his days painting pictures and nothing else.“ she smiled.

Haru nodded "Have you met him?“

"I think he came by once to introduce himself. But ever since then, his assistant comes by when they run out of food.“ the woman explained.

"So they buy vegetables from you?“ Haru asked.

"Oh no, Madarame claims to have renounced money and other luxury-goods. What a quirky old man, right? He has actually offered to trade us one of his paintings in exchange for food, but what use would that have been. Normally, we only trade food for food… But at the time, we had more than enough, so our mayor decided that we would keep this art-loving man fed.“ the woman explained.

"He‘s unable to pay anything?“ Haru asked, unbelieving.

"Not one Yen, he claims.“ the woman said "But in return, he lets everyone from our town drink for free. Thinking of our men, that‘s a pretty bad deal for him.“ the woman chuckled.

"Do you know where he gets all his other resources from?“ Haru asked, amazed by how lucky she got with her first interview-partner.

"I heard from a friend that Madarames assistant told him that when they moved in, the bar was already there and it was stocked up on alcohol. For his art supplies… Well this Madarame is a lucky man, we have someone here who has learned the craft of mixing paint from his parents and he makes makeshift canvas for him.“

"Also for free?“ Haru couldn‘t believe that Madarame had been able to wrap this town around his little finger like that. She was the father of a businessman after all and the charity that this old man received baffled her.

"Well, not entirely. I think there‘s one or two original Madarames hanging at his house now.“ the woman winked. "You are awfully interested in Madarame, dear. Are you perhaps looking to become his next protegee?“

"Oh no! But my friend has recently left to study under him.“ Haru smiled "Thank you so much for your time. I wish you all the best for the future.“ she bowed before turning around. While her father was the exact opposite of a generous man, Haru felt like these people were a little too generous. 

On the other side of town, Morgana set eyes on a group of playing children about his age. Morgana had never been good with other kids. He had always been alone when he was younger, so the only people he could talk to were adults and then later Ren and the others. He never got to talk about toys or games, so listenting to others talk about things that he couldn't retrace always made him uncomfortable. He balled his fists and took a deep breath. _It's for the sake of the investigation._ he thought to himself before walking up to them.

"You‘re not from here...“ a boy said as he saw the dark-haired kid approaching.

"Have you heard of a guy named Madarame?“ Morgana cut straight to the point. Although Shinya now lived with them, he still wasn‘t used to interacting with kids his age a lot.

The kids exchanged an unsure look before the boy asked "Why do you ask?“

Morgana sighed internally… Why was it always so hard? He decided to go with a lie "Oh… because.. my brother went to that bar of his...“ he hoped that that maybe would get them talking, even though he himself had no idea where he was going with this lie.

After talking about his "brother“, a girl in the back seemed to become interested "My father goes there a lot too...“. the other kids turned around to her, looking surprised.

Morgana realized that he had no clue what it exactly was that he wanted to know. He wasn‘t used to making the decision, but as he watched the kids grow more and more interested, he saw that the conversation apparently made itself.

"Mine too.“ another boy suddenly said. "My mother is really mad.. something about losing money...“ he continued.

"Really? Mine was really happy yesterday because he won something...“ the girl replied.

Morgana himself had no idea what their statements meant, but since they were directly opposing each other, it must be something important. The boy slowly walked backwards and disappeared into the crowd without saying good-bye.

Makoto walked along the main street when she walked past a man with a can of paint in his hand, arguing with a woman in her fourties.

"Please! You have the best connection to the man! Just ask him to give him this letter!“ the woman was pleading.

The man furrowed his brow "I haven‘t seen the old man in weeks. I just give the canvas to his assistant and that‘s it.“

"Then give it to him!“

"I told you, he doesn‘t take it!“ the man angrily replied before pushing past her to walk into his house. The woman cursed.

Makoto sensed the opportunity "Is everything alright?“ she asked.

The woman sighed when she turned to Makoto "No...“

„That old man that you were referring to… coul you mean Madarame?“ Makoto asked.

She looked surprised before she nodded "Do you know him?“

"Not personally… but I have visited his place yesterday...“ Makoto explained.

The woman suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders "Have you seen my boy? He's one of Madarames students!“

Makoto was perplexed before the words of the Shogi Princess came back to her mind again. She had a bad feeling about the whereabouts of that womans son. "I… don‘t think so..“ she carefully answered. When tears welled up in the womans eyes, she quickly added "But… I haven‘t been to the gallery… Maybe he was uptairs?“

The woman tried to calm herself by nodding.

"How long has your son been a student of Madarame?“ Makoto carefully asked.

"It must have been a few months or so…“ the woman sobbed "He promised that he would visit and that he would write, but he never did… Noone wants to help me! I know that there‘s something wrong with this place. There‘s so many men that go there regularly, and none of them have seen him in all this time! I just want to know that my son is okay!“

Makotos heart hurt as she listened to the mother worrying. "I‘ll find out for you.“ she said, determined.

The woman stared at her in disbelief "You would?“

Makoto nodded before promising the woman to return and saying good-bye. So Madarames students disappeared as soon as they entered his gallery. A bad feeling started to spread in her gut.

The three regrouped at the main-gate to share their information.

"Madarame basically gets everything he needs for free.“ Haru summarized.

"The teenagers he mentors disappear and are never heard from again.“ Makoto said, much to Harus discomfort.

"Some people leave rich and some poor.“ Morgana recounted the kids talking.

Haru and Makoto shared a look "So it really is gambling or something...“ Makoto said.

"But what about your deductions Mako? You don‘t think...?“ Haru didn‘t want to say it out loud.

Makoto sighed "I guess we have to wait what the others find out...“ she placed her finger on her chin in thought before saying "Let‘s start heading back. The others should be done by now too...“

While Haru, Makoto and Morgana were off walking to find new settlements, the other three walked down the narrow road that led to them to Madarames art-palace. Walking up to the place during the day was far less impressive. The building looked abandoned in the daylight, but if Makoto and he had interpreted the Shogi Princesses statements right, at least her and Yusuke wouldn‘t be allowed to leave. He wondered if Yusuke was aware of that yet or if it still had to dawn on him.

The three made a huge detour to get around the house without raising suspicions before they went into the woods that started a few meters behind the house.

"Does this look like a frequently-used footpath to you?“ Ren asked when he noticed footprints on the ground.

Ryuji and Ann joined him before Ryuji said "Dunno if it‘s a path, but it seems like someone's been walking here not long ago...“

The three followed the footprints deeper and deeper into the woods until Ren abruptly stopped when his fears got affirmed "Oh no...“ he muttered as he looked at the body that laid face-down on the ground.

"Shit!“ Ryuji exclaimed when he saw it too.

"You could have told us that we‘re looking for a corpse!“ Ann shrieked.

The three stood around the dead body when Ryuji noticed "He‘s been shot in the back of the head… What a pathetic killer...“

"How long has he been dead?“ Ann wondered.

"I‘m not a coroner, but two weeks tops?“ Ren guessed.

"So you think that he was Madarames previous student?“ Ryuji asked.

"We even found the tracks leading from the house to here… Sojiro said that his art "protegees“ come and go...“

"And how they go...“ Ryuji remarked.

Ann put her hand on her hip "So Madarame takes in a student, something happens in that gallery of his and then he kills them and looks for the next?“

"Question is, what needs to happen to get them killed.“ Ren said.

"Dammit, what has Yusuke gotten himself into?!“ Ryuji cursed.

"It seems like we got a step closer to the truth...“ Ann said.

"I wonder if there‘s more...“ Ren said.

"For real? You wanna keep looking for dead guys?“ Ryuji sighed.

"I know…“ Ren started „But the more we find the worse it gets.“

"And that‘s a good thing?“ Ann raised an eyebrow at him.

After splitting up, it didn‘t take long for the three to discover various corpses in different states of decay. The thing that all of them had in common: they were shot in the back of their head or in the back multiple times.

"This is really messed up...“ Ann said as they regrouped. She was no stranger to seeing a corpse, but she had her limits.

"You said the more we find the worse it gets. This is totally the worst...“ Ryuji said.

"I agree...“ Ren said. Never would he have guessed that Madarame had – literally – this many corpses buried in his backyard.

"So now we know… But what are we going to do with it? We have to tell Yusuke better sooner than later!“ Ann said.

"You‘re right. I wish we could talk to Sojiro one more time...“ Ren said. He needed to tell him about the dead teenagers, if the man didn‘t know already.

Ann and Ryuji exchanged a look before Ann said "Why don‘t Ryuji and I go? We haven‘t been in there before, they won‘t know us. We can talk to Boss and deliver a message.

Ren looked at them before saying "Maybe that‘s not a bad idea. But first, let‘s wait and see what the others found out..“. They walked back to the cross-road.

It took a little bit of waiting until the other group appeared into sight. After they shared their deductions, everyone looked anxious.

"So one of the bodies we found in the woods was that womans son?“ Ryuji asked.

"I‘d say it‘s very likely...“ Ren had to admit.

"We have to do something! We can‘t let Yusuke stay in there any longer!“ Ann exclaimed.

"What if he doesn‘t want to listen to us?“ Morgana brought up.

"Do you really think that he still has no clue?“ Ryuji asked.

"Even if he didn‘t, we‘re not equipped to go in there now...“ Makoto said.

"Then we do it tomorrow!“ Haru said.

"Should we go in to prepare Sojiro?“ Ann asked.

Ren hesitantly nodded "We still don‘t know what got all those students killed… If we go in there to rescue Sojiro, Yusuke and most likely the Shogi-Princess, we have to end this for good. If Madarame really had all these teenagers killed, he needs to be stopped.“

"You really wanna kill him?“ Ryuji asked.

Ren shook his head "Not if it can be avoided…“. The others nodded before Ren turned to Ann and Ryuji "Go in and let Sojiro know that he and the others should prepare to leave. Maybe you‘ll notice some things that we missed.“ Ren said.

"I dare to say that there‘s nothing to be learned from the Shogi Princess… Maybe there‘s something in the gallery?“ Makoto suggested.

"Staring at paintings? Sounds lame...“ Ryuji sighed.

"You wouldn‘t understand it anyway.“ Morgana taunted.

"Oh yeah? Why don‘t you come with us and explain it then?“ Ryuji asked.

"I could!“ Morgana argued.

"No you couldn‘t.“ Ren interrupted. "This is a bar after all. It would bring up a lot of questions if a kid walked in.“

Morgana huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Haru, Morgana, why don‘t you start walking home? Ren and I will wait for Ann and Ryuji, there‘s no need for you two to stay here.“ Makoto said.

"Are you sure?“ Haru asked.

Makoto nodded "Don‘t worry. Nothing will happen tonight, we‘ll be back soon.“ she tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Very well. Come on, Morgana.“ Haru said.

"Take care, guys. Don‘t do anything that I wouldn‘t do!“ Morgana ordered before following Haru.

The four waited until the sun started to set. When they spotted a few people walking down the road and towards Madarames gallery, Ren and Makoto turned towards the two blondes.

"Are you ready?“ Ren asked.

"I feel a little underdressed...“ Ann remarked.

"Don‘t worry. We have been terribly overdressed last time we‘ve been there. I think it‘s safe to assume that most of the people there have never even seen a suit in their lifes.“ Ren said.

"Take care.“ Makoto said as the two blondes turned around and blended into the crowd.

Ren walked towards a tree at the corner of the crossroads and sat down in the grass. "And now we wait.“ he sighed, leaning against the tree.

Makoto hesitated before she moved towards the tree, awkwardly standing beside him.

Ren cast her an amused glance before saying "You can sit down, you know?“

Makoto looked into the distance in an attempt to cover up how hard her brain was working. Sitting together… There were so many things that could make things awkward. What if she sat down too close to him? But it would also be strange to sit down at the other side of the tree. She didn‘t fail to notice how Ren was watching her the entire time and she was sure, that he knew exactly what her thought process was at the moment.

"It‘s just sitting together. No need to make calculations..“ Ren yawned, his head resting against the tree, his eyes closed, as the crickets were chirping somewhere in the taller grass. The "beep boop“ was implied in his remark about calculations and he was sure that she had caught that drift.

Makoto reluctantly sat down with half an arm-lenght between them. They sat together in silence for a moment before Makoto said "I promised that mother that I would find out if her son was okay...“

Ren looked at her "In a way, you did… But probably not the way she would have liked to hear.“

"I have no idea how to tell her...“ Makoto said. She had always hated to be the bearer of bad news, but telling a mother that her son was dead was a whole new level. She looked at Ren "What am I even supposed to say?“

Ren sat up and stared into the distance "I guess it depends on the person you‘re talking to… Back then, when I found out that my parents had died, our neighbor told me.“

Makoto looked at him before carefully asking "And how did she do it?“

Ren sighed "She had caught me outside when I was about to enter the house. She sat me down and just… calmly told me. She was compassionate and she was just… there, while I had no idea what to do next.“

Makoto knew that Rens parents had died in an accident, but she hadn‘t known what happened after that.

Ren shook his head "So.. in my case, I‘d just say the best thing is to be there and listen. There is no smart advice to give in that moment, there are no words that could make it hurt less, so sometimes it‘s best to just say nothing and be there.“. He turned his head to look at her " You're no stranger to loss either. What about you?“

Makoto tried to remember if there ever had been a conversation with her sister about the possible death of their father. "I was very young when my mother died. I don‘t know if I understood the gravity of it, when my father sat me down on his lap and told me. And with my father… I would hold on to the fact that we didn‘t know where he was, that he could still be alive… My sister always yelled at me for being a naive child… At some point, I started to believe her.“

"That sounds tough...“ Ren said

"What‘s interesting is, that I don‘t remember how my sister used to be before our fathers death.“ Makoto looked up at the starry sky "When weeks passed and he and his partners still hadn‘t returned… there suddenly was this obsession in her eyes. She did nothing but target practice with every kind of weapon that would fall in her hand. It was scary… But she was the only family I had left, so I watched her spiral into this obsession and bitterness. She left behind everyone who she didn’t deem capable. I always wanted to be useful to her because that felt like the only thing I could do so she would love me. In the end I was left behind too because I failed.“. Makotos heart felt heavy only talking about it. She flinched when Ren placed his hand on hers. She stared at him in surprise.

"You‘re not useless. I refuse to believe that you have ever been useless.“ his voice sounded dead-serious.

Makoto was grateful for the dark for it hopefully hid how red her cheeks turned. It was probably the nicest compliment that she could think of. "Thank you...“ she stammered, still flustered, before she hastily turned her face back to the night sky. Ren did the same, his hand still resting on hers.

When Ann and Ryuji entered Madarames place, they couldn‘t fail to notice the two bouncers that eyed everyone walking in.

"This is underwhelming...“ Ann said. She had imagined something far more glamorous.

"What are we even supposed to do here?“ Ryuji asked while scanning the room.

"Maybe we should just sit down at the table.. Listen in to what these men over there are saying?“ Ann suggested.

Ryuji nodded before they walked to one of the tables and sat down. As they pretended to enjoy the music, they listened in on the heated discussion at the table next to them.

"I‘m telling you, I practiced! This time, I‘ll surely make it for at least ten turns!“ one man argued.

"Yeah, yeah, you always say that. You‘ll probably get beaten in 5...“ another one said, accompanied by booming laughter from the other men.

Ryuji and Ann shared a confused look when they noticed a young man approaching their neighbouring table, a wooden box in hand. "Gentlemen! It‘s always a pleasure to see you back. Our bartender told me that we have a recurring challenger this hour.“ he nodded towards the man who claimed to have practiced. "Any guesses?“ the young man asked, opening the box.

Around the table, the men called out numbers, placing different amounts of money in the box while the young man smiled and took notes in a leather-bound notebook.

When the man closed the box and left, Ryuji leaned over to the men at the other table and called out "Hey!“. He ignored Ann kicking his shin under the table while she tried to put on a relaxed smile as one after another the men turned around to look at the two blondes.

"What was that about?“ Ryuji asked straight away.

The other man shared a look before one of them spoke up with a grin "You two new here?“

Ann put on her widest smile when she answered "Yes! First time visiting.“

"Then I guess we should explain how things are going here. Shogi itself is pretty confusing.. So Nakanohara here runs bets on how many turns the Shogi Princess will need to defeat her opponents.“ the man grinned. "Gives you the chance to win some extra cash to buy your lady something pretty.“ his eyes wandered between him and Ann.

"Huh?“ Anns eyes grew wide.

Before Ryuji could react, one of the other men spoke up, directly adressing Ryuji "Had to get my wife something pretty big so she stops complaining about me coming here. She never takes off that ring ever since.“. The other men errupted in laughter.

Ryuji laughed nervously "Haha… women, am I right?“. Ann looked at him from across the table with a raised eyebrow.

The room grew quiet when the young man entered the stage to anounce the Shogi Princess and this hours opponent, that came from the table next to them. It didn‘t take long until the man had to admit his defeat and left the stage with his shoulders hanging.

"I have no idea what just happened...“ Ryuji whispered as he leaned over the table towards Ann.

"Me neither… I guess that‘s why they have their own side-game...“ Ann whispered back.

Ryuji watched as the opponent returned to the table, booed by his friends "So, has anyone won?“ Ryuji asked.

Everyone shook their heads "Sadly no. We all had different bets, but I guess none of us wanted to believe that this guy here would suck this much..“

"So all the money that you just bet...“ Ann started.

"Goes to her majesty, the Shogi Princess.“

Everyones attention was drawn back to the stage when the young man appeared once more, clearing his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we can anounce that Master Madarame will reveal a new addition to the gallery in half an hour.“

"How about that?“ Ryuji asked with a sly grin.

"Do you think it will be one of Yusukes works?“ Ann wondered.

"Ya think he painted one this fast?“

"He‘s been here for more than one day… He‘s done paintings in less time.“ Ann shrugged.

"Guess we‘ll see.“ Ryuji said. "Hey, let‘s hit the bar and say Hi to Boss.“

Ann nodded. As they made their way to the bar, Ann suddenly complained "Why does everyone think we‘re on a date?“

"Wow, sorry that that‘s such a horrible thing for you.“ Ryuji sarcastically replied. He sounded honestly offended.

"That‘s not how I mean it.“ Ann said "But.. all these men did was give you tips on how to impress me or to keep me in a good mood to get you some "freedom““ she sighed "and the answer to both of these problems was buying me something with gems.“

"For real? Why would you listen to what some random strangers say?“ Ryuji asked when they arrived at the bar.

"Because it‘s annoying how everyone thinks that I‘m this weak little girl. I held more diamond rings and amulets in my hands than they will ever see in their life, but noone cares about that.“ Ann sighed, leaning against the bar, propping her chin up on her hand.

Ryuji shook his head "Screw them. It‘s not important what they think.“. He leaned against the bar beside her "Has anyone from the people that matter ever treated you like that?“ he shrugged "It never even crossed my mind to give you any of the jewelry that I‘ve found over all those years… You can get good money for that.“

Ann couldn‘t help but smile. As long as she remembered, Ryuji had always given her some kind of weapon or food for her birthday or other occassions.

He flashed her a grin "Besides, you would have gotten it bloody or lost it anyway.“

Ann gasped but before she could reply, the bartender appeared in the corner of their eyes "Sheesh, you two never change, huh?“ his smile was as warm as ever.

Both Ryuji and Ann had troubles keeping their emotions in check, but they knew that they needed to act like they didn‘t know Sojiro.

"What brings you here?“ Boss quietly asked, trying to keep their conversation private.

Ryuji casually leaned against the bar, muttering "We‘re going to get you out. Tell Yusuke and the one you want to safe, that they should stay ready.“

Sojiro tried to look indifferent, but the two blondes noticed the surpise in his eyes.

"We‘re close to figuring everything out. We‘re going to end it.“ Ann said.

Sojiro didn‘t look entirely convinced but nodded nonetheless. He arranged glasses as he mumbled "Be careful not to act suspicious.“

After a drink in silence, the two blondes paid the entrance fee to the gallery and walked upstairs. As they walked around the room, Ann leaned over to whisper into Ryujis ear "Don‘t these paintings all look awfully different to you?“

Ryuji shrugged "Isn‘t diversifaction or whatever a good thing?“.

"Yeah, but doesn‘t every painter have his own style too?“ Ann thought that she remembered Yusuke explaining once.

"Hmm...“ Ryuji absentmindedly answered when he noticed a guard standing by the entrance, eyeing them suspiciously. He didn't think much about it when he hooked his arm around Anns waist.

"What are you doing?“ Ann whispered, flustered.

Ryuji took a step to the side, so she was standing in front of him before taking a step towards her as if going for a hug. "That guard at the door is staring at us.“ he muttered when his face was close enough to her ear.

Ann carefully looped her arms around his neck and gave in to their pretend-embrace. It wasn‘t the first time that she hugged Ryuji. It was the first time pretending that it was supposed to look romantic though. "What now?“ Ann whispered as she watched more and more people enter the gallery.

Ryuji felt the heat creeping up his cheeks when he felt her breath grazing his neck. "I dunno… I think I see the painting he wants to uncover.“ he said, when he noticed a piece of cloth hanging over what he guessed was a canvas.

"This is crazy… How are there so many people here?“ she whispered.

"You heard it from the others… Everyone seems to love the crazy old man. Guess there must be some other settlements close by too.“ Ryuji mused.

Ann loosened her arms around his neck and turned around when she heard commotion behind her. A door opened and a short, old man emerged from it, followed by the young man that had collected the bets downstairs and none other than Yusuke. The room grew quiet and the guests gathered around the covered wall. Ann nodded to Ryuji before taking his hand and leading him into the crowd.

When the three speakers took their place, Madarame cleared his throat. "Thank you, thank you all for joining us tonight and thank you for being here to witness the unveiling of the galleries newest addition.“. Madarame looked at his two associates before lifting the cloth to reveal the newest piece. Excited murmur erupted as everyones eyes were fixed on the canvas.

Both Madarame and Yusuke smiled before the old man started to speak again "I would like to say a few words about this newest addition to our humble gallery.“ the old man said with a dramatic undertone "This… inspiration.. It came to me at a very dark time, where I found myself in a creative block, unable to bring anything to canvas in a fulfilling manner.“

As Ann and Ryuji looked around the room, they noticed how everyone was hanging at the old mans lips.

"This-“ he pointed at the canvas "is what happens when you paint from the heart. Without boundaries, without remorse. This is what happened after I let my heart guide my hand.“. Slow applause started throughout the crowd as Madarame smiled from ear to ear, bowing in gratitude while the smile on Yusukes face had vanished in an instant.

Ann squinted at the painting, her fingers absent-mindedly fidgeting with Ryujis hand before she looked at him "You see it too, right?“

Ryuji nodded before his eyes grew wide "Holy shit… Ya think we just figured out the last piece of the puzzle?“ he muttered.

"I think we did.“ Ann said as she watched Nakanohara ushering Yusuke back to the door while Madarame basked in the crowd. "We should go.“ Ann let go of Ryujis hand and turned towards the exit. As they arrived downstairs again, Ann made a quick detour to the bar. "Don‘t let Yusuke do anything stupid. We‘ll get you out. Soon.“ she whispered to Sojiro. The old man nodded, not looking up from the glass that he was just polishing.

Meanwhile, Makoto and Ren had troubles keeping their eyes open with the soothing noises of the wind brushing through the trees and the crickets chirping away. Makoto had been drifting in and out of microsleep until she decided to stand up and move around, trying to defy her heavy head that tried to weigh her down. As she walked in small circles, stretching her back and arms to get her body going again, she couldn‘t fail but notice how Ren had actually fallen asleep against the tree. While it was incredibly unprofessional, Makoto couldn‘t help but stare and smile at his peaceful face. She despised herself for thinking these words, but she found that he looked cute. Not that he or anyone else would ever hear about this, of course. The fact that Makoto Niijima found things cute – except for Buchimaru, a somewhat guilty-pleasure – was a secret that she would keep to herself.

"That lying and stealing bastard! I can‘t believe that everyone sucks up to him like that!“ she heard from behind her. When she turned around, she saw two blonde heads walking up to them. It was obvious that Ryuji was the one fuming and cursing, but she wondered what it was about. She carefully walked up to Ren and bent down to touch his shoulder.

Ren slowly opened his eyes when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. A sly smile appeared on his lips when he saw Makoto perched over him "Sorry… just thought that I would rest my eyes a little...“ he sleepily said.

A smile tugged at Makotos lips "No problem. Ann and Ryuji are back.“

"Guess I‘ll have to get up then.“ Ren said with a grin and Makoto only then realized that her hand was still resting on his shoulder.

"Oh!… Right!“ she said, embarrassed and grateful for the darkness once more as she quickly drew back her hand.

Ren groggily got back to his feet right on time for Ann and Ryuji to reach them. Ryuji looked angry and seemed to be venting to Ann, finishing with a "What a load of bullshit!“.

"What is?“ Ren asked.

Ann gestured Ryuji to calm down a bit before turning to Ren and Makoto "I think we found the reason why Madarame kills his students.“

That made Makoto and Ren share a surprised look. "We‘re all ears.“ Ren said.

Ryujis brow was still in knots when he continued his rant "That asshole and stealing bastard-“

"Ann, why don’t you explain it with a little less colorful swearing?“ Ren proposed, before putting his hand on the blonde boys shoulder "No offense, man, but I kinda wanna go home soon...“

Ryuji sighed and nodded "Yeah, makes sense...“

"He uses his students and then claims that their paintings are his own!“ Ann said, rather enraged herself.

"You should have seen it, he was standing in front of all these people, claiming that he "let his heart guide the paintbrush“ and shit, when it was clearly Yusuke who made it!“ Ryuji cut in.

"That‘s why all those paintings in the gallery look so completely different! Because they are from different painters!“ Ann said. She remembered how Yusukes face had changed all of a sudden on that stage. She guessed that Madarame didn‘t tell him in advance that he would claim Yusukes work as his own.

"But how can we be sure that it was Yusuke who painted it?“ Makoto asked. "If we make any false claims, the people won‘t lose their trust in Madarame.“

Ann looked at Ren "You remember that painting he did in Mementos? It looked almost like that, but… confused…. and hurt...“

"You know I don‘t care about art and stuff, but it was obvious, that this was something Yusuke did.“ Ryuji backed her up.

Makoto looked at Ren in anticipation of his reaction. The things that Ann and Ryuji were talking about must have happened before she joined.

Ren nodded "I believe you. Let‘s go home and think about our next move. We need to be smart about this. We have to finish it so that Madarame will never be able to pull off a stunt like that ever again.“

The others nodded and together they started walking homewards.

"Oh, by the way, there‘s some gambling going on in there too.“ Ryuji reported. "I‘m pretty sure it‘s rigged.“

"Why doesn‘t that surprise me even a little...“ Ren answered.

"Let me guess, it‘s the Shogi games?“ Makoto asked.

"Yeah, this guy walks around with a wooden box and people can bet on how many turns the Shogi-Princess will need to defeat her opponent.“ Ryuji summarized.

"So Nakanohara can tell the Shogi-Princess in how many turns she must win to make the most profit for the house and noone would realize.“ Makoto said, impressed by the scheme. She figured that maybe that was the reason why the Shogi-Princess looked so unhappy. Her sole purpose was to make money for the house, instead of show-casing her skills.

"You have to hand it to the old man… he had everyone fooled.“ Ren said "But sad enough for him, he coaxed the wrong painter.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, there's a lot going on this chapter! We had a bit of RyuAnn, we had a bit of ShuMako and a lot of questions and answers:) 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to tell me what you think:)


	12. Madarames Fall From Grace

One week had passed since Sojiro told him and Hifumi to be prepared to leave. So far, nothing had happened, but Yusuke had faith in his friends. After the betrayal at the gallery-reveal, he was more than happy to pack his bags, even if it was just in preparation and to be stowed away for a week. After the first let-down of blindly volunteering to be locked up in this place, he had had more than enough time to let out his emotions and so he had been able to present Madarame his first painting after day one. And even after the tainted view he had of the old man, it had still filled him with pride when Madarame looked pleased with what he saw. What had come as even a bigger surprise was when he announced, that he wanted to display it at his gallery. Thinking about it now, Yusuke realized that Madarame had never talked about it as Yusukes painting, so he figured that it had been his plan all along. But that didn‘t change how devastated he had been to stand on this stage and listen to Madarame claim Yusukes work as his own. He had noticed Anns and Ryujis faces and he could only guess, but judging from their reactions he at least hoped that they realized it too. But he didn‘t get to talk to them, or stay longer for Nakanohara had quickly led him away. Only after closing up for the night had Madarame approached him, appealing to Yusuke and asking for his understanding, claiming that he was in the middle of a creative block, unable to paint anything. After what Yusuke had seen while investigating Madarames room, he didn‘t even believe this to be a lie.

"You‘re rather slow today.. Is something on your mind?“ a voice ripped him out of his inner recap and he looked at Hifumi, who was sitting on the floor in front of him, a shogi-board between them. Since leisure-activities were rather rare when you aren‘t allowed to leave, the two spent their mornings playing Shogi. Hifumi seemed grateful to have a partner on which she could try out new strategies and Yusuke felt like he had already learned something throughout the one week. While in the beginning, it had felt more like Hifumi playing against herself, Yusuke thought that by now he had a few things down and was able to experiment around on his own.

"Forgive me.“ he apologized before moving a piece.

Hifumi sceptically eyed the board before looking up at him "Would you like to rethink your move?“.

Yusuke caught the gist and took back his turn to look at the board once more before moving a different piece. When he looked at Hifumi to check, she was focused on the board again, her finger on her chin in thought, nodding. While stiff and guarded at first, the girl had started to relax around him eventually. Yusuke was under the impression that she even enjoyed their daily rounds of Shogi before she had to go downstairs at night, playing however Nakanohara told her to. After talking to her a few times, Yusuke had realized that Shogi was to Hifumi the same as painting was to him. It was their art and their craft, and now, under Madarames roof, it had become tainted. After some thinking, she made her move.

"May I ask something?“ Yusuke asked while looking at the board.

"Of course.“ Hifumi answered.

"How did you end up here?“

Hifumi looked a little surprised before she said "It‘s… complicated.“

"Have you been scouted by him too?“ Yusuke poked.

"Yes and No…“ Hifumi seemed to struggle for words, her eyes were fixed on the Shogi-board "My father was the one who got me into the Shogi. We used to play a lot, ever since I was little. My mother used to work with the mayor of our settlement. She was sort of a celebrity and she loved it, but then, when my father got sick and my mother had to quit what she was doing to take care of him.“ she swallowed "We soon weren‘t able to afford food or anything for that matter. Mother was desperate and bitter because she had to give up so much.“ her voice was shaky „I remember Nakanohara coming by one day a few months ago to promote this place. My mother dragged me with her and told him how I was a Shogi-prodigy who could win any match and asked if I could be beneficial to Madarame. And that‘s how I ended up here.“

Yusuke stared at her "Your mother sold you to this man?“

"In a way… They have come to an agreement that my mother receives a cut from all the income that I make.“ Hifumi said.

"How tragic...“ Yusuke said.

Hifumi shrugged "When I don‘t think about it, it‘s not as bad. I used to love Shogi, I love the memories that I made with my father while playing, but ever since I came here and was forced to play for wins… I came to despise it.“ she looked up at him, a faint smile on her lips "Playing with you the last few days has reminded me of how much I enjoy it. I‘m truly grateful.“

"It‘s my pleasure.“ Yusuke nodded and made his move before asking "But what will you do, once we get out?“

"I don‘t know...“ Hifumi looked lost "I don‘t want to go back to my mother. Ever since she put me into this place with the intention of scamming money from people with a game that is so dear to me… I feel so… betrayed. But then my father…“

"You could always come with Boss and me. I‘m sure that we can make arrangements to support your parents as well.“

Hifumi stared at him in surprise "Your group would take me with you?“

"I can‘t make any promises, but so far, Ren hasn‘t turned anyone down.“ Yusuke smiled at her before looking at the board where Hifumis move was still waiting to be made. "You‘re rather slow today.“ he remarked with a slight smile.

While Yusuke was starting a calm day like any other at Madarames, final preparations were made at LeBlanc2, where everyone was gathered in the living room to talk through procedures.

"Okay guys, this is the day. It‘s now or never, we only have one chance to make this right.“ Ren was pacing up and down. "We have located a few nearby villages where probably most of Madarames guests are coming from.“

"Including the one next to us, we have found four villages. After we told them of our suspicions they‘re at least intrigued to hear what Madarame has to say about all of this. Haru, Ann, Ryuji and I agreed to split up and each walk with one of the villages for protection.“ Makoto took over.

"They won‘t know what hit them when a whole bunch of people show up in front of the door.“ Ryuji grinned.

"Remember to remind them that we‘re not an angry mob. But the more people there are, the more embarrassing it gets for Madarame when we make him tell the truth.“ Ren said. "Futaba and I will go to Madarames by car. We‘ll have some luggage to transport home, when all of this is over.“ he grinned at Futaba.

"Are the rest of you good to guard the place on your own?“ Makoto looked at Morgana, Shinya, Eiko and Mishima.

It was Shinya who spoke up with confidence "Leave it to us. Anyone who comes close leaves with a butt full of bullets.“

"I like how that sounds.“ Ryuji grinned.

"I can‘t believe I say this, but in case you should have to defend this place, everyone listens to Shinya.“ Ren said before pointing at the boy "No bullying, got it?“. Shinya nodded eagerly, unable to hide a wide and proud grin.

"We shouldn‘t be gone for long. I hope that we can get this over with quick.“ Makoto added.

"Okay, escort-teams get ready to go, be armed, but not to the teeth. We‘ll take you to the crossroad by car, but then you got a bit of a walk ahead.“ Ren said before turning to Haru "You said you‘ll take our neighbours?“

Haru nodded "Yes, you don‘t have to drop me off, I‘ll be okay.“ and with that, she was off to get ready like the others.

"The plan is in motion.“ Futaba snickered beside him.

"Shouldn‘t you get ready too?“ Ren asked.

"I‘ve been prepared since yesterday.“ the girl announced.

Two hours later, a group of roughly fifty people had gathered on the street towards Madarames place, surrounding the pick-up truck that Joker was standing on.

"I would like to remind everyone once more, that we are NOT here to kill Madarame. I know, that some of you might have lost a loved one through his hand, but I implore you to not sink to his level. Killing him won‘t bring back the ones you lost.“ he called out. He knew that his words were hypocritical. If he found out that the old man had dared to hurt Yusuke – or god forbid Sojiro – he would be the first one to put a bullet through Madarames head and he would have no remorse about it. But the thought of him leading up an angry horde to Madarames door and loosing control of said horde was something that made him uneasy. He wouldn‘t care if the mother who lost her son walked up and shot the bastard and he doubted that she would feel bad about killing her sons murderer either. But what would haunt him was the fact that he had had a hand in it by giving her the opportunity to do so. "We will go in and ask our questions.“ he repeated. As he looked into the crowd, he saw nodding throughout the ranks. "Okay, we‘ll get going any minute.“ he said before turning to Futaba, who was sitting beside him on the roof of the drivers cabin, binoculars in hand "You got a good view from here?“ he asked.

The orange-haired girl nodded.

"Okay. Like we said, when I give you the signal, you can bring the car up front.“ Ren repeated. He was a little reluctant to bring Futaba, but he figured that an outside lookout made sense, especially if this outside lookout had eyes like a hawk.

Futaba nodded once more, rolling her eyes in annoyance "We‘ve been through this already. I know what to do.“

Ren saw that his other teammates had walked up to the car with expectant eyes "Ready to go, Joker?“ Ann asked.

"Oh wait! Time to bust out some tech.“ Futaba giggled before pulling out a small box from her baggy pants. "Here“ she proudly handed out small ear-pieces to everyone.

"Woah, nice!“ Ryuji exclaimed.

"Now I‘ll be able to stay in contact with you.“ Futaba grinned.

"Good job, Oracle.“ Ren grinned and patted her head before putting his ear-piece on. "I think we‘re ready to go.“ he announced as he hopped off the car.

A group of almost 50 people approaching the place must have sent some impact for before they reached the door, two of Madarames guards came out, their hands ready to draw their guns.

"Easy there. We‘re just here to talk to Master Madarame.“ Ren innocently said.

"Place is not open yet, kid.“ one of the men replied.

Ren put on a cocky grin before he gestured to the group behind him "Not even for his fanclub?“

The two men shared a confused look but it was already too late for them to react to Makoto who drew her gun and fired a tranquillizer dart at each of them, hitting them right in the neck. The stuff that Futaba brewed was potent, they didn‘t even get to unholster their guns before they dropped to the floor.

"Nice shot, Queen.“ All of them heard in their ear-pieces. Ren too turned around to give her an impressed thumbs-up.

After Makoto and Ryuji tied the two guards up, they led the group inside. As they entered the lounge, only Sojiro was to be found behind the bar. When he saw the masses standing behind Ren, he threw them a confused look.

Ren grinned "Boss, we told you that we would get you. The day has come.“

"What the hell did you plan?“ Sojiro asked, more annoyed with Rens grandeur than impressed.

"You‘ll see. Now, would you kindly tell us where to find your former employer?“

Sojiro pointed to the staircase before saying "Be careful, there‘s another guard with him.“

"I see him, he‘s standing right beside the door.“ Futabas static voice appeared in their ears again.

"What the hell, you didn‘t tell us that you were able to listen too!“ Ryuji suddenly exclaimed to the surprise of everyone who wasn‘t wearing an ear-piece.

"Were you planning on gossiping about me? Don‘t worry, it‘s not like I bugged all of your rooms...“

"Why would you bring that up specifically?“ Makoto chipped in, alarmed.

"But not in our room, right?“ Ann shrieked.

"Guys, I think everyone is starting to think that we are insane.“ Haru interrupted.

"Noir‘s right. Oracle, we‘ll have a word about this later.“ Sojiro spoke up, immediatly understanding that this must be one of his daughters inventions.

"Y-… Yes Sojiro.“ a meek voice crackled in their ears before there was silence.

"So much for professionalism...“ Ren muttered before walking towards the staircase, Makoto by his side, the tranquillizer gun ready. He gestured for everyone to stay behind a few steps so only he was in sight when he gently knocked on the glass door with Makoto standing close to him pressed against the wall.

The third guard opened the door with a confused expression. It seemed like he wasn‘t prepared to handle early visitors today.

"Hello. Is Master Madarame here per chance?“ Ren asked.

When the guard turned his head to – supposedly – check, Makoto was quick to take the opportunity and put another dart into the burly mans neck. When he collapsed into dreamland, Ren motioned the rest to come in while Makoto tied up guard number three. The sound of the bouncers body hitting the floor must have made some noise, for on the other side of the gallery, a door opened and the old man himself stepped outside, both looking angered and confused when he saw masses of unwanted guests. He seemed to realize his mistake and immediatly put on his mask again, putting on a humble smile. "While I do feel honored by such a big visit, I have to say that I‘m surprised. We‘re not open for a few more hours. May I offer you a drink downstairs?“

"Thanks but no thanks, these kind people here would much rather know why you‘re lying to them about not owning anything when in fact your charging a shit-ton of money for drinks? Not to mention all the gambling." Ren had a cocky grin on his face "We asked around and found out that you‘re getting food and art supplies for free because people think you‘re a cooky old man who just wants to paint.“

"You pulled off a show and then sent your assistant to collect every other week.“ Haru said.

"You tricked us!“ Someone called out from the crowd.

Madarame looked uncomfortable "I am very sorry for this misunderstanding. But you see, I have nothing that I could trade for food.“ he tried to argue with an innocent smile.

"You didn‘t even offer money!“ a woman shouted and Haru recognized her as the lady that she talked to the other week.

Ren could already see the old man starting to sweat "Oh, but that‘s not all. While you‘ve proven your kindness by offering the village to drink for free, you certainly haven‘t agreed to not fooling them with your rigged gambling-system.“

Madarame tried to keep his face steady "I‘m not sure I understand, my boy...“ his smile was still patient and kind, but it started to quiver.

"Your assistant, he collects bets and then tells the Shogi Princess how to play, isn‘t that right?“ Ann asked.

Madarame smelled his chance "I‘m sorry if you witnessed something like this, child. You see, I mostly spend my time up here, overseeing the gallery. I have no control over what happens downstairs.“

"And now you‘re throwing him under the bus? How pathetic can you get?“ Ryuji asked.

"I‘m happy you brought that up, because that leads us to the next question that we would like some answers to.“ Ren stepped aside to reveal the mother that Makoto had talked to.

"Where is my son? He left to study under you four months ago and I never heard from him again.“ she exclaimed in a heart-breaking tone.

The face of Madarame was quivering as he was trying his hardest to keep calm and collected while blatantly lying to the crowd in front of him "I only have one student at the moment. The others all left in pursuit of a career.“

"Is that what you call shooting them in the back?“ Ren asked. Behind him the crowd gasped. Apparently not everyone had known about this claim.

Yusuke and Hifumi were sitting in his room when they heard commotion from downstairs. He walked up to his window that opened up to the front side of the house to check. He squinted his eyes when he saw a car in the distance. On top, there was a person with bright orange hair standing and waving her arm at him while holding a pair of binoculars. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up before turning to Hifumi. "They‘re here. They must be downstairs right now. Go and get your belongings.“.

Hifumi nodded before slipping out of his room. Yusukes knees were shaking when he packed up the rest of his stuff and covered up the canvas with his most recent work with a blanket before strapping it to his backpack. He cast a last glance at his room before he stepped out into the hallway. He decided to wait at the staircase when he heard a gun clicking behind his back.

"Where are you going, Yusuke?“ Nakanohara asked.

Yusuke raised his hands before turning around "It‘s over Nakanohara. We‘re leaving.“

Nakanohara smiled a nervous smile "It‘s not over. These people downstairs… Madarame will shake them off and we will continue like nothing happened.“

Yusuke shook his head "That won‘t happen. Not when Hifumi and I tell them the truth. Because we are the only ones who can. And you could too.“

Nakanoharas hand was shaking when he yelled "You won‘t! I won‘t let you!“

Yusuke was able to maintain a calm face when he saw Hifumi sneaking up from behind Nakanohara, whacking him across the back with her Shogi board. It wasn‘t a hard hit, but it was enough to stagger him. Yusuke used the chance to drop his bag and charge at the man, pushing Nakanohara to the floor and shoving away the gun.

"Let me go, Yusuke!“ Nakanohara fumed, but it wasn‘t out of anger, Yusuke realized. The man was afraid.

"You have turned a blind eye to Madarames practices. How could you let him kill all these teenagers that trusted him? Their blood is on your hands as well! And for what? Fame? Money?“ Yusuke yelled at the man below him, pinning the other mans arms to the floor. He wasn‘t the strongest, but Nakanohara didn‘t seem to be either.

Tears started to form in Nakanoharas eyes "What would you know? Madarame did what was necessary to keep us surviving!“

Yusuke shook the man "What you did was wrong and you know it! Wake up, Nakanohara! Wake up and walk away!“

The man squinted his eyes and tears started to fall "Where? Where am I supposed to walk to? Madarame took me in, I was one of his first students until he got tired of my paintings and made me his assistant.“

"You don‘t need Madarame! He needs you, but you don‘t need him! Don‘t you want to be free? Don‘t you want to go where you want to go without lying to people?“ Yusuke asked "Help us bring him down!“ he urged.

Nakanohara started sobbing and Yusuke decided to loosen his grip. As the two men sat in front of each other on the floor, Hifumi standing behind them, still clutching her Shogi board, Nakanohara spoke up "I… always told myself that I couldn‘t know if he killed these kids or not, because I never saw. I told myself that they just left… and then I went and recruited someone new.“ he stared at Yusuke "I‘m as bad as him.“

"You can change. You can help my friends so that Madarame will never be able to run an operation like this again.“ Yusuke encouraged him as he got up and offered him a hand.

Downstairs, squeezing Madarame for answers proved to be more difficult than anticipated. It almost felt like the old man had prepared for this situation, for he seemed to have answers for everything. But accusing him of murder appeared to be a blow that he wasn‘t prepared for.

"You have your students paint for you until you get tired of them and kill them. Isn‘t that correct?“ Makoto asked.

A hint of confidence flickered across the old mans face when he answered "I never get tired of my students. They‘re leaving on their own free will.“

"You didn‘t deny killing them though.“ Ren answered.

"Because your baseless accusations aren‘t worth delving into.“ Madarame answered, this time with a bit of acid in his voice.

"Let‘s agree to disagree on that.“ Ren shrugged, trying to act cocky when in fact he felt like they had hit a dead-end. Everyone flinched when the door that Madarame had stepped out before opened again. Ryuji instinctively drew his shotgun but immediately dropped it again when he saw Yusuke stepping out, followed by the Shogi Princess and Nakanohara.

Yusuke was surprised to see the huge crowd that they had brought with them. When he saw his friends standing in the first row, he had to smile "It‘s good to see you again.“

Ren nodded "It‘s good to see you too, Fox.“

Madarame spoke up again "Ah, here he is, my assistant. Nakanohara, why don‘t you tell these kind people that we are not gambling or killing students when I‘m tired of them.“

"It‘s true, he doesn‘t kill students because he‘s tired of them.“

Yusuke and Hifumi turned around and looked at him in shock. Had Yusuke been wrong? Had Nakanohara just put up an act so he would let him go?

Nakanohara took a deep breath "He kills them when they want to leave. He‘s afraid that someone might tell that none of these paintings are made by him.“.

The confident grin on Madarames face turned into a sneer when the crowd gasped and started murmuring. Beside Ren, a woman broke down crying. Madarame took a step toward the three, staring at Nakanohara "How dare you?“.

Yusuke stepped into the old mans line of sight „No, how dare you? How dare you claim to live for the arts when everything you love about it is the money it brings you. How dare you steal from all these talented kids who looked to you as their mentor only to betray them and kill them when they realized what a fraud you are?“ Yusuke towered over the man who was two heads shorter than him. "You act like this humble artist when your bedroom is filled with riches. Riches you preach to be unnecessary and the demise of creativity.“ Yusuke glared at the old man before saying "You disgust me. I am ashamed that we both call ourselves artists.“.

There were a few moments of surprised silence before a slow clapping started from the crowd, initiated by Sojiro who had slipped in in the meantime. Yusuke walked over to his friends, receiving welcoming claps on the shoulder by Ren and Ryuji.

"Good speech, Fox.“ Ren smiled.

"Thank you. It came from the heart.“ Yusuke said.

"Like that painting over there?“ Ann asked, pointing to the wall where his mind-landscape hung.

"In a way. Although to be honest, this was created in a bit of a hurry. I wouldn‘t call this gallery-worthy.“

Ren turned to Madarame againe "Well, Mister Madarame, I think your last hope turned out to be your downfall. Got anything else to say? I doubt that you will ever have an audience as big as this ever again.“

Madarame sneered at the rest of them "You claim to be interested in the arts, yet all you wanted was to drink downstairs and gamble your money away. You just wanted to feel sophisticated, like me.“

"Perhaps you are right, but the only one ready to kill people to protect his secret was you!“ Haru said.

The woman beside Ren slowly got up again "You rotten bastard! You killed my son!“ she screamed in agony before ripping the pistol from Makotos hand, aiming it at the old man who looked utterly scared for the first time. Before anyone could say anything, a soft click could be heard and Madarame had a small dart stuck in his upper arm. The woman had taken the tranquillizer gun. As Madarame sunk to the floor, the woman collapsed again, crying and repeating her dead sons name, Keiji. Haru walked up to her to comfort her. There was a grave silence in the room as everyone looked at the knocked-out Madarame.

Nakanohara looked at the woman on the floor before walking to one of the paintings, taking it off the wall and bringing it to her. The crying woman looked up. "This is Keijis work. He… told me that this was the place on earth he loved the most.“ Nakanohara gulped before handing her the canvas.

When the woman looked at the painting, she started sobbing frantically once more, clutching the painting to her chest. Ren saw that Sojiro had walked up to the front row, a hand placed on Anns shoulder, who was crying too. Beside Ren, Haru crouched on the floor with the mother, fighting back tears as well. As the sobbing started to slow down again, the woman looked at Nakanohara before saying "Thank you…. This is a painting of our garden.“ tears were still streaming down her face as she slowly got back to her feet with Harus aid, giving her hand a light squeeze in gratitude.

"Let‘s get out of here.“ Ren said.

After Sojiro packed his bags, the group walked downstairs to see a car approaching. As the driver killed the engine, the door flew open and Futaba emerged, sprinting up to Sojiro to wrap her arms around his waist. The old man smiled as he lovingly patted his daughters head. Ren grinned when he took the bag from Sojiros shoulder to carry it to the car. He was joined by Yusuke who was carrying his own luggage including his weapons, that he had retrieved. "I‘m glad you‘re safe.“ Ren said.

"Once again, you saved my life. I shall not let this become a habit.“ Yusuke said.

"Well, I wouldn‘t say that we saved your life back when we first met...“ Ren answered when he heaved Sojiros bag onto the pick-up truck.

"You did. Just in another way.“ Yusuke said as he did the same. "I have something to ask, only theoretically for now...“

Ren raised an eyebrow "Is it about the Shogi-Princess?“

Yusukes eyes went wide with surprise "How did you know?“

Ren shrugged and smiled "I got a feeling that she would fit right in with us "lost souls““

"Is that what we call ourselves these days?“ Ryuji interrupted, clapping Yusuke on the shoulder once more. "It‘s good to have you back, man. I mean.. you‘re coming with us, right?“

Yusuke smiled and nodded "I would be more than happy, if you would have me again.“

"Without a question.“ Ren said.

"I mean, Mishima will prolly be really sad to give up your bed again, but he‘ll live.“ Ryuji grinned.

On the other side of the car, Makoto approached the Shogi Princess, who was looking a little lost. "Is everything alright?“ she carefully asked.

The girl smiled "Yes… it‘s just been a long time...“

"Do you know what will come next for the Shogi Princess?“ Makoto asked.

"I think she will be released from her duties. From now on, I‘ll just be Hifumi.“

"Hifumi.“ Makoto repeated with a smile.

"Oh, by the way, during our game I think I recognized the strategy you wanted to go with.“ Hifumi started "It would have been a really interesting round, if you hadn‘t forgotten that one important move in the beginning.“ the girl smiled and it was genuine.

Makoto smiled in return "It‘s been a long time since I read that book...“

"In Jinbocho, right?“

Makoto nodded "Yes. I‘ve been there for some time.“

"How was it?“ Hifumi asked.

"Bookwise, it was a paradise. Everything else, not that much. I hope that everything has continued to turn for the better since I left.“ Makoto answered. "But… Jinbocho isn‘t everything. I learned that you can find the most outstanding things on accident.“ she smiled as she thought of the full bookshelf at LeBlanc2 and turned around to her chosen family. Both of these things, she had found on accident. Hifumi smiled at that before she noticed Sojiro approaching them, an orange-haired girl clinging to his arm.

"I gotta say, that was one big plan, Queen.“ Sojiro smiled before he looked at Hifumi "I told you they would get us, didn‘t I?“

Makoto smiled "So Hifumi was the one you didn‘t want to leave alone.“

Sojiro nodded "She told me that she saw one of the previous students getting shot.”

Hifumi looked at the orange-haired girl before saying "You must be Futaba then?“

Futaba stared at Sojiro "You told her about me? Without codename?“

Sojiro nodded "We can trust her.“

Hifumi nodded in gratitude before Futaba asked "So are you joining us now?“

"I… don‘t know if I‘m allowed to...“ Hifumi studdered.

"Nah, of course you are. If Sojiro says so, Ren can‘t say No.“ Futaba said.

"Well, thanks for conspiring behind my back.“ Ren said as he approached them "But Yusuke told me too. And I have a feeling that you would fit right in with us.“

"Besides, you seem like a person Makoto would actually like to have as her roommate.“ Ann grinned as she appeared behind Makoto, who immediately blushed.

"Ann!“ she hissed.

"What? Eiko isn‘t here anyway and I‘m sure noone will tell.“ Ann shrugged.

"Eiko?“ Sojiro asked.

"You‘ll see, there‘s been a few additions.“ Futaba said before leading him towards the car again.

Among the few remaining people, Makoto spotted the mother. As she approached her, a warm smile spread on her face.

"I.. wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss. I…. I‘m sorry that I wasn‘t able to bring him back to you.“ She was surprised when the woman put a hand on her shoulder.

"There is no need for you to apologize. You were the only one willing to help me when noone else would. I‘m truly grateful for you and your friends work.“ she looked at the painting in her arm "You gave me back at least a piece of my son. Thank you.“

Makoto was baffled by the womans kindness as she bid her farewell and walked back to the car.

Yusuke, accompanied by Ren, Ryuji and Ann cast one last look at the house when Nakanohara approached them. "I wanted to thank you. Your words were what I needed to open my eyes to the truth. I will never fall for someone like him again.“

Yusuke nodded "I‘m glad to hear that. What will your next step be?“

"A few of the men will escort Madarame to a place with something like a prison, as far as I heard?“

The other three shared an intrigued look. "It doesn‘t happen to be in a castle?“ Ren asked.

"I think someone said something like that.“ Nakanohara answered.

Ryuji, Ann and Ren shared a look before Ren chuckled "Look at that… they made a prison. Tell them Joker, Skull and Panther say Hi.“

Nakanohara looked confused but nodded "I will. I decided to join them to make sure that Madarame gets there and then… I guess I will see.“

"I‘m sure you‘ll find your way.“ Ann smiled.

"As long as it‘s not at the side of a crazy artist.“ Ryuji added.

After some more villagers expressed their gratitude, the group got ready to depart with Makoto behind the wheel and Sojiro in the passenger seat. The rest crammed onto the loading space of the pick-up.

When Hifumi was about to climb onto the car, she heard an all too familiar voice calling her name. As she turned around, she saw none other than her mother. "Mother?“ she asked, confused.

"I had no idea what this man put you through. I‘m so sorry that I forced you to join him.“ her mother apologized.

"It‘s okay… As long as I was able to help you and father.“ Hifumi said.

"Oh Hifumi… I have to confess something to you... I just wanted you to be famous because I was unable to… I wanted to you to have the life that I wanted for myself. I‘m so sorry.“ her mother almost cried. "Please… forgive me.“

Something broke inside of Hifumi when she listened to her mother apologizing for selling her off to a stranger, only for the fact that she wanted to brag about her talented daughter. "But… didn‘t you need money to get by?“

"The neighbours always share their food with us. I… used the money to buy pretty things… But I know it was wrong. I‘m sorry, please, forgive me. Please, come back home, now that your father is dead, I have noone left.“ her mother was begging.

Tears filled Hifumis eyes “Father…. Died?”

Behind her, everyone on the pick-up looked shocked.

Hifumis mother nodded “Please… come home with me.”

Tears were running down Hifumis face when she said “Not only did you sell me off so you can live in luxury, but you robbed me of my last moments with my father?”. Her hands were balled into fists “If these people hadn’t saved me from Madarame, would you have even come looking for me?” Hifumi was torn between her mother, who showed honest regret for her selfish actions and the people who were waiting for her in the car, that she had only just met. "I‘m sorry, mother.“ she said before turning around, ignoring the pleading behind her. She cast one last glance at her as Ren and Yusuke helped her onto the car. Futaba patted the roof of the drivers cabin, signaling Makoto to go. It took a few moments for the car to lurch into motion with all the weight on it, but they slowly advanced homewards and away from Madarames gallery of horrors.

The way home was a long one, since the car was probably fuller than recommended. It was dark outside when they drove up the road to LeBlanc2.

"We should have taken the matresses from Madarames place with us...“ Yusuke remarked.

"I doubt that we would have been able to get them into the car… Let‘s do that tomorrow, the place should be empty now anyway.“ Ren answered, a smile on his face when the house appeared into view "Ahh, home sweet home.“

"Indeed“ Yusuke nodded. He really had missed the place.

Futaba seemed to be unable to stop smiling "Now everything‘s back to how it should be.“

As Makoto pulled up in front of the house, Sojiro got out with wide eyes.

"You like what you see?“ Ren asked as he hopped off the car beside him.

The old man seemed speechless before smiling and nodding "I gotta say, I‘m impressed.“

"How do you like LeBlanc2?“ Futaba excitedly asked.

"LeBlanc2, huh?“ Sojiro smiled "That‘s a fine name.“ He looked around the place.

"How do you like the gate?“ Futaba added.

"I had a feeling that this was your work. I‘m impressed kid.“ Sojiro answered and Futaba grinned from ear to ear.

"Let‘s go inside, shall we? You still have to meet the others.“ Ren grinned while the rest of the group hopped off the car.

Hifumi was the last to climb down the loading area when she was offered a hand from Yusuke.

"I am very sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to loose the parent that you shared a passion with." Yusuke carefully said.

Hifumi nodded "Thank you. I feel like I haven't quite processed it yet. My mother suddenly showing up came out of nowhere..."

"If you ever want to contact her again, you only need to say so and we will find a way." Yusuke offered.

"For now, I think I want to be as far away from her as possible." Hifumi whispered.

"I understand. If you ever need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate. I dare to say that all of us are somehow experienced with losses." Yusuke said before leading her inside.

When they entered the house, there was already a fire burning in the fireplace. Mishima, who must have been in charge of opening the gate for them, was already sitting there. Little by little, the rest came downstairs too. After Ren gave a quick recap of the day, he turned around to introduce the newcomers.

"Guys, this is Boss. Boss has taken in all of us some time ago, and now it‘s the other way around.“ Ren announced before he turned to Hifumi "And this is...“

"Hifumi.“ the girl said.

After a round of introductions, the group dropped down onto the couches.

"My feet are killing me...“ Ann complained while stretching out her legs.

"We definitly got in some miles today...“ Ryuji sighed as he sat down in front of the fire.

"Always complaining.. You‘re still young!“ Sojiro shook his head.

"It‘s been far too long since anyone brought up this argument.“ Ren grinned, looking around the group happily. The core was united again. Sojiro was alive and safe. They had a new home and the more time passed, the more it actually started to feel like one. "We‘re gonna get some more furniture from Madarames place tomorrow. Since we‘re constantly growing, we need new beds.“ Ren announced.

"We should also start thinking about new room. Sojiro needs a place to sleep and Hifumi too. Ann and Futabas room is too small for another bed. And ours is starting to get tight with three beds too.“ Makoto said.

Ren nodded "We‘ll look at it tomorrow. Maybe we‘ll find something at Madarames that could help us. Sojiro will sleep in my bed, I‘ll just sleep down here for one night.“

"I can take first lookout shift and you can sleep in my bed Hifumi.“ Ann offered.

Hifumi made a small bow "Thank you…. Ann.“

"I can take second and Ann can take my bed for the time being.“ Haru added.

"Good, sounds like everything is settled.“ Ren said.

"Not quite.“ Yusuke spoke up. "I still have to say Thank You for all you did. I realized that I was so obsessed with my dreams, that it blinded me to the truth. Thank you. You are true friends.“

"Awww, Yusuke!“ Ann smiled

"That‘s what friends are for.“ Haru added.

"We‘re just glad that you‘re okay.“ Makoto said.

Yusuke nodded before walking to his backpack to unwrap the canvas that he had so carefully transported here. As he walked back to look into the groups confused faces he smiled "I know that it‘s nothing more than a symbolism… But after realizing that I was about to leave Madarames place soon, I decided to use the provided supplies for a private project.“. He carefully turned around the canvas to show them his replica of the church-scene, that used to hang at LeBlanc. He focused on Ann "I hope that you like it as much as the original.“

Ann stared at the painting, obviously touched, before letting out an excited squeal. Before the lanky artist knew it, she had jumped up and crushed him into a hug. "I love it!“ she said before inspecting it a little closer.

"Since you always thought of it as a "group shot“, I took the liberty to add Makoto and Haru too.“ Yusuke explained.

"It‘s perfect!“ Ann smiled before looking around the living room "We HAVE to hang this here!“

Ren got up with a grin and took the painting to hang it on the only nail in the living rooms wall. The rest gathered around to inspect it too, the newcomers obviously confused about the fuss over some weird-looking painting.

Ryuji grinned "Wouldn‘t feel like home without some weird art in it.“

"Now it‘s officially LeBlanc2“ Futaba announced.

They sat together for a little longer until everyone split up to either go to bed or go to their watch-post. Ren showed Sojiro to his room for the night.

"You‘ve got a fine group there, kid.“ Sojiro said as he put down his bag in Rens, Morganas and Shinyas room.

"You didn‘t know that before?“ Ren smirked.

"Of course I did, but you got some new team-members now.“

"Well, there will always be our core group. But I have to admit, I‘m glad that I can leave the defence of this place in their hands, so all of us can go out in cases like today.“ Ren shrugged. "Shinya is like a miniature war general.“

"I‘m glad to see that you did so well. And boy am I glad to be out of that hellhole.“ Sojiro smiled.

Ren nodded "I‘m glad to have you back too. Good night, Sojiro.“. He grabbed a thin blanket from the closet before heading downstairs, passing Futaba and Hifumi on his way, who were headed to their room.

As he entered the living room, he was surprised to see Yusuke still standing in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames. "You okay there, Yusuke?“ he asked.

Yusuke looked up at him "Yes. I was waiting for you to return.“

"Why‘s that?“ Ren looked confused.

"To thank you especially. I.. figured that you let me have my way because you knew that I wouldn‘t hear any bad words about Madarame.“ Yusuke said. He had done a lot of thinking in the past week and at one point, he had realized that Ren had been awfully supportive while Makoto was awfully suspicious, when normally, they used to be of the same mind.

"I guessed that he must have told you all kinds of stories...“ Ren said.

"You weren‘t wrong.“ Yusuke sighed "I was so impressed by him. He had managed to live a life that me and my mother had always dreamed of. People came to him to look at art, and not the other way around. I was so fascinated by the sheer possibility, that I wasn‘t thinking straight.“

"He seemed to be a good talker. He had all those villagers wrapped around his finger too. You weren‘t the only one he fooled.“

"Yes.. but I should have seen through his lies. He talked about my mother a lot. He must have sensed that I wanted to hear about her. Now that I think about it, I wish I could know what she thought of him...“ Yusuke said.

"No matter her opinion on Madarame, I‘m sure she would be proud of you for standing up for yourself and your art.“ Ren said.

Yusuke nodded "I think so too. But that‘s something else that I want to thank you for. Without your help, I still wouldn‘t know who I was as an artist. I would still be wandering around, trying to be like my mother instead of following my own style as an artist.“

"I think a lot of that gratitude belongs to Ann. If it wasn‘t for her, we wouldn‘t have even gone on that journey to discover your art with you.“

"You are right. Maybe that‘s also the reason why I wanted to replicate this painting so much. It reminds me of the people who always believe in me.“

Ren nodded.

"It still makes me sad to think that the only gallery was run by a money-grubbing would-be artist. The art-world deserves better.“ Yusuke sighed.

"Who knows? Maybe, one day you will be the one to run a gallery?“ he shrugged.

"Huh… Maybe.“ Yusuke nodded before taking a small bow "I will no longer keep you from sleeping. Good night.“

"Good night, Yusuke.“ Ren smiled. After the lanky artist left, he dropped onto the sofa. The faint crackling of the wood in the fireplace offered a relaxing background noise. Ren cast a last look at the painting on the wall before falling asleep with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Madarame is done:) And yes, Hifumi joins the Phantom Thieves. What can I say, I just like the girl:)
> 
> Let me know what you thought of the arc:)


	13. 5 Mattresses and 4 Chickens

As Ren woke up to commotion in the kitchen, he slowly opened his eyes only to stare directly into Futabas face, who was leaning over the backrest.

"Morning sleepy head!“ she announced.

Ren had to blink a few times to fully grasp the situation. "Well that was creepy.“ he remarked before pushing Futabas head away so he could sit up. His back hurt terribly. While the couch was comfortable to sit on, it was definitly not meant for sleeping.

"That‘s what you get for oversleeping in a public place. Everyone is in the kitchen already.“ Futaba said.

Ren stretched his arms in an attempt to loosen his muscles. "I‘m coming, I‘m coming.“ he sighed.

"You got a long day ahead of you! The furniture at Madarames doesn‘t move on its own!“ Futaba sang while walking out the living room.

"You‘re such a troll...“ Ren called after her before dragging himself off the couch. As he slowly walked to the kitchen, he tried to think of a reason that would require Futaba to join them and help carry stuff. But now that Sojiro was back again, he figured that he wouldn‘t let her come anyway. At least Futaba hadn‘t been making up things when she claimed that everyone was already in the kitchen. The big table was packed with everyone either eating or drinking.

"Look who decided to show up..“ Sojiro grinned.

"You‘re hair looks really messy, frizzy head.“ Morgana cackled.

"I know who‘s gonna sleep on the couch next time we need it.“ Ren answered, causing Morgana to instantly shup up. In the meantime, Haru had pushed a cup of tea into his hands.

"So, what‘s the plan for today?“ Ryuji asked after Ren sat down at the table.

"I‘d say that us guys drive back to Madarames and get some new furniture and other stuff we can find.“ Ren suggested.

"What machos.“ Eiko purred.

Mishima turned around "I don‘t remember you inviting us to go "shopping“ the other time. So I say it‘s time for a guys trip.“

Ryuji looked confused "You‘re upset about not being invited to some lame girl-thing?“

"N-...No!“ Mishima argued.

"Don‘t forget that our "girl-thing“ was the reason we have a car today!“ Ann directed at Ryuji.

Ren slapped his hand onto the table to gain everyones attention again before things escalated "Okay, let me rephrase: Who wants to come with us to carry heavy stuff and get their hands dirty?“. It came to no surprise that most of the guys hands went up while the girls looked into their mugs. "A guys trip it is.“ Ren announced.

Across the table, Ann leaned over to Haru "I don‘t want to be clichee… But I really hate carrying heavy stuff...“. Haru nodded in agreement.

"I don‘t mind getting my hands dirty, as long as its soil for my plants...“ she whispered in return.

"Don‘t worry, we‘ll get something pretty for all of you.“ Mishima apparently tried something new today, only to almost shrink into the ground when the girls stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"Why?“ Haru looked confused.

"Cause you think that we couldn‘t do it on our own?“ Ann asked.

Ryuji elbowed Mishima "Dude, you just stepped into a minefield.“

"Oh, Nishima...“ Futaba shook her head "I wouldn‘t recommend trying to play alpha in front of the girls when every single one of them could hand you your bony ass in a fight..“

"Language.“ Sojiro warned.

Futaba raised her finger "Bony butt.“. She turned to Sojiro and rolled her eyes "Better?“. Boss reluctantly nodded.

"I don‘t even know what we are discussing about anymore...“ Yusuke looked confused.

"Did you miss us?“ Ren answered with a smirk.

An hour later, the group rolled up to Madarames place. Apparently they weren‘t the only ones who had the idea of looting the place, but it seemed like most people were interested in the booze behind the bar. As they walked up to the top floor, they spread out to look through all the rooms. Ryuji and Mishima walked into Madarames old room, their eyes growing wide at the sight of all the gold.

"Humble artist my ass.“ Ryuji mumbled as he looked around.

"Look at all that jewellery...“ Mishima said

"Eff the jewellery, look at that mattress...“ Ryuji replied as he walked up to the bed. "What a beauty... I‘m calling dibs on that one!“ he grinned before dropping down on it.

"Um… Ryuji?..“ Mishima started to stutter "Do you think I upset the girls before?“

"Upset? Nah… probably not. Amused, maybe...“ Ryuji shrugged.

Mishima let out a sigh "I just wanted to sound tough for once...“ he whined.

"Noone‘s gonna believe ya if not even you believe it.“ Ryuji said "Besides… that was a pretty a lame line...“

"I know… I just.. see you guys and you are so strong and fierce and do all the things that I wish I could do…“ Mishima fidgeted with an amulet. "All of these side-jobs that I got for you… these people were so happy.. I wish I could make people look this happy by helping them too.“

Ryuji looked a little lost. He was not prepared for a therapy session. Giving motivational speeches was more in Rens wheelhouse "I mean.. you are helping them by being their contact person. If you hadn‘t approached them, we wouldn‘t have known that they needed help.“ Ryuji answered.

"I… guess you are right...“ Mishima said.

"So just be yourself. You‘re part of our group, you don‘t have to pretend to be something you‘re not.“

"Futaba doesn‘t even know my name...“ Mishima sighed.

"I‘m sure she‘s just joking.“ Ryuji said. "You just gotta stop acting like they‘re about to break or something. I mean, you saw that Ann slammed a knife through a grown mans hand. Futaba wasn‘t wrong, Ann could break you like a twig, and it‘s likewise with Makoto and Haru. You know it and they know it too so when you‘re acting all pimp, it just sounds ridiculous.“. Ryuji got up from the matress again "Now stop sulking and help me carry that mattress downstairs.“

Ren and Morgana were looking through what used to be Hifumis room.

"Isn‘t it strange how you can feel the sadness in this room?“ Morgana asked as he looked around.

"This room must have seen many of his students before they got shot in the back...“ Ren said.

"What a despicable human being...“ Morgana said, checking inside the closet. "I can‘t imagine how scared Hifumi must have been.“

"I‘m glad that we were able to put an end to his gallery of horrors.“ Ren said, pulling the mattress off the bedframe.

"You really are becoming something of a hero. Fighting for what‘s right, freeing people from their prisons.“ Morgana held a speech.

"Not again...“ Ren sighed, huffing as he flipped the mattress onto its side. "This was just a coincidence. If Madarame hadn‘t set his sights on Yusuke, we probably would have never given this place a second look.“

"Don‘t be so modest. After all, you and Makoto were already suspicious even before Yusuke decided to go there. And you would have never left Sojiro alone.“ Morgana argued.

Ren grudgingly had to agree. After Sojiros cryptic messages on their first visit, he would have kept investigating no matter what. "Yeah, but that was because he‘s family.“

"And not to mention all these little things that we all did for neighbours and whoever it was that Mishima brought...“ Morgana continued.

"That‘s called being a good neighbour. Think about it, the next time you let your stuff lie around all over the house.“ Ren rolled his eyes. "Come on, give me a hand with this.“

"We should give ourselves a name.“ Morgana mused as they carried the mattress downstairs.

"We already have names. Two sets each, even.“ Ren dead-panned.

"Yeah, but as a group. Wouldn‘t that be cool? If people started asking for… like.. the "Phantom Thieves“?“.

"Phantom Thieves? What even is a Phantom Thief?“ Ren asked, concentrated on not falling down the stairs while walking backwards with the mattress in his hands.

"I don‘t know! But doesn‘t it sound mysterious?“ Morgana raved.

Ren rolled his eyes "It‘s already ridiculous that we‘re using codenames. As soon as someone sees our faces, they know who we are. We don‘t need a group name.“

"Don‘t you think that we‘re starting to become like a gang? Every gang has a name! What are we calling ourselves? The team? The group? That‘s not a name!“ Morgana continued.

"Fine, if you get the others on board, I guess we can start calling ourselves the Phantom Thieves.“ Ren said, bugged out while pushing the mattress onto the pick-up. "And now go get those boards out of the closet. Find Shinya and have him help.“ Morgana looked pleased as he turned heel and ran off. That kid had some imagination…Phantom Thieves... He shook his head as he slowly walked to the first floor again, spotting Yusuke standing in the middle of the gallery. "Find something you like?“ he asked upon approaching.

"No… Although it is a shame to think that all these paintings will remain here, hidden from view. The people who made these died because it was their dream to have their works displayed in a place where many people will be able to see them.“ the artist sighed "It truly is a tragedy...“. His shoulders were slumped "I just wish that there was a way to at least return these works to the families...“

Ren looked around the room with him "All we can do is hope, that word carries around and that maybe a few people will come and find their loved ones works...“

"I suppose you are right… There is nothing more that we can do at this point but hope.“ Yusuke said with a heavy heart. "If you‘ll excuse me, I will go and raid the supply closet.“

Ren nodded as they both went to the second floor, where Mishima and Ryuji were carrying off their second mattress.

While Yusuke went ahead to the supply closet, Ren took a turn into what used to be Nakanoharas room. As he looked around, he saw old pictures propped up on the dresser of what Ren guessed to be Nakanohara as a child with a woman and a younger Madarame. He must have lived with the old man for a long time. No wonder he was so panicked when Madarames downfall was near. Apparently he didn‘t know anything else but the life he had had. Ren sighed before dragging the mattress out of the room. After packing up the big items, the guys went inside once more to look for smaller items that could be useful. They deliberately decided to leave Madarames gold behind, since they had no need for it. In the end, each of them found something useful to pack up, mostly items for the kitchen. As they walked outside to their car, they saw a group of people approaching them. Upon a closer look, Ren recognized a few faces from yesterday.

"Oh good, you‘re still here!“ A woman called out to them.

"Looks like we weren‘t the only ones who wanted to put some of the inventory to good use.“ Ren answered back.

"We wanted to thank you once more. By uncovering the truth of Madarames doings, we now have the opportunity to store or trade more of our produce. We were starting to get worried, not only because Madarame would tend to demand more and more...“ the woman explained. She held a big box in her hands, covered by a sheet.

"There‘s no need to thank us. We‘re happy that we could help.“ Ren humbly said.

"One of our farmers had the great idea to give you something to show our gratitude. So please, accept these little guys?“ the woman handed the box to Ren before pulling off the sheet, revealing a cage with 3 chickens and a rooster in it. As the sheet was removed, the animals started clucking in excitement.

"Whoah!“ Ryuji exclaimed in surprise while everyone else stared at the cage in disbelief.

"Wow… Are you sure that you want to give them away?“ Ren asked. Livestock was something rare after all. Products like eggs were extremely valuable trading goods, if you didn‘t choose to eat them yourself.

The woman nodded "Yes. We have more and they will reproduce. Please, take good care of them.“

Yusuke nodded "We will. We are truly grateful for your kindness.“

The villagers nodded before heading inside Madarames place while the group remained standing and staring at the chickens in their leaders hands.

Morganas eyes grew wide "This is amazing! We‘re gonna have so many eggs to eat!“ his mouth started watering only at the thought of it "Sunny Side-up, scrambled, hard boiled...“

"No more porridge!“ Shinya exclaimed, sounding happy.

"I like porridge...“ Yusuke remarked.

"Yeah, but who needs porridge if you can have eggs for breakfast?“ Ryuji asked.

Ren cast them an amused look "You do know that we‘re still going to eat porridge, right?“. He looked around. "I‘d say we wrap things up here. Let‘s go home...“. As Ren and Yusuke got into the drivers cabin, Ryuji, Mishima, Shinya and Morgana climbed up onto the back, securing their treasures and the chickens, who were now in Ryujis hands and had settled down a little bit.

The ride home was smooth until they turned the corner onto the drive-up to their gates, when the chickens in Ryujis arms suddenly started clucking in panic, wiggling and moving around in the cage as much as it allowed them.

"What‘s up with them?“ Ren called out from behind the steering wheel.

"How should I know? I‘m not a chick-whisperer!“ Ryuji answered.

"Yeah you‘re not!“ Morgana cackled and Ryuji cast him an angry look.

"Um… guys...“ Shinya called out, pointing to the woods to their left, where dark figures started to emerge.

"Fuck...“ Ryuji cursed. "Hey, we got some company here.“ he called out to Ren.

"I see them too.“ Yusuke called out over the distressed chickens screams.

"They‘re fast ones too!“ Morgana shrieked. "Floor it, Joker!“

"Okay, hold on, we‘re almost there!“ Ren called out before pressing down the gas pedal to speed up the car. "I just hope that they hear us approaching...“ Ren muttered.

"Judging by the sound that these chickens make, I‘d say it‘s hard to not hear us...“ Yusuke answered. Ren hoped that he was right.

In the back of the car, Mishima looked pale as a sheet as he was struggling to keep their cargo in place while Morgana was shooting his slingshot at the shadows that were now closely following behind them. Shinya was helping by simply throwing stones from the other boys ammunition pouch. Ryuji was incapacitated as he sat close to the drivers cabin, clutching a cage full of panicked chickens, cursing himself for not riding shotgun.

As the gates appeared into sight, Ren was relieved to see that the doors slowly started to move but he was still going too fast and risked crashing into the gate if he didn't slow down a bit. "Once we‘re inside, get ready to fight!“ Ren said to Yusuke, who nodded. They had been very slack with taking their weapons with them, so all Yusuke carried with him was his katana, that was resting beside his seat.

"They‘re almost at the car!“ Morgana called out from the back, firing his slingshot to apparently no avail.

When the gate was fully open, Ren floored it again, putting a bit of distance between the car and the shadows on their tail as they passed the gate. Makoto was already standing out front to welcome them, only to look confused when Shinya and Morgana were making panicked handgestures. Only when she saw the first shadow running through the gate, she turned into action-mode as she ran back inside to get the others. Ren cut the engine and jumped out of the car. On the other side, Yusuke got out too, his katana drawn and ready to fight. The two boys started to withdraw towards the house, constantly shooting rocks, while Ryuji finally got to put down the chickens and jump off the car, his baseball bat in hand. As the gates slowly swung close again and locked 4 shadows in with them, Ann and Haru emerged from the house, Ann armed with her submachine gun, Haru with her axe, charging up to the two shadows that were closing in on Ryuji.

Only a few moments later, Makoto charged out the door, carrying both Rens gun and her brass knuckles. Her eyes were determined as she tossed him his weapon before heading for the nearest shadow. “Ready?” she asked upon passing.

Ren nodded before following her. These types of shadows weren‘t only fast runners but also quick fighters and not before long everyone had worked up a good sweat. Makoto was able to take one out on her own, delivering blow after blow to what she assumed was its head. Haru, graceful as always, slammed down her axe into the second, splitting it in half from head to toe with one clean strike, and Ann and Ren bombarded a third one with a hail of bullets. A little further off, Yusuke struggled a little more with his opponent, who seemed to be unphazed by the few slashes he had been able to land. The shadow directly charging at him came out of nowhere and before he knew it, he was laying on his back, the fourth shadow standing over him, only held back by his katana, that Yusuke held up in a guarding position, holding against the shadows weight that never seemed to stay in the same position as it tried to snap at his face with jagged teeth.

"Yusuke!“ Haru called out, panicked, after her opponent had dissolved into smoke.

Yusukes arms were burning as he held against the shadow snapping at him, getting closer and closer the weaker he got. He stared into the shadows menacing face before a shot rang out and the light behind the yellow eyes vanished, as a bullet shot out on the other end of its head. With a bone-chilling moan, the shadow dissolved into fog. As Yusuke slowly got up, his arms limp from all the blocking, he cast a look at the group behind him, that looked equally surprised. Perplexed, he tried to retrace the direction of the bullet. When his eyes landed on the hole in the roof, he noticed Hifumi, looking up from the sniper rifle, giving him a nod.

"Whew…. That was a handful...“ Ryuji sighed, taking a deep breath.

"What is this day? There have been shadows creeping around the fence all day long...“ Ann complained.

"It was a little unsettling, but Hifumi was able to kill a lot with the sniper rifle.“ Haru added.

"Her aim is so good! You saw how fast these things were! She never missed once!“ Ann said.

"I hit them too!“ Morgana protested.

Before Ryuji could answer, another loud clucking erupted from the cage on the loading area of the car. As Haru realized where the sound came from, a happy giggle escaped her. She hurried over to the cage, gently whispering something. Everyone shared a surprised look when the animals calmed down almost immediately.

"Guess now we know who takes care of them...“ Ryuji said with a grin.

"Where was Madarame hiding chickens?“ Ann asked, wide-eyed.

"The villagers gave them to us as a thanks.“ Ren explained.

"Chickens?!“ Futaba yelled as she ran past them and up to Haru.

"Good that we found some wire-fence in the cellar...“ Makoto was already thinking ahead.

As Haru and Futaba stood by the chickens, Futaba furrowed her brow "Hey, Nishima… You can stop hiding now… The shadows are dead.“

Mishima had been laying on his stomach, squeezed inbetween the cars sidewall and the stacked mattresses. He slowly sat up, the color gradually returning to his face "Oh.. yeah..haha..."

Futaba cast him a confused look before returning her attention to the chickens in the cage.

"Well look at that...“ Sojiro grinned as he walked out of the house.

"We have some new housemates.“ Ren grinned.

"Huh, seems like we have a lot to do today.“ Sojiro said. He had already addressed in the morning that he had cast an eye on the smaller room beside Ryujis, Yusukes and Mishimas. He claimed that he would be able to fix the hole in the wall with enough wood, hence why the group took all the shelves with them. It made sense, that the old man wanted a room of his own, and while none of the guys had a problem with sharing a room, they all didn‘t necessarily want to share it with Sojiro. It just felt awkward.

One after the other, mattresses were unloaded and distributed to the rooms. In the end, Futaba and Anns room turned out to be small and narrow to fit in another mattress in any way, so Haru, Makoto and Eiko got another room-mate, only this time, Makoto didn‘t seem to mind the news.

"Oooh, that one‘s so soft!“ Ann noticed as she grabbed the last mattress on the truck.

"I already called dibs on it!“ Ryuji was quick to exclaim. Beside him, Mishima looked shocked. This could only mean trouble.

"What?! Why should you be the one to get it?“ Ann argued.

"Because I was the one who carried it down two floors.“ Ryuji said, picking the mattress up. Behind him, Mishima took the other end before they started walking. When the blonde boy noticed how Ann was following them, desperately looking for another argument, he sighed "Here, I found something else for you.“ he casually said, shoving his hand into the side-pocket of his baggy shorts. He turned his head to give her a small smirk before he tossed her a small plastic square.

As Ann realized that he just tossed her a CD-case, her eyes went wide. "You found one?!“ she exclaimed, excitedly opening the case to find an intact CD in it. She grinned, watching him walk to the house.

"Still want the mattress?“ Ryuji asked. He didn‘t turn around to look at her, but she could tell that he was grinning.

Ann rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, unable to stop staring at the CD in her hands. She knew what they would be doing tonight.

While the others were unloading the truck, Haru and Futaba were sitting in the backyard, trying to put together a house for the chickens out of some wooden boards. Shinya and Morgana were putting up a fence around a part of the garden. Upstairs, Yusuke, Sojiro and Ren were working on building a make-shift wall out of wooden boards to close off the room that would then become Sojiros.

Meanwhile, Makoto and Eiko were cleaning their place to make enough space for four of them.

"I can‘t believe that we‘re getting another room-mate and Ann and Futaba are still living in their cosy room for two...“ Eiko sounded annoyed.

"Their room is really small, there is no way that another mattress fits in there. Their beds are somehow anchored to the walls as well...“ Makoto explained. She honestly had no problem with Hifumi moving in with them. Ever since their very first conversation, she felt like they had a common understanding, which was completely different to her and Eiko. "And please don‘t be mean to her.“

Eiko rolled her eyes "I wouldn‘t dare… As it turns out, she seems to fit in perfectly with all of you.“ every word of hers was dripping with acid.

"What’s that supposed to mean?“ Makoto was confused.

"In the beginning, I thought that she was just some scared and traumatized girl in need of help, but noooo, now she‘s so good at shooting too.“

"We could do some training sessions if you‘d like?“ Makoto offered, still not sure what the real problem was.

"But I don‘t want to! I don‘t want to hold a gun.. I want someone who protects me and treats me like a princess...“ she started to sound dreamy before her eyes stared at Makoto, full of anger again "All of the girls here are just sooo tough… I‘m so sick of it… And because all of you, they believe that I‘m like that too.“

Makoto furrowed her brow "Is this about this morning?“ she asked.

"I wouldn‘t have minded if one of the boys got me something nice… Like something sparkly or fancy…. Even if it was Mishima.“ Eiko sounded incredibly angry "What‘s so wrong about that?“

"There‘s… nothing wrong with it...“ Makoto said, not entirely certain if she even believed her own answer. Was there really nothing wrong with wanting to be dependent on someone? Was it wrong to want to be treated like a princess? In her eyes, she never wanted to depend on anyone. She liked all of her team-members and she trusted them with her life, but she never wanted to depend on them like apparently Eiko wished to do.

"All I want is a strong guy who knows how to treat a lady. I want to be showered in pretty gifts and not worry about a thing anymore. No more standing boring watches, no more canned beans for dinner… I‘m sick of living like this.“ Eiko complained.

Something switched in Makoto and she suddenly felt the urge to slap her. "Get it together, Eiko.“ she snapped and Eiko looked at her in honest surprise "You were the one who wanted to join us. We took you in and we cared for you. You never had to walk outside if you didn‘t want to. All we ever asked of you in return was standing guard a few times.“ Makoto gave in to her rage "We don‘t live in times where we don‘t have to worry. So stop acting like an ungrateful little bitch. No one forces you to stay here. If you‘re so unhappy about the way we are living, then leave.“. She was surprised about the intensity in her voice.

Eiko seemed at a loss for words before her face turned into a frown "You know what? Maybe I will!“ she spat back and stormed out.

Makoto stood in the empty room, fuming as she angrily tossed a few pieces of clothing into her part of the closet. She thought that Eiko had returned for round 2 when she heard the door opening, but instead, Ren carefully stuck his head in. "Is everything okay?“ he asked.

Makoto sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose "By the way you‘re asking I assume that you already have a suspicion that something‘s not okay…“

Ren stepped into the room and closed the door "I just wanted to carefully test the waters.“

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him before sighing again "I just had an argument with Eiko...“

Ren shrugged "I figured as much when I saw her stomping down the stairs, calling you all kinds of names...“. His gaze softened "You wanna tell me what happened?“

Makoto reluctantly said "She basically indicated that she starts to despise us. Most of all us girls, because apparently we make her look like she doesn‘t want to be treated like a princess?“ Makoto recited, confused about how ridiculous it sounded in hindsight.

"Wasn‘t she the one who called us machos?“ Ren looked confused too.

Makoto sighed "Maybe she meant it as a compliment..?“

Ren smirked "We definitely wouldn‘t be used to that...“

Makoto squirmed "Are we that mean?“

Ren grinned as he shook his head "Nah… Our group just works different. When you‘re living and walking together for so long, you kind of merge together into one mechanism. We‘re a well-oiled machine, so to speak. We‘re effective. And we care about each other in a different way. Or maybe we just attract only one type of character...“ he shot her a questioning look "Or would you wish for presents too?“

Makoto shook her head "It never even crossed my mind. Everything about her world-view just seems so… completely strange to me…“

Ren shrugged "It seems like Eiko just feels misunderstood because everyone but her shares your or rather our values or view on life.“

"It‘s not just that. She was also complaining about her tasks and the food…“ Makoto sighed "I even called her a bitch...“

Ren shot her an almost amused look "You did?“

"An ungrateful little bitch.“

To her surprise, Ren chuckled "Wish I could have seen that...“

"Why?“

Ren shrugged with an impish grin "I don‘t know…“ there seemed to be something on the tip of his tongue, but he didn‘t continue.

"What should I do now? Do I go and apologize to her?“ Makoto asked.

"Do you want to apologize or do you think that you have to?“ Ren asked.

"The latter...“

"Then it‘s up to you to decide, if you‘d rather lie to her or stick to your truth.“ Ren said.

Makoto looked lost "But how do I decide that...“

Ren shrugged before placing a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze "You‘ll find out.“ a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth "You always do.“

Makoto looked up at him, her cheeks faintly blushing. She just nodded. After Ren left, she paced up and down the room, putting her thoughts into order. She had always hated interpersonal issues, because there never was the one and only correct answer, but far too many aspects to everything. It took some time before she finally came up with an answer. She wouldn‘t apologize. Eiko had been very tactless and had dropped many snide remarks about their home and team-mates. She wouldn‘t apologize to her for calling her out on that. She also didn‘t think that calling her an ungrateful bitch had been uncalled for. She had a feeling that Eiko would have called her the same, if their roles would have been reversed.

In the backyard, a sanctuary for the chickens has been erected, with a small house to sleep in and plenty room to move.

Haru had to smile as she watched the chickens scramble out of the cage and explore their habitat.

"We should name them!“ Futaba suddenly exclaimed beside her.

"Oh, oh! What about Zorro for the rooster?“ Morgana called out. It was a fitting name, for he was the only black-feathered among the group.

Haru giggled "It suits him. Let‘s hope that he will protect his ladies like his name-sake.“

After observing the animals walk around in their new home, they came up with three more names. Carmen for the white-feathered chicken, since she seemed to have something of a fiery personality, Johanna for the dark-brown one, who always seemed to be watching over the group and seemed incredibly smart – if you could say that about a chicken – and MiLady for the light-brown-feathered one, basically because Haru was especially fond of her.

Haru smiled as she sat down in one of the garden chairs beside the enclosure "I always enjoyed observing the chickens...“ she said.

"You used to have some?“ Shinya asked, amazed.

Haru nodded with a sad smile "My father held them on the compound. He always said that a day wasn‘t complete without a hard-boiled egg for breakfast“

"Sounds luxurious.“ the little kid said. "Why did you leave?“

Futaba and Morgana shot him an angry look, but Haru just giggled "It‘s okay, you guys.“ she looked for the right words "There‘s some things in life that you can‘t bare, even if you have eggs for breakfast.“

Shinya knew better and stopped asking.

"It‘s starting to get dark, I‘ll go and start dinner.“ Haru stood up and walked back inside. Upon entering the kitchen, she was surprised to see Sojiro already standing there, cutting up some vegetables. "It‘s good to have you back, Boss.“ Haru smiled as she walked up to him. "But I‘m afraid that we didn‘t find a lot of spices so far...“

Sojiro smiled "That‘s okay. I think I learned a thing or two about vegetable stew during my time at Madarames.“

"I still hope that we can taste that delicious curry of yours again one day.“ Haru smiled as she took a second knife and started to help cutting.

"If anyone will be able to find some curry powder one more time, I‘m sure it‘s Ryuji and Ann.“ Boss grinned. "You got some pretty good vegetables growing in that garden of yours, kid. I can already tell that these will taste great.“

"I‘m glad to hear that.“ Haru smiled "I wish that we could have found some coffee beans.. But sadly, we were out of luck so far.“

"It wouldn‘t be the same without my equipment anyway.“ Sojiro sighed.

"How did you manage to survive?“ Haru asked.

"It was nothing but dumb luck, I guess. I just closed shop during the day to go fishing and maybe gather some things in the forrest… I was on my way back, when I heard this deafening noise. I think there must have been explosions at the settlements close by too because I think I heard multiple.. I wasn‘t sure what was going on, so I stayed in the forrest for a day or too, just to be safe. When I got back, LeBlanc was reduced to rubble.“ As Sojiro was speaking, the kitchen slowly started to fill up with the rest of the group. "I walked through Yongen but there weren‘t many survivors. Noone really knew what happened. The explosion had come out of nowhere…“. Sojiro put all of the diced vegetables into the pot, that they had taken from Madarame "So I left. I just started walking towards the country-side in the hope of finding some settlement there. After 3 days or so, I found a small village and that‘s the day when I met Nakanohara. When I heard that he was running some establishment, I asked if he needed a bartender or something. Turns out that before I started working there, it was Nakanohara who had to handle the bar too. Poor kid…“

"Sojiro….“ Futaba quietly said before running up to him and hugging him once again.

"It‘s okay, Futaba. I‘m good. I‘m just glad that you guys weren‘t back there at the time...“ Sojiro gently stroked her head.

"You could say that this was a lucky coincidence...“ Ren said.

"And still, noone has any idea why this happened?“ Makoto asked.

"As far as I heard, the smaller settlements that aren‘t too close to the city-borders weren‘t affected. It seems like this only concerned the big ones...“

"So the ones inside the city were hit too?“ Makoto placed her finger on her chin.

"At least that‘s what I heard...“ Sojiro said.

"But why were the explosions focused on these settlements alone?“ Ann asked.

"Maybe because those were the biggest in terms of population?“ Ren wondered.

"Wiping out settlements like these must have spread fear among the people… Word about it sure spread fast...“ Ryuji said, remembering the guy they had met on the streets back then, who was able to tell them almost everything that happened.

"But… who would want to do that? It sure can‘t be shadows...“ Haru said, handing Sojiro her cut vegetables and a cooking spoon.

"But that would mean that a human did this!“ Futaba said, shuddering at the thought.

"We‘ve seen that there‘s some really shitty people out there… I can‘t say that I believe that no human would be capable of doing shit like that.“ Ryuji said, his jaw clenched.

"There must be a bigger picture that we aren‘t getting...“ Ren said, scratching his head.

"Sounds like a job for the Phantom Thieves!“ Morgana announced. Everyone at the table threw him a confused look.

"Oh, yeah. Morgana wants to call us the Phantom Thieves.“ Ren casually said.

"Why Thieves? We don‘t steal anything...“ Yusuke asked.

"Because… Because we steal the distorted wishes from rotten humans!“ Morgana called out.

"That… sounds really dramatic...“ Ann hesitated.

"Unnecessarily dramatic.“ Makoto added.

"I like it.“ Ryuji spoke up with a grin. Morgana and the rest gaped at him "What? If we start going around calling out shitty people, we should have a cool name for our group. Hell, we could make a business out of it. We could become famous!“ Ryuji grinned, rocking his chair back and forth.

"Aren‘t you especially already famous enough?“ Makoto sighed, remembering how often it had happened, that either Ann or Ryuji got recognized.

"Okay, okay, but think about it! We‘re already helping a ton of people. Wouldn‘t it sound so much better to offer the help of the Phantom Thieves instead of offering the help of a group of teenagers?“ Ryuji continued.

"That does sound like a point...“ Yusuke had to admit.

"We‘re running around with our faces visible. We already have our code-names to keep our identity hidden at least a little bit, so I don‘t really get why we should make up another pretend-name...“ Makoto said.

"It would be faster to introduce us as the Phantom Thieves, than individually saying our names.“ Ren reluctantly said.

"Right?“ Ryuji sounded excited.

Makoto covered her face with her hands before sighing "Are we really going to call ourselves the Phantom Thieves now?“

Ren looked into the round "I… guess we are...“

"We are?!“ Morgana almost jumped from his chair.

Makoto reluctantly nodded "If everyone is okay with it...“

"There‘s also some of us who don‘t have a codename yet!“ Shinya brought up.

Ren looked surprised "I didn‘t know you wanted one. Shoot!“ he leaned back in his chair.

Shinya apparently hadn‘t anticipated this reaction, for he looked pretty surprised "Umm… how did you guys find yours?“

The others exchanged a look "I got mine from Morgana.“ Ren shrugged.

"Ryuji and I got ours from some guys at our settlement...“ Ann recalled.

"I think I chose mine by myself...“ Yusuke said.

Makoto squirmed "I… got mine from people at my settlement too.“

"I got mine from you guys.“ Futaba said.

Haru smiled "I always liked Noir-movies.“

"Just go with what you‘d like to be called.“ Sojiro smiled while stirring the pot. The kitchen started to fill up with a familiar smell.

During their talk, Eiko had been sitting at the corner of the table, her arms crossed in front of her chest, looking either bored or annoyed. "Okay. I want to be called Princess.“

Makoto saw how the table fell quiet. Noone really seemed too excited about her choice of name. To be honest, Makoto herself thought it to be a little cringey too. After their discussion earlier, it made complete sense that she wanted her codename to be this one. But beside her and Ren, noone knew about it.

"What? You‘re calling Makoto Queen too, so what‘s the problem?“ Eiko asked, irritated.

"It‘s nothing.“ Makoto was quick to say before any of the guys said something to tick Eiko off entirely "Princess it is, then.“ she put on a smile. She was glad that noone decided to speak against it.

"I.. I think I‘d rather have someone else pick my name.“ Mishima spoke up.

"Hmm...“ Futaba propped her head up on her hands.

"Please don‘t call me NPC..“ Mishima whispered more to himself.

"What about Hermes? Because Mishima is something like our messenger.“ Haru proposed.

"That would theoretically make us gods, but I don‘t hate it.“ Ren grinned, looking at Mishima.

"I… like it too! Thank you, Haru.“ Mishima smiled.

"Me next, me next!“ Shinya exclaimed "I want something tough! Like.. Sniper...“

"No offense, but after today, this title should go to Hifumi.“ Ann said. The girl who had been quiet the whole time blushed.

"The King?“ Shinya asked.

"I think we have enough royalty for now…“ Ren said. For some reason, he found it incredibly awkward if Makoto and Shinya were Queen and King.

"What did you call him yesterday? General?“ Sojiro directed at Ren before throwing a few herbs into the pot.

"Oooh, that sounds good. Just don‘t let it go to your head.“ Ryuji grinned.

"I won‘t!“ Shinya swore.

"That only leaves Hifumi“ Futaba said, turning to the girl who suddenly looked nervous with all the attention on her.

"I mean… why not go with Sniper?“ Ann proposed.

"Or Assassin!“ Morgana said.

Upon looking at Hifumi, they saw that these names didn‘t really seem to make her happy.

"What about Umbra? It’s latin and means shadow.“ Yusuke spoke up, remembering how he had fought against the shadow, unaware of Hifumis presence until he heard the shot.

Hifumi looked pleased with that "I like that one.“ she quietly said with a smile.

"Good. Now, that that‘s settled, let‘s eat.“ Sojiro smiled as he put down the big pot in the middle of the table.

After dinner, Yusuke and Hifumi helped cleaning the dishes while Haru and Futaba went outside to feed the chickens.

"Have you settled in well?“ Yusuke asked.

"Yes. I feel bad for taking away Anns bed last night, but now with my own, I feel a lot better.“ Hifumi answered. "Your friends are very nice. I think I just have to get used to everything and get to know everyone a little better.“ she smiled.

"You seem to have made quite the impression with your aiming-skills today.“ Yusuke said "I didn‘t know that you were this skilled with a weapon.“

"Oh… Well, I only hit because I was able to predict its movements after observing them for a while...“ Hifumi nervously said as she dried a plate.

Yusuke smiled "Very impressive. The Shogi Princess would be proud.“

Hifumi smiled a meek smile before she turned her head in confusion when she heard music coming from the living room. As Yusuke and Hifumi walked over, they saw that the music was coming from the small CD-player. In the middle of the room, Ann was dancing while Mishima, Shinya and Morgana were sitting by the fire, playing cards. As the two were standing in the door-frame, Haru and Futaba came back from the garden. It didn't take long for Futaba to join Ann on the makeshift dancefloor, giggling together with the blonde girl. Intrigued by the music, the rest of the Phantom Thieves came downstairs too, immediately getting pulled in by the two girls.

Yusuke, Haru and Hifumi remained standing in the doorframe when Ann approached them with a grin "Come on! You can‘t just stand there and judge our bad dancing!“. She grabbed Hifumis and Harus hand and started pulling them into the living room.

"Oh.. I don‘t know...“ Hifumi reluctantly followed Ann, her face red.

"Don‘t worry. We don‘t bite. Besides, a friend of mine always said that dancing is the best way to make friends.“ Ann beamed at the shy girl, who meekly nodded, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Haru, go get Yusuke too!“ she grinned and let go of her hand while walking towards the group with Hifumi.

Haru approached Yusuke with a smile "Would you care to dance, Sir Kitagawa?“. She held out her hand.

Yusuke looked at his family dancing in the living room of a desolate house. There was a certain beauty to it and he wondered why he ever considered leaving this place. As he looked at Hifumi, who was dancing with Ann and Makoto now, and at Sojiro, who had managed to doze off in an armchair despite the noise, he figured that his little trip to Madarame had had at least some benefit. He smiled at Haru and took her hand "Of course, Lady Okumura.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to another chapter of light-hearted group-fluff because honestly after so much serious stuff, we all deserve it. Did I just name the chickens after some of the Phantom Thieves Personas? Hell yeah I did, and I regret nothing! Was I stupid and gave Hifumi the literal codename "Shadow" at first, before realizing only after the second read-through that this was also what those scary things are called, that they need to fight sometimes? Yes, and it's embarassing. I know that there's this super great artwork of how Hifumi would look as a Phantom Thief and the codename she had in that concept was "Legend", but I'm not that into it, so I came up with something on my own;)
> 
> Anyway, I guess we all know what arc comes next, but that will require some build-up first. I wonder if Eikos sudden change of behavior has something to do with that...


	14. Operation Maidwatch

The next weeks passed by in beautiful peace. With Sojiro back with them, it really started to feel like the old days at the original LeBlanc, although it soon started to show that Sojiro missed being a gastronomer. During their weeks of slacking off, they kept themselves busy with smaller contracts brought to them by Mishima, who thrived under his new codename and was spreading the name of the Phantom Thieves eagerly. Be it for finding an item, protection on the road or other cases of human-beings being jerks to each other. Sometimes people were already actively looking for Mishima to arrive, since the Phantom Thieves never gave away the location of their home.

And while all of them enjoyed their time at home, not having to care about a thing, Eiko was the only one who decided to venture farther and farther away. She had announced that she wanted to broaden her horizons. Apparently someone in the nearby village had told her of some bigger settlement a days march away. Her time gone from LeBlanc2 drew out longer and longer, while noone had a clue about what she was actually doing while she was gone. Makoto had uttered the suspicion, that Eiko was going to leave them all together soon. The thought of Eiko leaving made her a little sad. They had spent a few months living together after all. And even if Makoto sometimes had no clue about what to do with the snotty girl who didn‘t give a damn about peoples opinions, she felt like Eiko had provided her with a good insight into the mind of a type of person that she hadn‘t been familiar with before. Since their fight the day after Yusukes return, Eiko had been miffed for a few days before she started to warm up to Makoto more and more, until they were able to have their usual conversions again.

It was a sunny spring day and Haru was hanging up some laundry, that she had washed with the water from the garden-well. Yusuke was sitting on the lawn in the backyard, trying to sketch the chickens for practice. Ann and Futaba were out exploring. Inside, Makoto and Hifumi were sitting on the livingroom floor, playing a round of Shogi. At previous missions, it had shown that the Shogi-prodigy not only was a great strategist on the board, but also in real life. It had taken some time for her to adjust to her new situation, mourning her father and getting to know everyone, but she had come along rather fast to Makoto.

"Your moves are getting more tactical and you seem to think ahead rather than playing from round to round. I‘m starting to see some real strategy.“ Hifumi said with an encouraging smile "But sadly, this is the end for now.“. She slammed her piece onto the board "Dragon Siege!“.

Makoto looked at the board in disbelief. She thought that she at least had one or two rounds left. As she analyzed her error, she gave a nod "I concede.“

Hifumi nodded "Very well.“. The girl started to reset the pieces. "I apologize, if I was too vigorous just now. I tend to get carried away.“

Makoto smiled "I was wondering about that.“

"When I was little, I always imagined myself as the queen of a kingdom, ordering my army. I guess it stuck...“ Hifumi explained with a shy smile.

"Was that the reason why you became the "Shogi Princess?“ Makoto asked.

Hifumi shook her head "No… I have my mother to thank for that name… I suspect that I only got it for advertising reasons...“

"Oh… I‘m sorry I brought it up.“ Makoto apologized when she noticed Hifumis sad look.

"How did you become Queen?“ Hifumi asked.

Makoto froze, looking for an answer "I…“ she stammered. Explaining the story of her codename was complicated. She wasn‘t proud of that time.

Hifumi noticed Makotos unease and quickly said "It‘s okay! You don‘t have to tell me, if you don‘t want to.“. She set the pieces on the Shogi board back to their starting positions. "Would you like a rematch?“

Makoto put a quick smile on her face before nodding, grateful for the opportunity.

Somewhere in the nearby forest, two teenagers were sprinting along a narrow path.

"Oh man, my legs are already killing me...“ the blonde boy wheezed.

"We haven‘t even reached our mark from last time!“ the dark-haired boy who was sprinting beside him answered, short of breath too. "You‘re really getting rusty. To think that you were bragging about being a runner when we first met...“

"Why would you bring that up now?“ Ryuji groaned. "Besides, we all have gotten lazy during our time at LeBlanc. You used to be a better climber, ya know?“ Ryuji grinned at him.

"Judging from how much you can talk, I guess we‘re not going fast enough.“ Ren grinned back, picking up the pace.

"Don‘t worry about that, dude, I‘m totally used to running and talking. I had my fair share of running away from things while debating with Ann on who was to blame.“ Ryuji kept going on as he was keeping up with him.

"Why doesn‘t that surprise me...“ Ren answered, his sides already hurting.

"Heh, guess you know us too well by now.“ Ryuji answered. "For real though… I feel like there‘s nothing from my past that you don‘t know...“

"Guess that‘s what happens when you live under one roof for so long...“ Ren said. The two had slowed down to a jog to calm their heart-rate.

"Huh, you might be right.“ Ryuji said "But man, look at us! We got a nice place to live, we‘re helping tons of people.“ he grinned "Seriously, they‘re already waiting for Mishima to tell them about their problems! We‘re really starting to get famous!“

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a weakness for fame?“ Ren asked with a half-grin.

The blonde boy shrugged "Yeah, but what‘s wrong with that? We‘re doing good things. And the more people know about us, the more people we can help.“. He slowed down to a walk “And maybe one day, a cute girl will need our help. And that’s when I’ll be there!” he smirked.

“So that’s why you wanted to pick up running again? To be there faster, when a damsel in distress calls?” Ren grinned “Or rather to literally chase after her?”.

“Oh, Ha Ha.” Ryuji replied sarcastically. "But seriously though, with our cool name and all, it would be a shame to not carry the message out into the world.“

"How dramatic.“ Ren grinned, now walking beside him.

"Don‘t you think it‘s time for a new big target too?“ Ryuji thought out loud. "I mean, we have enough manpower to guard the homebase… Maybe it‘s time to explore new places a little farther away.“

"I hear you...“ Ren agreed before adding "But honestly, the thought of wandering farther away from home has a big downside.“

"What do ya mean?“ Ryuji asked, curious.

"We wouldn‘t have our comfortable beds to fall into at night.“ Ren answered. With that in mind, the idea of sleeping in a tent or some rundown shack was rather unappealing.

"And you‘re calling Me lazy?“ Ryuji sighed.

They came to a stop and Ruyji took out his switchblade to carve a mark into the nearest tree. "Alright, I think we set a new record. Good work, man!“ he grinned and gave him a high-five.

"Feels like we‘re getting somwhere.“ Ren agreed as the two walked back to the main road. As they looked down the road, they noticed Mishima approaching from the distance.

"Hermes! Done with todays tour?“ Ren called out.

"Yeah. But it’s been pretty quiet.“ Mishima said as he caught up with them. "But on the other hand, look what one of the men on the road gave to me.“ he had a nervous smile on his face, like he was a kid that was about to show them something forbidden. He handed Ren a piece of paper, designed to resemble something like a flyer.

As Ryuji leaned over to look at the flyer in Rens hand, his eyes grew wide "A Maid service?“

"I‘m sure that this is what humanity desperately needs in these times...“ Ren dead-panned.

"I‘ve only heard stories about these…“ Mishima sounded excited, before looking nervous and scared again "Do… do you think that we should… hire one?“

Ryuji grinned "Ooooh… Ya think?“. The blonde boy scanned the flyer before saying "It does say that they would cook and clean...“

Mishima studdered "I mean… we should make sure that they are treated well by their bosses and so on… right, Joker?“

Ren raised an eyebrow "Just admit that you want to see one...“

"N-… No!“ Mishimas head turned bright-red "I…. I mean...“

Ryuji clapped Ren on the shoulder "Come on, man! This is probably the chance of a lifetime!“ he grinned "So whaddaya say?” he jabbed him in the ribs “Huh? Huh?“

"There‘s this abandoned farmhouse a little further down the road. I could set up a meeting there!“ Mishima said.

"That totally doesn‘t sound like a place where some crazy serial killer would lurk...“ Ren retorted before sighing "Fine, I‘ll come, but only to prevent you from doing something creepy.“

"Alright!“ Ryuji grinned. "Hermes, set up a meeting.“

"M-… Me?“ Mishima looked horrified all of a sudden

"Duh, who else?“ Ryuji replied.

"Um… I guess I could do it…“ Mishima squirmed.

"Then it‘s settled. Oh! And obviously no word to the girls, got it?“ Ryuji turned serious.

"That would be wise.“ Ren nodded. It definitely would make for an awkward situation if they knew. He didn‘t want any of the girls to think less of him, but somehow, the first person that he didn‘t want to know was Makoto. He had a feeling that Ryuji somewhat felt the same. "I wonder what a certain blonde would have to say about this...“ Ren teased.

Ryuji frowned “Aw shuddup, you’re acting like we’re a couple or something.”

Ren smirked “So we can tell her, then?”

Ryujis eyes grew wide "Dude, don‘t you dare...”

"Relax. I won‘t tell if you don‘t.“ Ren grinned, patting his best friend on the shoulder. Sometimes it was strange how oblivious the blonde boy seemed to his own feelings.

"Alright, so Operation Maidwatch is a go!“ Mishima anounced, excited again.

"You gave it a name?“ Ryuji asked, incredulous.

"A name that totally doesn‘t give away our plans….“ Ren added.

"I mean.. yeah! We‘re doing important work here. It only makes sense to give our operation a serious-sounding name.“ Mishima said.

"Hell yeah! I‘m even more pumped up now.“ Ryuji grinned. "Do you think that they will wear those… classic dresses?“

"That‘s what they advertise...“ Mishima answered before saying "I‘m.. I‘m gonna go back right now and set up a meeting! Don‘t make any plans!“. With those words, he was off into the direction he had come from.

"Who would have thought that the Mishima who stumbled in through our gate all these months ago, scared out of his mind of everything, would be the one to set up a meeting with a maid….“ Ren said as he and Ryuji were walking back towards LeBlanc2.

It was almost time for dinner when Mishima returned back home, an excited grin on his face. Ryuji, looking rather excited himself, intercepted him on the way to the kitchen. "So?“ the blonde boy asked, giddy with excitement.

"Tomorrow evening.“ Mishima said, suppressing an excited giggle.

"Hell yeah, Operation Maidwatch.“ Ryuji grinned.

They were about to walk towards the kitchen when Mishima turned around, straining his ears "Is someone out with the car?“ he asked, confused.

"No...“ Ryuji was alerted. He turned towards the kitchen and yelled "Guys! I think there‘s a car approaching.“. The reaction to his call was immediate, when both Ren and Makoto stormed out the kitchen, followed by Haru and Hifumi.

"Hifumi, you take the lookout. Back us up with the sniper if need be.“ Ren ordered. "Makoto, Haru, get your guns and come with me. The rest: stand down. Nobody opens that gate.“

Makotos heart was racing as she grabbed her revolver. Hearing a car approaching was never a good sign. She took a deep breath before she followed Ren outside. Beside her, Haru looked equally worried as she was clutching her grenade launcher.

As they stepped into the headlights of the approaching car, all three of them raised their weapons. Ren cast a look at the hole in the roof. It was almost dark, but he was still able to see Hifumi kneeling with the sniper rifle in hand, watching them through the scope. The car came to a halt in front of the gate. With the headlights blinding them, there was no way of seeing who was sitting behind the wheel. Harus whole body tensed up when the door on the passenger side opened.

Makoto was the first to lower her gun, a confused look on her face when she asked "Eiko?“.

"Did you miss me?“ the girl grinned before reaching into the car to grab a bag. As she walked closer to the gates, she gave a wave to the driver and the car slowly started to back up and make a turn before driving away again. "Are you gonna let me in or what?“ she asked.

Ren gave a hand-sign to the others and the gate started to open.

"Who drove you here?“ Makoto asked as the girl stepped inside.

"Geez, what‘s with the interrogation?“ Eiko raised an eyebrow.

Makoto let out an internal sigh. If it‘s one thing that Eiko had taught Makoto, it was that sometimes you needed to butter up people before starting to ask questions. "You‘re right. I‘m sorry. I‘m glad that you‘re back.“ Makoto said, putting on a light smile.

Eiko started walking towards the house "I‘m not staying for long. The guy who drove me here will pick me up again tomorrow with all my stuff.“

"You‘re moving out?“ Haru asked, surprised.

"It‘s not like I‘ve been living here a lot over the last weeks, so why have my stuff split up between two places?“ Eiko shrugged.

"I‘m sad to hear that.“ Ren quickly said when he noticed that Makoto was on the verge of saying something, that would most likely make the other girl angry again. "I hope you‘ll have dinner with us one last time?“ he asked as they entered the house.

"Yeah, sure. Smells good.“ Eiko shrugged.

After dinner, Eiko was the first to retreat upstairs to pack her things. As everyone split up to do their respective evening activities, Ann noticed Makoto standing in front of her door, looking conflicted whether to enter or not. When she noticed Ann coming upstairs, her eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed her wrist.

"I need you to come with me and ask Eiko about where she will live.“ Makoto muttered to her.

"What?“ Ann asked, confused.

"She only gets suspicious if I ask! I thought that maybe you could do some… girl-talk?“ Makoto said.

Ann let out a sigh "Fiiine… What do you want to know?“

"I wanna know who drove her here and where she‘s going to live and...“ Makoto started

"Okay, so the mom-questions.“ Ann nodded before looking at her "But you‘re coming with me and take notes of how to do it.“. Before Makoto could object, Ann dragged her into the room, loudly exclaiming "Hey girl! How‘s it going?“.

Makoto flinched at how over-the-top Anns acting was as the blonde girl dragged her into the room. When she was inside and there was no way for her to leave again, she walked over to her side of the bed and sat down, actively trying to not look "judgy“. Apparently she even managed to convey this attitude in the way she sat, which seemed very exaggerated to her.

Eiko was standing in front of their shared closet, taking out clothes and putting them into her bag. She looked suspicious when Makoto was entering at first, but Anns cheery voice drew her in. "Hey girl! Long time no see!“

Ann casually dropped onto Harus side of the bed, sitting cross-legged before asking "Sooo? Who drove you here?“ she asked before letting out a fake gasp "Don‘t tell me it was a guy!“

Eiko seemed to buy it "Maybe...“ she had a whimsical grin on her face.

"Whaaat?!“ Ann exclaimed "You have to tell me, like right now.“.

Makoto noticed that she honestly looked excited. Maybe the blonde girl didn‘t have to put on a complete act.

The girl on the other end of the room looked hesitant at first before bursting out "I met this super cute guy!“ A smile spread all over her face and her cheeks were red. "He‘s super sweet. He has an awesome place and he knows sooo many people. Like… everything I could imagine, he knows someone who sells it.“ she gushed before walking up to Ann, showing her a delicate golden bracelet. "Look what he got me.“

"Oh wow! And he even has a car?“ Ann asked, impressed. She could feel the questions boiling inside of Makoto already, but so far, she seemed to have her inner interrogator under control.

"Uhuh!“ Eiko had a proud grin on her face. "Yesterday, he officially asked me to move in with him.“ she giggled "The place he lives in is really nice too. There‘s so many cool people living in this neighbourhood. Seriously, you have to come visit!“

Makoto bit her tongue, trying hard to imitate Anns way of talking "That sounds nice. Where does he live?“

She felt relieved when Eiko didn‘t hesitate to answer "Oh, there‘s this abandoned city about a days march away. They revived their nightlife-hotspot. It‘s so cool there! There‘s so many people and there‘s no fences and anything. It doesn‘t feel so depressing there. And there‘s so much going on at nights! Parties, music, dancing!“ she gushed. "I‘ve been staying at some kind of hotel until I met my Tsukasa. He was working at this bar/club-thing and he chatted me up as I passed by. He told me that I had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.“ Eiko swooned. "He calls me his princess. And I didn‘t even tell him my codename!“

"That‘s… so cute!“ Ann said with a smile, but even she didn‘t get Eikos desire to be called and treated like a princess.

Makoto, on the other hand, was on high-alert. A guy that she only knew for a few weeks and had met at a bar? That set of a lot of alarms in her head. But she needed to act careful. One wrong word and Eiko would be out of the door for good.

"He‘s so sweet and considerate.“ Eiko chewed her lip before blurting out "And he‘s so hot!“

Ann giggled "Sounds like a good catch.“

Eikos gaze wandered over to Makoto and a grin appeared on her face "Oh don‘t worry Makoto! He‘s a totally sweet guy and there‘s nothing wrong with him.“

Makoto looked shocked "I.. I didn‘t even say anything...“

"But I know that you‘re thinking it.“ Eiko replied, but she didn‘t sound mad or annoyed. "Maybe you‘ll just have to meet him and get to know him!“

"Maybe you‘re right.“ Makoto agreed without believing any of her words.

"Oh, I should introduce you tomorrow when he picks me up again!“ Eiko exclaimed while stuffing her last pair of pants into her travel bag.

When Ann and Makoto stepped out of the room, the blonde girl eyed Makoto "You don‘t trust this at all, do you?“

"Was I that obvious?“ Makoto sighed.

Ann put her hand on Makotos shoulder "You tried.“ she gave her a reassuring smile "But I think Eiko appreciated the effort. At least she wasn‘t mad, right?“

"I guess you‘re right… Why does everyone think that I‘m interrogating them?“ she complained.

Ann shrugged "Because you do. I know that you don‘t mean any harm, but still… that‘s just how it feels.“. She took a step back and said "I‘m gonna go to bed. Good night.“

Makoto sighed once more and looked down the hallway to spot Ren climbing the stairs.

"Did you grill her already?“ Ren quietly asked as they met in the landing.

"Has everyone here expected me to do this?“ Makoto winced.

"You do have a reputation...“ Ren grinned before turning serious again "So, what did you find out?“

"Eiko has a boyfriend who apparently has it all. They‘re moving in together.“ Makoto summarized. There really wasn‘t anything more to say. She assumed that Ren wasn‘t interested in Eikos gushing over his looks.

Before Ren could reply, the door of Makotos room opened and Eiko stuck her head out "Oh! Great timing you two! I just had a much better idea! Why don‘t we go on a double date instead? Tsukasa and me and you and Ren?“

Makotos cheeks turned a bright red before she stared at Ren, who reacted way more relaxed than her. Had Eiko just intentionally set her up on a date with him?

As Ren noticed how red Makotos face got, he couldn‘t hide a grin. Eiko sure knew how to throw her off guard. He realized that it probably needed to be him that gave the answer. "Sure, why not?“ he didn‘t fail to notice how the shock continued to spread in Makotos eyes.

Eikos eyes, on the other hand, were lighting up across the hallway "Awesome! What about tomorrow?“

"Um… I can‘t tomorrow… But what about the day after that?“ he answered, hoping that Makoto wouldn‘t push him on the details later.

"Sure! It‘s a double-date then!“ Eiko grinned before disappearing into their room again.

After the door closed, Ren looked at Makoto, who seemed to be frozen in place. It was almost amusing to see the normally so tough and headstrong Makoto so flustered and at a loss for words.

"Um...“ she stuttered. She had never felt so embarrassed and insecure before. Had Ren just agreed so they could investigate Eikos new boyfriend together, or would he actually consider going on a date with her? What was she supposed to reply to him now?

"I mean… if it‘s okay with you...“ Ren said, suddenly feeling unsure if her silence was out of shyness or out of reluctance to go on a date, even if it would have been just a pretence to go investigating.

"Of course!“ Makoto exclaimed nervously before admitting "It‘s just… I‘ve never been on a date before...“ she stammered.

Ren impishly scratched his head before replying "Me neither… So… Let‘s just wing it.“

Winging It was something that Makoto usually disapproved of but in this scenario, she felt like she didn‘t really have another option. She reluctantly nodded.

The next morning, Eiko got picked up by her boyfriend again. In the light of day, they also got a good glimpse of the car this time. It was an expensive-looking sportscar, polished to a spotless sheen. Since only Ren and Makoto were going to meet him the next day, Eiko said her farewells to the rest of the team before throwing her stuff into the car and getting in. She struck her hand out of the window to wave good-bye as the car sped down the street.

The day passed by and as the sun slowly started to set, Operation Maidwatch was about to begin. Almost everyone was sitting in the living room when Mishima, Ren and Ryuji got ready to leave.

"Where are you guys off to so late?“ Ann asked, sitting on the floor with Morgana, Yusuke and Haru playing cards.

"Um...“ Mishima studdered, desperately looking at Ren and Ryuji for backup.

"We‘re going on a run. Mishima said he wanted to join, so we‘re taking him with us.“ Ryuji said.

"Isn‘t it a little late to do that?“ Morgana asked, confused.

"Ryuji said that the evening was the best time for running, right?“ Ren said.

"Yeah! Totally!“ Ryuji exclaimed.

Makoto looked up from her book, her eyebrow raised in suspicion. For a moment, Ren feared that she would question if he really postponed their double-date because he had a running-appointment with Ryuji and Mishima. In the end, she seemed to decide against it when she simply said "Just… be careful.“. With that, her attention wandered back to the book in her hands.

"I can‘t believe we‘re really doing this! Man, a real Maid!“ Ryuji grinned as they followed Mishima to the meeting-place.

"Oh.. what should we ask her to do? I mean.. we‘ll be in an abandoned house and I doubt that she would be able to make us something to eat there… And I guess that also makes housekeeping useless...“ Mishima noticed.

"This plan sounds creepier and creepier, even to me...“ Ren said.

"Relax, we‘ll just think of something!“ Ryuji said, his arms crossed his behind his head.

Mishima apparently had spotted out the house before, for when they entered, he already knew the locations of the various gas and electric lanterns that needed to be ignited to iluminate the cozy living room.

"This is a really nice place.“ Ryuji admitted as he dropped down into one of the armchairs.

"Right? It seems like it was lived-in not so long ago.“ Mishima said as he placed the last lantern on the small table. There was a stressed and nervous look on Mishimas face. "But… are you sure this will be okay… I mean… are we even allowed to order something like this… We‘re just 18...“

Ryuji bristled "I don‘t remember seeing any rules on the flyer. Besides, who‘s going to check how old we are? All they have is our word. We‘ll just say we‘re 20 or something.“

"That‘s genius!“ Mishima exclaimed.

Ryuji furrowed his brow, confused whether he should feel happy about the compliment or point out that it wasn‘t that big of a deal.

Ren leaned against the wall beside the window, looking outside. He flinched when he heard a knock on the door.

"Is that her?“ Mishima sounded more scared than anything else.

"Who else? Last I heard, shadows don‘t knock!“ Ryuji hissed as he got up.

"This could also be a trick from a gang to rob single and desperate men.“ Ren brought up, causing Ryuji and Mishima to throw him a both angry and unsure look. "Just saying...“ he added, raising his hands in defense.

"You think they would do that?!“ Mishima nervously whispered, his face paler than usual.

"Master? Are you in there?“ a sweet-sounding female voice could be heard from outside the door.

Ryujis frown turned upside down again when he said "See? Everything‘s totally fine. Now go and let her in, Mishima.“

"Why.. Why me?“ Mishima studdered, looking incredibly sweaty.

Ren let out a loud sigh before calling out "The door is open!“

Ryujis eyes grew wide as he mustered the woman in the black dress and white apron from bottom to top. When his eyes reached her face, his expression changed into one of horror. "Ms. Kawakami?“ he dumbfoundedly exclaimed.

The maid pursed her lips "I don‘t know what you are talking about, master!“. A bright, faked smile appeared on her face when she said "I‘m Becky. It‘s nice to meet you masters. Meow.“

But Ryuji wasn‘t fooled this easily "No, you‘re Sadayo Kawakami.“. He ignored the confused looks from Ren and Mishima beside him.

The maid dropped her facade quickly when her face turned somewhat angry and desperate "Fine, you found me out, Sakamoto. Are you happy?“

Mishima gaped at Ryuji "You know each other?“

"Oh, I can‘t wait to hear that story...“ Ren said with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?“ Ryuji asked, still confused.

"I could ask you the same question. Don‘t you think you‘re a little too young to order such services?“ the maid formerly known as Becky answered.

"Didn‘t say anything about that on the flyers.“ Ren shrugged.

Kawakami looked pissed but obviously had nothing to reply but "I see you still haven‘t dyed your hair back to black.“

"Nope.“ Ryuji answered, indifferent.

"Can someone tell us how you two know each other?!“ Mishima burst out.

"She used to be our teacher back at the settlement.“ Ryuji explained.

"You‘re a teacher?“ Ren asked, curious.

"I was a teacher.“ Kawakami replied, annoyed.

"What happened?“ Ryuji asked, still freaked out.

"Quiet down! I just needed more money and so I ended up doing this. It‘s not like this is my dream job.“ Kawakami replied, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked at Ryuji "You‘re awfully far from home too.“

"Haven‘t ya heard? That place hasn‘t been my home in a long time.“ Ryuji spat.

"So the rumors about you betraying your settlement have been true.“ Kawakami said.

"Bullshit!“ Ryuji replied "I‘ve made mistakes with Kamoshida that cost the settlement and me, but the reason why I got exiled was because I spoke up when they lied to my face about my mothers death!“

Kawakami looked taken aback "I had no idea… I‘m very sorry Sakamoto.“

"So that‘s what they told everyone else then...“ the blonde boy grumbled.

"Then I guess that Takamaki leaving to be with Kamoshida was a lie too?“ Kawakami carefully asked.

"That‘s what they say?“ Ryuji was fuming "Of course she didn‘t go with that molesting asshole. Why would she?“

Kawakami shook her head "That was the talk of the streets.. Since you weren‘t in my class anymore, I had no way of knowing...“

Ryuji sighed "I don‘t blame ya… Guess I have built up this reputation beforehand, if everyone was so ready to believe it.“. He shook his head, as if to drive the thoughts away "But enough about me. What happened, that you took on… this?“ he asked while gesturing at her outfit.

Kawakami let out a tired sigh "It‘s a long story, I‘m going to spare you the details…“. She had switched to her true self instead of Becky and dropped down on the sofa beside her. "I‘m considered far too old for this job, and still I don‘t have an option… So I‘m actually really grateful that you requested me. Even if I would have imagined our reunion a little different..“

Ren and Ryuji looked at Mishima "Did you request her on purpose?“ Ren asked.

"W-..Well… That guy told me a few names and I.. I thought Becky sounded nice.“ Mishima studdered.

"What a coincidence...“ Ren muttered, perplexed. When he looked back at the maid on the sofa, she had already fallen asleep.

"This didn‘t turn out as planned...“ Mishima sighed.

"Cheer up, buddy. Ryuji got to reunite with his teacher though.“ Ren grinned.

"Hey, I would have preferred another outcome too!“ Ryuji hissed.

The guys continued to sit in awkward silence until Kawakami slowly opened her eyes again. "Oh… I must have fallen asleep...“ she got up, looking flustered "I‘m really sorry… I‘ll make this free of charge. Maybe the fact that I was requested alone will put my boss at ease.“ she said, flattening her dress.

Ren got up "Please, we insist. You did spend some time here after all.“ he handed her some money. "Even if it was just to catch up with a former student.“

Kawakami nodded in gratitude before she put on her shoes. "Take care.“ she said before leaving.

"Daamn this was awkward...“ Ryuji sighed after the door closed.

"I can imagine...“ Ren said "I wonder what Ann will say to this.“

Ryujis eyes went wide "Dude, we can‘t even tell her!“

"I mean.. this can barely be called a maids service, right?“ Mishima asked. "And I thought that we would get the real experience… I guess Operation Maidwatch was a failure.“

"Let‘s just go back… I‘m a little freaked out by seeing my childhood teacher dressed like a maid and calling me master...“ Ryuji sighed.

"Good idea. And while we‘re on our way, we can start thinking of something we can tell the others… Going on a two-and-a-half hour run seems a little unbelievable.“ Ren said.

"We‘ve been gone for more than 2 hours?!“ Ryuji exclaimed.

"Time flies when you‘re having fun, huh?“ Ren smirked.

There was a menacing aura emanating from the gate as it slowly swung open upon their approach. They could already feel the trouble brewing inside the house. Judging from the fast reaction, Ren guessed that there must have been someone sitting in the living room, receiving information of them approaching from upstairs.

"Everyone know their lines?“ Ryuji asked before gulping.

Mishima nodded and Ren carefully opened the door. A reaction didn‘t take long for the first who awaited them in the entrance was Ann, her hands on her hips, looking incredibly mad "Where the hell have you idiots been?“

"We were worried about you...“ Haru looked more sad than mad and that managed to hurt even more.

Ren tried to put on an innocent face before saying "We‘re sorry, we lost track of time and then we met some guy on the road and he challenged us to a knife-throwing competition and you know how it goes...“

"A knife-throwing competition in the dark?“ Makoto had taken her place beside Haru.

"Cause it needed to be a challenge, duh?“ Ryuji replied, sounding like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Relax, we‘re here now. I‘m going to bed. Night.“ and without leaving any room for replies, Ryuji walked up the stairs, leaving the other two behind with three confused and angry-looking girls.

"Um… me too!“ Mishima exclaimed, quickly scrambling upstairs behind him.

"Ugh, I‘m so over this...“ Ann sighed before turning around to walk back into the living room.

"I‘m glad that you‘re okay… But please consider our feelings next time...“ Haru said before following the blonde girl, leaving only Ren and Makoto behind.

"I didn‘t know that you were such an avid knife-thrower...“ Makoto said in that both sweet and acidy know-it-all voice.

"Can‘t I have some secrets?“ Ren asked with a smirk before saying "Besides, I think Jinbocho-Queen is starting to show again.“

Makoto looked surprised before saying "Fair enough. She threatens to come out whenever I sense someone blatantly lying to my face.“. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She wasn‘t mad, but she couldn‘t deny that she was curious to know what brought them to come up with such a ridiculous lie. It was a rare sight to see the normally so smug and poised Ren turning red and at a loss for words. “I will go to bed now. I wouldn’t want to have bags under my eyes for our date tomorrow.” she said with confidence and walked away without waiting for a response, partly because she wanted to hide her red face. She only brought up the guts to say it because she saw how flustered he was, but now she had gotten herself flustered too. Was this a date? Was this a reconnaissance mission? They hadn’t set the premise. But then… no matter what it was to them, it still needed to look like a date to Eiko, so she would need to act the part anyway. If she only knew how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're handling two side-stories at once in this chapter;) No way to introduce Kawakami without doing Operation Maidwatch, right? And of course I couldn't miss out on a double-date for Ren and Makoto;)
> 
> Let me know what you think:)


	15. Recon-Datenight

The next day passed by without any excitement, besides the excitement that both Ren and Makoto desperately tried to hide as the evening moved closer. There was an awkward silence, when they ran into each other in the hallway.

“Oh… Hello!” Makoto tried to put on a relaxed smile.

“Hello there.” Ren said, managing a little better with downplaying his excitement.

“So… um… when shall we get going? Eiko said that it wouldn’t be a long drive by car...” Makoto tried to switch the topic to something that she was comfortable with. Organization.

“Well, we should have a little bit of time left then to get ready for the mission.” Ren put on a charming grin before asking “Speaking of… What’s the dress-code for tonight?”

That caught Makoto by surprise “Oh… I.. hadn’t thought about that...”. She placed her index finger on her chin in thought before saying “I would say that we should keep it casual. It would be a little uncomfortable if we were to be overdressed...”

“Sounds good to me.” Ren said. After a moment of awkward silence, Ren made a quick bow before hurrying off to his room.

When Makoto turned around to go to her room, she noticed Futaba leaning in the doorframe of her and Anns room, looking at her with an amused grin on her face.

“How long have you been standing there?” Makoto sighed.

“Long enough to know that that was awkward.” the girl answered.

Makoto let out another sigh before she opened the door to her own room “I’m aware.”. Before she was able to close the door again, Futaba had already snuck past her and dropped down on her bed. As she looked around the room, she noticed the rest of the girls sitting there as well. With the way Ann and Haru looked at her, she started to suspect that they had been waiting for her. “What is going on here?” she asked, alarmed.

“We’re here to help you get ready for your date, of course!” Ann exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.

“It’s… not really a date though...” Makoto answered.

“Are you sure about that?” Futaba asked with a raised eyebrow before telling the others “I just caught them talking in the hallway… Super nervous, both of ‘em.”

Makoto turned around to look at Futaba “If you really were standing there and eavesdropping on the whole thing, you would have noticed that Ren called it a mission. Not a date.” she retorted.

“Maybe he just said it cause he’s nervous too?” Haru offered.

Makoto looked at the floor “I don’t know… Maybe it’s better that way. We need to be on high alert.”

Ann and Haru exchanged a look “Makoto, could it be that you actually wished for this to be a date?” Haru asked.

The second-in-command stared at the girl with horror “I don’t know… I just thought that… maybe it would be nice to make this experience….” she stammered before walking to her closet to look for the white blouse-dress that Ann had picked out for her on their shopping trip.

“You know… maybe it wouldn’t be that great a first date anyway...” Ann tried to cheer her up “Wouldn’t it be much nicer to spend time just the two of you, instead of spying on Eiko and her boyfriend?”

“Maybe...” Makoto admitted while she got changed behind a folding screen. “But… just for the sake of the mission… What are things that you normally do on a date?” she asked. When second after second passed in silence, she peeked out from behind the screen to find her friends struggling for answers. “You don’t have clue either?” she asked, a little panicked.

Futaba was the first to speak up “How should I know? I only left the house with Ren or Sojiro before you guys came around!”

Haru carefully said “I… don’t think that my father arranging a business-dinner with a potential husband for me can be considered a date...”

When Makotos pleading look hit Ann, she raised her hands in defence “I wouldn’t know either!”. Ryuji and her spotting out Madarames gallery came to mind, but they hadn’t really tried to make it look like a date back then. It just happened to be what everyone automatically assumed. What had happened in the gallery upstairs also didn’t seem like a useful tip for Makoto. “Didn’t Eiko say that you were already like a married couple? Maybe you should just channel that!”

“You should just be yourself. You and Ren work great together, there’s no need to put on a show.” Haru smiled.

“Except for when it comes to anything concerning Eiko that you disapprove of. Then you should lie, lie, lie!” Futaba called out.

“Futaba!” Makoto scolded.

“What? It’s true!” Futaba exclaimed.

“She has a point...” Haru admitted “Eiko can be rather stubborn...”

“What’s your plan anyway? Even if you don’t like her boyfriend, it’s not like you would be able to convince her to dump him...” Ann wondered.

“I know...” Makoto admitted as she stepped out from behind the screen, dressed in the black capri pants and the white dress “But she’s still a member of our group and I want to make sure that she won’t get into trouble, even if she decides to go her own way now.”

“You really are the mom of our group.” Ann smiled.

“You look great, Mako-chan!” Haru smiled.

On the other end of the hallway, Ren was standing in front of his own closet, pondering on what to wear, when the door opened and Ryuji walked in.

“Getting ready for your daaaate with Makoooto?” he teased as he sat down on the floor, his back resting against the bed-frame of Rens bed.

“How old are you?” Ren smirked.

“I’m just happy for you! I mean… it was a long time coming.” Ryuji shrugged “Besides, it’s not like dating is a normal thing in our life. It’s kinda exciting.”

Ren looked over his shoulder to look at his best friend “I’m so happy to provide you entertainment...”. He pulled out a white shirt, a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. “Because I have no clue what to do.”

“What about the whole “Be yourself” bullshit? Isn’t that supposed to work?” Ryuji asked.

“Can’t really be someone else than me, can I?” Ren replied. “I don’t even know if she thinks it’s a date.”

“Yeah, cause you keep calling it a mission!” Ryuji groaned.

Ren sighed “I know. But whenever we talked about it as a date, she looked so nervous and uncomfortable...”

“Man… girls are complicated…” Ryuji sighed “Complaining when people think you’re on a date with them when you’re not, and still holding your hand later...”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Did I miss something?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.” Ryuji waved aside.

“If you say so… Seems like you also have no idea what I’m getting myself into.” Ren said.

“I guess the only person who would know about stuff like this would be Boss, but do you really wanna ask him?”

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t think there’s enough time for a lecture by Sojiro… You have no idea how long that man can talk about fruit in curry so I don’t want to imagine how a talk about dating would go...” Ren answered.

“Guess you’ll have to wing it then.” Ryuji grinned “You can always talk about the weather. The ladies love that.” he couldn’t contain a laugh.

Ren shook his head with a grin “So you do have dating-experience.”

“But hey, no guarantees! I’ll give you another tip for free: Don’t burp in her face. Apparently they don’t dig that.” Ryuji grinned.

“Who would have guessed.” Ren replied, unable to hide his grin “I’ve seen you do that to Ann though...”

“That’s how I know.”

“I feel like I could learn a lot from you, but I’m afraid we’re out of time.” Ren laughed when he turned around, clothes in hand “Now scram, I have to get changed.”

Ryuji gave him a clap on the shoulder before leaving the room. Ren couldn’t help but chuckle while getting dressed.

Getting out of the house together was terribly uncomfortable. Not because of the date itself, but for all the eyes that were on them while doing so. It was almost a relief when they left LeBlanc2 and rolled down the driveway. Ren was concentrated on the map that Eiko had drawn them, but he couldn’t help but throw an occasional look at Makoto. She looked stunning. A slightly tense silence filled the car and Ren decided to break the ice. “Looks like we’re somewhat matching today.”. Immediately after saying it, he knew that it was stupid. At this point, he could also talk about the weather.

Makoto was surprised when he spoke up. She looked at him, dressed in a black t-shirt under a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “I guess we are. Isn’t that something that couples do sometimes?” she asked.

“Huh, seems like we’re already doing a lot of things unconsciously.. Maybe we shouldn’t get too much into our heads.” Ren smiled.

“Maybe you’re right.” Makoto smiled, concentrating on the road ahead. She remembered Harus words from earlier.

“So, what are we looking for when we meet him?” Ren switched the topic.

“I just want to get to know him a little… Maybe he really is a nice guy.” Makoto pointed out.

“I wouldn’t think that Eiko is one to fall for nice guys, but let’s just hope you’re right.” Ren answered.

An hour later, Makoto and Ren rolled up to the remains of what must have been a city. While by now all bigger cities were abandoned since food supplies had run low and all surviving people needed to move out to the country side to grow food again, it was a surprising sight to see a city partly illuminated by bright lights. An even bigger surprise was that there seemed to be no outside barriers or fences that would shield them from potential Shadow-attacks. They saw a parking area lined with shiny sports-cars.

“Did we just timetravel?” Ren asked.

“It does feel like it.” Makoto agreed as she pulled over into an empty spot.

As they walked up to the livelier looking part of the city, they were greeted by armed guards, wearing track-suits, parading the streets. The wide street was crowded with people. There were various establishments on either side, loud music blaring from most of them. Ren didn’t fail to notice several maid-cafés among the various night-clubs.

Eiko was waiting for them in front of a sleazy looking bar, furiously waving to gain their attention. Beside her stood a slick young man, with slick hair full of gel, a fancy-looking suit and a smug look on his face. His hand was placed on Eikos waist. The dark-haired girl wore a short-skirt and a fitted t-shirt combined with knee-high stockings. “You really came!” the girl exclaimed when she approached Makoto to give her a hug. She beamed as she looked up to her boyfriend “Guys, this is Tsukasa!”

“My princess has told me a lot about you guys. Good to meet you, welcome to the neighbourhood.” the guy named Tsukasa said, holding out his hand to Ren before giving Makoto an awkward look-down. “Why don’t we go inside. I’ll treat ya.” he said with a confident grin.

Eiko giggled “Tsukasa runs this place.” she said with pride as she clung to his arm.

Inside, smooth jazz was playing from the speakers. The light was dimmed and the dark wooden furniture gave the whole establishment a far too elegant look for the people that apparently ran the place. There was a long bar, lined with customers sipping on their drinks in silence. A few tables were taken by other patrons. The amount of suits worn in one room was baffling to both Ren and Makoto. The over-all amount of hair-gel that must have been used for all the mens hairstyles must have been massive. Ren started to wonder if someone in the neighborhood ran a business by producing hair-gel.

Tsukasa lead the group to a booth with soft benches before waving over a waitress and ordering a bottle of something fancy and expensive. “There’s nothing too expensive for my princess and her guests.” he said before putting his arm around Eikos shoulders, who just giggled.

“Isn’t he the best?” she gushed.

Makoto put on an embarrassed smile. What was one supposed to answer to this? “So… Tsukasa… I heard you met Eiko in this very place?”

Tsukasa leaned back in his seat with a smug face “I was standing out on the street, promoting the nights program when she passed by. With those legs, I just had to talk her up.”

Eiko giggled “He told me that I had the most beautiful eyes.”

“What a sweet story.” Ren lied. There was something about Tsukasa that he didn’t like. Probably his attitude. And his hairstyle.

“And this bar belongs to you?” Makoto asked, faking impression.

“Not entirely, but I sort of run the place most nights.” Tsukasa answered.

“Isn’t that so cool? Sometimes I help out, when my Tsukasa is mega busy. There are so many older dudes here, who are like super nice to me. They even give me presents when I sit down with them for a bit.” Eiko said.

“Oh! How nice of you to help out.” Makoto said, remembering Eiko complaining over having to help them out on occasions back at LeBlanc2.

“My princess is somewhat like a celebrity around here.” Tsukasa grinned before looking around the room “I’m gonna look for our drinks.” he said as he got up.

“Isn’t he the nicest?” Eiko smiled.

“Very.” Makoto agreed with a forced smile “And you’re living with him now?”

“Almost. After seeing how much stuff I own, Tsukasa said that there’s not enough room at his place at the moment. But he organized another place for me to stay and it’s even close to his home, so we’re almost living together anyway! The rent is really cheap too, and since I’m already almost working at this place, I’m doing just fine.”

“So you’re not just helping out, but really working here.” Makoto said.

“Nooo, it’s not like that. I want to help him! The owner of this place can be such a jerk. Whenever something goes missing around here, he instantly goes to Tsukasa and tells him that he needs to replace it.” Eiko explained.

“How rude.” Ren uttered. Makoto knew that it was sarcasm, but Eiko didn’t. “I’ll be right back.” he said as he got up. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do, but he felt like a third wheel listening to Makoto and Eikos conversation. As he wandered towards the exit to get some air and look around the streets some more, he noticed a hand shooting towards him in the corner of his vision. When he turned to look at the owner of the hand, he was surprised to see a woman with bangs and black hair that reached her chin. Ren guessed that she was about 30. A pair of round sunglasses was placed in her hair and her eyes were glassy. She seemed to have had one drink too many.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” her voice slurred.

Ren raised an eyebrow “How’d you know?”

“I haven’t seen you before, and I have a veeeery good memory.” The woman grinned before furrowing her brow, looking as if she was trying to sort the next words in her head. “So, mysterious man from the outside. Do you have any interesting news for me?”

“Not really...” Ren answered, confused.

“Ugh, how am I supposed to write anything interesting, if I can’t get any good information?” she complained.

“What are you writing?” Ren asked.

“I’m a journalist! I should write about the things that happen outside, but noone gives me any good bits.”

“Why not focus on what’s happening around here then? This place looks like it has a lot going on...” Ren proposed.

“I can’t… One wrong word and-” the woman drew a line across her neck with her finger. “But honestly, there must be so many things going on out there, that I’m unaware of!” she gazed into the distance for a moment before snapping her head back to him “Word is, that there was an art-gallery, but it had to shut down thanks to a group of teenagers?” she stared at him with a confused look “You’re young... Would you happen to know anything about that?”

Ren had to admit that he was surprised to hear that even in a place as far away as this, someone had heard about their deeds at Madarames gallery. “I wouldn’t. And what’s my age got to do with that?” he answered. Even though they had a name now, Ren wasn’t going to set a drunk journalist on their lead.

“I don’t know… Maybe it was one of your friends or whatever...” the journalist sighed, but she seemed to be confused by her own words. “I can’t believe that I was removed from field research… How am I supposed to bring up anything from here?”

Ren shrugged “I don’t know… maybe sober up first?”

The woman shot him an annoyed look “Aren’t you the sharp one? You don’t know this place like I do.” she looked around the room nervously before whispering “That guy you’re here with, for example. I’d be careful around him…”. Without waiting for a response, she slid off the barchair and gave him two uncouth pats on the shoulder before staggering towards the exit.

Back at the table, Eiko and Makoto used the chance to catch up “I can’t believe how well you’re taking all of this.” Eiko said with a grin. “I really thought that you only came to judge me or tell me to come back.”. She leaned over the table and said “Also, you and Ren look totally cute together. I’m soo proud of setting you two up.”

Makoto blushed “You did put us quite on the spot there...”

“Yeah, but it obviously had to be done, or you would have never done anything.” Eiko replied. She smiled when Tsukasa approached their table again, carrying a tablet with glasses and a fancy-looking bottle. “Oooh, Sake!” Eiko giggled.

“Cause I know how much my princess loves it.” Tsukasa said as he put it down.

“You’re the best. I’ll go and powder my nose. Be back in a sec.” the girl said and got up.

Tsukasa sat down oposite of Makoto and gave her another awkward look-down “So…” he started with that smug grin of his “You like what you see?”

“I’m not sure I follow… Concerning what?” Makoto replied.

“This place… Me...”. When Makoto was too baffled to speak, Tsukasa continued “Seems like your boyfriend ditched you...”

“He didn’t… I think he just went to get some fresh air.” Makoto replied.

“Fine by me.. His fault for leaving something so pretty behind all alone.”

Makoto had no doubt that he was flirting with her now “Uhh...” she stammered.

Tsukasa leaned forward and looked her straight in the eyes “You know, all those privileges here… You could have them too.”

"What about Eiko?" Makoto stammered, confused.

Tsukasa shrugged "What about her? There's enough of me for both of you.". He reached across the table in an attempt to touch her hand, but Makoto was faster and pulled her hand away.

“No thanks.” she answered.

“That’s too bad. But if you should ever get bored with beanstalk over there, you can always come here.” he grinned.

Makoto blushed when the thought crossed her mind, that she would never ever get bored with Ren. Beanstalk was also a very unfitting nickname to call him. Hidden under those loose shirts were muscles. Well-defined muscles. But it would have been strange to call that out. She tried to ignore her burning cheeks.

Tsukasa wasn't ready to give up yet “You know… You know my name but I don’t know yours. Why don’t we change that?” he smirked.

Makoto drew back in her seat. What was she supposed to say now? She didn’t want that guy to know her real name though…

“You can call her Queen.” Ren said as he walked up to their table. He had only heard his last question, but judging from Makotos face, Tsukasa had made her uncomfortable. “Everything okay here?” he directed at Makoto.

Makoto felt relieved when she heard Rens voice beside her again. She looked up to him and nodded.

“Queen? Is that your nickname for her?” Tsukasa looked amused.

Ren slid onto the bench beside Makoto, staring straight into Tsukasas eyes “No. It’s her code-name. You don’t need to know more.”. There was hint of warning in his tone. Tsukasa raised his hands in defense before switching back to his smug smile when he noticed Eiko returning to the table.

Makoto blushed. It wasn’t like her to wait for someone else to safe her, but in this particular situation, she felt utterly clueless about how to handle it appropriately.

“I hope you didn’t have too much fun without me!” Eiko giggled as she sat down again “But now let’s get this party started! I need some sake!”

What Eiko had called a party was nothing more than sitting at a table together, watching Eiko and Tsukasa downing almost the entire bottle of Sake and listening to Tsukasa brag about something while Eiko hung at his lips, occasionally pointing out how great a man he was. Makoto tried to blame it on the alcohol, but she noticed how Tsukasas eyes lingered on her for far too long to still be considered appropriate. A few times, his foot had tried to touch hers under the table, until eventually Ren caught wind of it and stretched his leg out in front of hers to block her off. It came as a relief when they finally said good-bye in front of the bar, Eiko giving Makoto a tight hug while slurring something into her ear about how happy she was and how much she loved all of them. 

“So, what’s the conclusion of tonight?” Ren asked as they finally sat in the car on their way back home.

“That he’s a douche, but I’m afraid that that’s just the kind of person that Eiko likes...” Makoto sighed.

“I mean… even our group at home wouldn’t be able to call her Princess that many times...” Ren remarked. “And what’s the deal with her not living at his place? Eiko doesn’t have that much stuff, does she? It can’t be more than Ann.. or Haru… or Futaba with all her tech-stuff.”

Makoto sighed “All of this is rather confusing… But I suppose it’s none of our business anymore. Eiko seems to be happy and Tsukasa might not be the best character, but I wanted to make sure that she wasn’t getting into anything dangerous and so far… I can’t spot anything life-threatening.”. Makoto smiled, focused on the street ahead, when she said “Besides… a certain someone taught me that sometimes you need to let your friends gather their own experiences.”

Ren tilted his head to give her an impressed nod “Oh really?” he grinned.

Makoto nodded “I think that she was surprised that I didn’t “interrogate” her today. So… all I can do is hope that she will contact us, when she needs our help.”

“I gotta say, I’m impressed.” Ren admitted.

“Still… I can’t believe I let those stupid remarks from Tsukasa get to me… I was unable to say anything!” Makoto said, sounding defeated “If you hadn’t come around… I might have even ended up telling him my real name. It seems that I’m still the pushover from Jinbocho...”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ren tried to reassure her. “Something tells me that girls have a harder time arguing with him than guys...”

“All I could think of was, that I didn’t want to make a scene and make Eiko mad. But Tsukasa… he wouldn’t stop hitting on me…” Makoto was still confused about the sudden change of the guys interest. “What kind of person goes on a double date to then flirt with the other girl? He was fully aware that I was there with you too, but it seemed like he just couldn’t wait to catch me alone...”. Makoto would have liked to add that she was obviously interested in Ren too, but that would have only led to more embarrassment.

“I’m sorry I ran off. I thought you had a talk with Eiko and I didn’t want to look like I was just sitting there, watching over you...” Ren apologized, suddenly feeling bad about walking off on their supposed date.

“I think none of us could have predicted… this. I’m just glad you came back at the right moment.” Makoto said with a faint smile.

Ren smiled back at her “So.. what’s the resumee for your first date?”

Makoto blushed while her hands on the steering wheel turned a little sweaty “Well… I don’t know if I really want to call this a date. Over all… I would like to think that normally there’s a little more… romance involved.”

“I agree. I think that it would be more enjoyable to stick to the classic date for two. So… let’s just call todays adventure a mission and maybe… try out a real date some other time.” Ren tried to sound casual and relaxed, but his heart was beating much faster than what would have been normal for a car-ride. “I mean… If you would be interested, of course...”

Makoto had a hard time concentrating on the road when she answered “I would like that.”. She couldn’t hide a smile. They continued their ride home in comfortable silence, both of them with flushed cheeks. 

"When we get back, they're gonna be waiting for us." Ren said as they rounded the last turn.

"Who would have thought that something as trivial as a double-date gets everyone so excited." Makoto sighed.

Ren smirked "So you've been grilled in advance too, huh?"

Makoto remembered Ann and Harus excited smiles and simply nodded.

"Well... let's just tell them what it was." he shrugged.

"A- And what would that be?" Makoto asked, confused.

"A mission." he stated. "We can tell them all about Eikos creepy boyfriend and they'll be satisfied." he sheepishly scratched his head "And.. you know... when we go on that real date... they don't have to know."

Makoto smiled. She couldn't imagine how especially Ann and Haru would freak out if she told them that Ren had asked her out on a real date. The thought of her not being interrogated as soon as she returned, sounded tempting. She nodded "That sounds good.". She was still busy smiling to herself when they reached the gates. As they slowly drove in, the first team-members already awaited them on the porch, expectant smiles on a few faces.

Ren smiled and rolled his eyes before he looked at Makoto "Ready?" he asked.

Makoto smiled back at him "Ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, some ShuMako-content! Oh, and also Ohya.


	16. Salty Fortune

“Ooooh! Looking cool Joker!” Morgana cheered when Ren launched himself onto the nearest shadow, thrusting his knife into the creatures neck.

“Let’s tear ‘em apart!” Ruyji called out as he charged into another one, knocking it off balance before delivering a blow with his bat straight to its face.

Morgana used his slingshot do down a shadow that looked like a fairy “You’re up, Fox!”

“On it!” Yusuke called out as he ran up to the collapsed shadow, slashing it in two with his katana.

“Be careful! Here it comes!” Morgana exclaimed as he pointed to the dark part of the cellar.

Ren jumped back to be closer to the others. In front of them, a shadow with an almost human body, 2 sets of arms and an enormous head that showed many different faces, slowly walked towards them. Ren smirked at Yusuke and Ryuji “Skull, Fox, why don’t you show us your moves?”

Ryuji grinned “Hell yeah! You might wanna take a step back though!”

Yusuke sheathed his katana and pulled up his rifle “Ready when you are, Skull.” he nodded.

“Hey asshole!” Ryuji called out, loosening the grenade that he was carrying on his belt “This one’s on us!” he yelled as he hurled the grenade towards the shadow. Before it could hit, Yusuke took aim and with two precise shots, set it off. When the smoke cleared, the shadow was gone. Ryuji and Yusuke nodded at each other before fistbumping.

“That was some teamwork!” Morgana sounded pleased.

“Good show.” Ren agreed, shaking dust out of his hair “Let’s get out of here before people start to panic because of the explosion...”

When they stepped out of the abandoned house, they had to shield their eyes from the bright daylight. A small group of people was gathered in front of the house, looking shocked, most likely due to the explosion they just heard. “All of the shadows should be gone now.” Ren reported.

A relieved murmur went through the small group “Thank you so much! We were so scared that these things would come to our houses too!” a woman exclaimed.

“No problem. Hermes will check up on you next week. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask him.” Ren said.

“Thank you, Phantom Thieves!” someone in the crowd called out. “You’re the best!” another voice added.

Ryuji grinned and elbowed Yusuke “Can you believe it? They’re totally freaking out about us! Do you think there’s some cute girls around here too?”

Yusuke placed his hand on his chin in thought “It would be rather uncommon, if there weren’t any females our age around...”

“Is that all you can think about? Hitting on girls?” Morgana asked, annoyed.

“You wouldn’t get it...” Ryuji answered.

“I would!” Morgana replied “I just don’t leer after every girl when I know that the most beautiful of them all is living under the same roof as us!” the boy raved with a dreamy smile on his face.

“What are you even talking about?” Ryuji asked.

“It’s quite obvious that he’s talking about Panther.” Yusuke explained.

“You’re still not over that?” Ryujis eyes went wide. “I mean yeah, Anns good-looking and all but she’s super annoying...”

“I shall make sure to tell her how you feel.” Yusuke said.

Ryuji sighed “Dude, don’t.”

“I will never be over her! And one day, she will love me back!” Morgana pouted.

“It really would make sense to call her cougar then...” Ren added while the group of spectators disbanded. Ryuji chuckled while the pun was lost on both Morgana and Yusuke. “I think we did our good deed of the day. Let’s get going.”

As they turned their backs on the cluster of houses, a voice called out to them “Please wait!”

Ren turned around to look at a young woman with long, light-brown hair and a wide, black head-band on her head. Her eyes were a light brown and she wore a loose light-purple dress over a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of leggings. Around her neck dangled a crystal.

“I… I couldn’t help but notice! I can sense a very strange energy emanating from you! Please, let me verify my suspicion and let me read your fortune!” the woman explained.

Ren exchanged a confused look with the others.

“So you sense that there’s something wrong with us?” Yusuke asked.

The woman shook her head “Not all of you...”. She pointed at Ryuji “I’m sensing impending woman troubles for you… Fire with eyes blue as ice...”

Beside Ryuji, Morgana cackled “Sounds like you won’t be scoring anytime soon!”

The woman continued by pointing at Morgana “For you, I see unrequited love.”

“What?!”Morgana screeched.

“Damn… I’d make fun of you if that wasn’t so sad...” Ryuji sighed.

“Please, do me next.” Yusuke said.

The fortune teller looked at Yusuke and squinted her eyes “I… I see… that you are on the verge of making something great. Could it be… a painting?”

Yusuke was so surprised that he took a step back “How could you possibly know that I am a painter?”

“I have seen it in the tarot.”

Ren shook his head “Or you just spotted the paint-stained sleeves just now when you squinted your eyes and pretended to receive some message from the universe...”

The fortune teller shook her head “That’s not true.” her face turned serious all of a sudden when she focused on Ren “The reason why I wanted to talk to you was because of what the universe tells me about you! A trickster, set out to help others in need. But you are steering towards your own demise. Your death is near!”

Ryuji gaped at her “Wait, WHAT?”

Ren looked at her with indifference “Yeah, yeah… what else?”

The fortune teller looked surprised “I’m… I’m not joking, you know? Fate is absolute! It can’t be changed! You’re going to die soon.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Lady, do you have any idea how many death-threats I received over the last years?”

“This isn’t a mere death-threat, it was a glimpse into your future!” the fortune teller said.

“Joker, this sounds really bad...” Morgana looked conflicted.

“So you say that there’s no way to escape his fate?” Yusuke asked the fortune teller.

She seemed to think about something before eventually saying “I might provide you with support, that might delay it. I could give you one of my special holy stones. They have already helped a lot of my other clients.”

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “But let me guess, it’ll cost me.”

“Well, I couldn’t just give you something this powerful without asking for something in return...” the fortune teller said “But I can cut you a deal. Given your dire situation, I can offer you one of my holy stones for 100.000 Yen.”

“100.000?!”Ryuji exclaimed.

Ren furrowed his brow “Yeah… that’s a hard No.”

“But… your fate...” the fortune teller stammered in a worried tone.

“You said that my fate was going to kill me anyway. I’d rather die without being scammed beforehand….” Ren shrugged.

“Please… I urge you to reconsider! If you change your mind, you can find me here.” the woman said.

Ren sighed and nodded before turning around.

They were on their way back home when Morgana uttered, looking worried “But… what if she was right? It’s not like we couldn’t get the money… What if… there’s actually some truth to her words?”

“All she did was making vague guesses. We have no reason to believe what she said.” Ren replied.

The house was quiet when they returned home. Futaba had managed to rebuild remote controls for the gate, so now it could be opened by whoever was outside too. They found the rest of the Phantom Thieves in the garden. Haru was sitting with the chicken she called MiLady on her arm. The animal seemed to be appeased with the spot, since it looked like it was asleep. Ann was laying in the grass, dressed in a sports bra and shorts, trying to get a tan. Makoto and Hifumi were both sitting in chairs, reading books, looking like a pair of long lost sisters trying hard to stay out of the sun to avoid sunburn on their pale skins. When Ryuji spotted Ann laying in the grass, a smirk appeared on his face as he slowly approached her with eyes big as saucers.

“Hmm...” Ann muttered confused when she didn’t feel the sun on her face anymore. She drouzily opened her eyes to see Ryuji, his face looming above hers, staring. She furrowed her brow and lifted the sunglasses “What?”

Ryuji grinned and it was all he needed to do for Ann to know that he had been gawking at her.

“Ugh.. you moron...” Ann rolled her eyes and got up.

“What? I was just-” Ryuji tried to defend himself as Ann was building herself up in front of him. Before he knew it, she whacked him over the back of the head. “Owww!” he exclaimed “What was that for?!”

“Do you really have to ask?” Ann replied before whacking him once more.

“Oooww! Why twice?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Because you me and Haru were on dish-duty this morning and you didn’t help, like at all!” Ann replied before flicking his forehead “So.. I’d say one for each plate sounds fair, right?”

“Hell no!” Ryuji replied, taking a step back in an attempt to evade her rage.

“You should be grateful. Haru actually suggested I take the whip.” Ann smiled sweetly and Ryuji cast a horrified stare at the girl who was so gently petting a chicken.

“I… I ain’t down for that...” he stammered.

“And we weren’t down for doing all the work for you!” Ann replied, closing the distance between them again to flick his forehead once more. Ryuji started to bolt, but Ann didn’t back down from running after him.

Morgana tugged at Rens arm “Could… could that be the impending woman trouble that the fortune teller was talking about?!” he sounded alarmed.

Ren made a dismissive motion with his hand “Ryuji getting slapped around the backyard by Ann seems pretty normal to me…”

Morganas eyes went wide when a realization hit him “She… she said something about fire.. with eyes blue as ice… doesn’t this fit Lady Ann?!”

Ren had to admit that Morgana had a point. But his pride forbid him to admit that to the kid.

It was two days later, when the group was outside, looking at the starry nightsky.

“It’s so pretty! I can’t remember when we last took the time to gaze at the stars like this...” Haru said as they were laying on the lawn.

“I don’t remember the sky being this exceptionally clear in a while...” Yusuke added.

“It’s so beautiful….” Ann whispered.

“But not as beautiful as you.” Futaba put on a deep voice. When Ann cast her a confused sideways-look, she shrugged “Isn’t that something people would say as a pickup-line?”

“Sounds lame...” Ryuji yawned.

“Honestly, with this view, it might actually work...” Ann said. Beside her, Morgana darted up.

“La-… Lady Ann! The nightsky is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you.” he stammered.

Ann turned around to look at the boy with a warm smile “Aww, thanks Morgana. You’re cute.”

“Cute?!” Morgana gasped.

“Yeah. You’re something like a cute little brother...” Ann continued and Morgana looked more and more devastated.

“RIP Morgana...” Futaba muttered to Ryuji.

“Hm… I wonder if this could be the rejection that the fortune teller saw in Morganas future...” Yusuke pondered “What do you think, Ren?” he asked as he turned his head to the leader.

“I’d rather not talk about it...” Ren grudgingly said. It was no secret that Ann wouldn’t fall for Morgana, but this obvious friendzoning came at a very interesting time. Ren forced himself to concentrate on the stars in the sky.

Another few days later, Yusuke was sitting on the sidewalk in their neighbouring village, sketching the place in his sketchbook. A part of their group had agreed to help out the villagers with some tasks for a day. Yusuke had finished early and put his free time to good use by practising still-lifes.

“Finally done… I can’t believe we had to carry this many bags of grain….” Ryuji sighed as he and Ren approached the painter, whose eyes were fixed on his sketchbook. “I wish we had some hot springs around or something….”

“That really would be nice…” Ren agreed, stretching his arms.

“I wonder what Mishima had to do… He seemed awfully busy when we last saw him.” the blonde boy said.

“I believe I heard someone talking about cleaning out an attic?” Yusuke said without looking up from his drawing.

“Huh, guess carrying around bags of grain wasn’t so bad after all...” Ryuji said.

“Oh, you’re still here!” a voice called out to them. “Thank you so much for helping out today. Please, take these with you.” the woman said as she handed them a basket full of bread and something sweet-looking. Ren was about to thank her when the womans attention landed on Yusukes drawing “Oh wow. How beautiful!” she exclaimed.

Yusuke looked at her in surprise “Thank you for your words of praise.” he said.

The loud exclaiming of the woman must have attracted the others attention too, for one after the other, more villagers rounded up around the lanky artist, admiring the sketching he had made of their village.

“Please! Let me buy this from you!” one woman almost screamed.

“Yes! This would fit perfectly into our main house!” a man agreed.

“Whoah… I have never seen people so freaked out about Yusukes drawings…” Ryuji remarked. A few moments passed until he said “Hey! Do you think that this was what-”

Ren raised his hand in an attempt to silence him “Please don’t say it...”

Pressured by Morgana, whose fear worsened when Ryuji told him the story about Yusukes drawing, Ren found himself walking back to the cluster of houses where the fortune teller was supposed to live. Morgana had a stack of rolled up Yen in his pocket.

“This is embarassing...” Ren grumbled. “I can’t believe you make me do this.”

“I had to, since you obviously didn’t care!” Morgana protested.

“Telling everyone that I’m on the verge of death was a little bit of an exaggeration though...” Ren replied.

“You weren’t listening to me, so I thought if the others pressured you too, you were more likely to give in!”

“Yusuke and Haru are lighting candles for me! Futaba sometimes sits in front of our room at night and whispers that everything will be okay! Ann treats me like I’m a dead man walking. This seems a little excessive, but also not, given the drama that you started over some stupid fortune teller.” Ren listed.

“Well...” Morgana stammered “I… might have gone a bit overboard.”

As they approached the lived-in part of the small suburb, they saw the fortune teller, a table set up in front of her, sitting on a folding chair. She was concentrating on the cards on the table. In front of her sat a middle aged man, nervously looking at the cards.

“Looks like she has another client at the moment...” Morgana said as they walked closer.

“I wonder if she predicts his death too..” Ren muttered “Let’s listen in.”

“What? Are you sure that we should dot that?” Morgana asked.

“Since when do you have a problem with a little eavesdropping?” Ren asked with a smirk. When Morgana had no response, he walked closer to the table.

“Please tell me, what shall I do?” the man almost pleaded.

The fortune teller looked at the cards in front of her before flipping one over. “Well… it seems that if you don’t take the offer, your life will be branded by misfortune.” the young woman said.

“So it’s true. I have to leave the love of my life and marry the merchants daughter.” the man sighed.

Morgana cast Ren a confused look “What?”

“Indeed...” Ren said before stepping up to the table “So you not only sell Holy Stones but also destroy relationships?”

“Hey, my readings are private!” the fortune teller exclaimed.

“You’re sitting on a street.” Ren dead-panned.

“Well..” she stammered “I’m only telling him what the tarot tells me. Or do you have the divine power in yourself as well?” she challenged.

“I don’t know about any divine powers, but I dare to say that I have something called common sense. So please, tell me what this is about, good sir.” Ren grinned, suddenly excited by the rivalry and the prospect of showing the errors to that phony fortune teller. And maybe showing Morgana too and saving 100.000 Yen that way.

The man looked confused before eventually starting “Well… I was about to get married to the love of my life. We grew up together and we love each other since we were teenagers… But then.. last week one of our traders approached me, offering his daughters hand. I would be set for life. Marrying into a merchants family is an offer noone should refuse...” he explained “So I came to Chihaya, to ask what I should do.”

“The cards say, that if he doesn’t take the merchants offer, his life will be haunted by misfortune.” the woman who apparently was named Chihaya, added.

“So that leads me to the conclusion, that I will have to call off the wedding and instead accept the merchants offer.” the man summarized.

Rens head hurt from all the bullshit. He massaged his forehead with two fingers.

“Is something the matter?” the man asked.

“I don’t even know where to begin...” Ren said, shaking his head.

“Please… tell me your thoughts too!” the man insisted.

“What? But.. I already told you what will happen!” Chihaya protested.

“I know, but maybe another opinion will help me too! I’m just so undecided… she’s the love of my life after all...”

Ren sighed “What are you? Stupid? If she’s the love of your life, then you should already have the answer.”

Chihaya and her client stared at him in surprise.

“I...” the man stammered “suppose you’re right?”

“Excuse me?!” Chihaya gasped.

“No.. you are right! I shouldn’t even think about stuff like this. I love her and the thought of leaving her would be horrible.”

“There you go.” Ren said.

“But what about your future?” the fortune teller urged.

“I don’t know.. But as long as I’m with her, I have a feeling that I will be fine.” the man smiled as he got up from the folding chair. “Thank you.” his gaze shifted between Ren and Chihaya “Both of you.”. With that, he hurried off.

The fortune teller looked grumpy “What were you thinking? You just sent him straight to his demise! I can’t believe he trusted you over me.”

“And I can’t believe that you are capable of telling people to leave their loved ones to avert “doom”.” Ren replied. “How are you even able to deduce all of this, based on some stupid cards?”

The fortune teller glared “I will show you! So, in his case, I shuffled the deck three times. Like this. Then I put up 9 cards, like this. And then, when I revealed them, it showed-” as she angrily flipped the cards, her expression changed. “What?” she flipped another one “But it can’t be...”. She looked up at Ren, more confused than anything else. “How is this possible?”

“What is it?” Morgana asked, looking at the cards.

“His… fate has completely changed...” she stammered “It should have told us the same, but… now it looks like he will be alright.”

Ren leaned back in the creaky folding chair with a smug grin “Huh.. maybe I changed his fate too.” he waved his hands “and all that without Holy Stones or cards.”

“About the Holy Stone though, we-Oww!” Morgana started but quickly shut up when Ren kicked him under the table.

“Did you trick me?” the fortune teller glared at Ren.

“How was I supposed to trick you? You were the one who shuffled the cards, remember?” Ren replied.

“You must have done something! Fate is absolute! It’s absolutely impossible for his fate to change so drastically too!” Chihaya actually sounded desperate.

“Maybe his fate changed because his attitude changed?” Ren said.

“That’s… that’s ridiculous… Fate is absolute.”

“You sound like a broken record.” Ren sighed as he got up “Maybe I should put up a table on the street too and offer some common sense to people. It seems like there’s actually a market for that.” he tipped an imaginable hat, basking in his own glory.

The fortune teller glared at him. He could feel her stares trying to stab his back as he walked away. He was about to turn a corner when Morgana caught up to him.

“You really called her out there. She looked shocked.” Morgana said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually believed that fate was absolute. But judging from how often she repeats that phrase, maybe she’s been brainwashed...” Ren said as they walked towards home.

They turned onto the big country road when a loud crack could be heard from behind them. When they turned around, the huge tree branch had already hit the street.

“We would have been dead if that hit us!” Morgana exclaimed, looking horrified. “What if this would have been your death-sentence?!”

“This debunks her even more. I didn’t die and I don’t have her stupid Holy Stone.” Ren shrugged before his face froze and he stared at the kid “I don’t have a Holy Stone. Right?” it sounded more like a warning.

The boy nervously looked anywhere but at Ren when he squirmed “I… just had to...”

“You bought the fucking stone behind my back?!” Ren growled. It was rare to hear him swear.

“But don’t you see? We could have died just now!! Maybe the stone really did protect us?” Morgana tried to defend himself.

“You just paid 100.000 Yen for a pebble.” Ren groaned.

Morgana pulled a small crystal out of his pocket and showed it to him “It’s not a pebble.”

Ren looked at it, unimpressed “So you paid 100.000 Yen for something a little prettier than a pebble.”

Morgana pouted “I’m not going to apologize for buying something that will safe your life.”

Ren rolled his eyes “This won’t safe me! We were just… lucky that that branch didn’t hit us. But if we keep standing around here, we might get hit by another one, which would still make me a little happy because that would mean that this stone really was a waste of money.”

The rest of their walk home was quiet. The sun was starting to set as they got back to LeBlanc2. Upon entering through the front door, the smell of dinner wafted towards them. When Ren entered the kitchen, the table was already set and Sojiro was standing by the pot.

“Well someone looks grumpy.” Sojiro greeted him. “Rough day outside?”

“More like annoying day...” Ren sighed as he placed the holy stone on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, I think Ryuji and Yusuke needed your help with something. Why don’t you go take care of it while I finish dinner?”

“Yeah sure.. I could go for something non-superstitious...” Ren muttered.

Ryujis and Yusukes request was quickly done and soon everyone was gathered for dinner. Yusuke and Makoto were clearing the dishes when Ann realized “Oh hey… didn’t you go out to buy that holy stone today?”

Ren sighed “Well, I actually felt like I had already given enough reasons to believe that she was a fraud, but it seems like Morgana still insisted on buying me this pretty peace of… stone.”. He got up and walked to the kitchen counter, only to find the stone gone. He looked into the round “Guys… have you seen a crystal-like thing laying on the counter?”

Sojiro looked confused “You mean the rock-salt?” he scratched his head “I ground it up and used it to season the stew.”

Ryujis eyes went wide “For real?! Did we just eat your holy rock?!”

Rens eyes wandered to Morgana again, who looked like he wanted to hide under the table “You paid 100.000 Yen for salt.” he growled.

The next morning, Ren and Morgana walked back to the fortune tellers table.

“And please don’t throw our money out the window this time.” Ren urged “It would still be of better use for us if we just burn it.”

“Yesterdays stew was exceptionally good though, don’t you think?” Morgana tried to joke. When he noticed Rens sullen face, he asked “Too early?”

“A little bit.” Ren answered.

The fortune teller named Chihaya was sitting at her table, like she had the day before. This time, there was no client around.

“Oh! Welcome back. Do you already feel the effect of the holy stone? Don’t forget to charge it in moonlight every three days though.” she smiled.

“The effect of your “holy stone” was a very short one, since our cook figured out it’s real purpose, which was seasoning food.” Ren replied.

“You sold me a block of salt!” Morgana accused.

The fortune teller jumped from her chair, pressing a finger to her lips to signal them to be quiet. She motioned for them to follow her. “Please, not so loud.” she sounded desperate. They stood behind one of the houses now.

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “Why? So others don’t get to know that you sham people?”

Chihaya didn’t glare. She almost looked scared now “You wouldn’t understand...”

“I already don’t understand...” Ren replied.

The fortune teller struggled for words “I… need the money… to pay my debts.”. When she noticed that Ren was still staring at her, waiting for an answer, she huffed “Fine… I had to take on a loan so I could get away from my previous settlement! But now… they continue to ask for more and more money, calling it interest...” she sighed “I know that my holy rocks aren’t helping. But I need the money.”

“So you admit that you’re whole act is a fake?” Morgana asked.

“The holy rocks are fake, but my tarot readings are not. I’ve had this gift before.” Chihaya emphasized.

Ren raised an eyebrow “You’re selling holy rocks for 100.000 Yen, I’m sure this one wasn’t the first one to fall for your trap… How much money can you owe?”

“I… I already paid back the whole sum… But they just won’t leave me alone. They always come back, demanding more!” the fortune teller explained.

Morgana cast Ren a worried look.

Ren sighed “Who do you owe the money?”

“It’s not really a single person, but something like an organisation...” the fortune teller answered “I’ve never met up with the same person to deliver the money either. They… always order me to some small forsaken village, where someone’s waiting in a car to take the money before driving off.

Ren was incredibly unenthusiastic when he said “So you’ve gotten yourself involved with the mafia...”

Chihaya looked alarmed “The mafia?! I… I heard about it… But do you really think that they could be…?”

“I guess it’s more what they do, that makes them what they are than the other way around...” Ren answered.

“Still, what you’re doing is wrong!” Morgana said.

Chihaya sighed “I know… But they won’t stop pressuring me…”

Morgana looked at Ren “Joker… what are we going to do?”

Ren raised an eyebrow at the kid “Seriously? You want us to go up against the mafia? Have you forgotten how two gigs ago I explained that we’re not mercenaries? This is the effing mafia. The reason why people are afraid of them, is because they shoot people.” Ren argued in front of the fortune teller, who looked especially scared about the shooting part.

Morgana turned to Chihaya “Could you tell us, where exactly you’re always meeting them?”. He skillfully evaded the punch that Ren was about to deliver to his arm to make him shut up.

After Chihaya told them the location, the two started their way back home.

“Look, I know that you’re really into this whole hero-fantasy, but even you have to see that we have nothing against a literal army.” Ren said.

Morgana sighed “I know...”

“And don’t think that I don’t know that you’re planning on ratting me out to the Fist of Justice when we get home.” Ren added.

The kid looked at him with wide eyes “I wasn’t! But don’t you think that she will want to know what happened today too? And why we didn’t get the 100.000 Yen back?” he asked before adding “Besides, I thought she hated that nickname!”

“She doesn’t have to know that I call her that behind her back.” Ren smirked

Along the way, they met Mishima, who looked troubled.

“Is something wrong, Hermes?” Morgana asked.

“Oh… yeah… I’ve just been thinking about the things that all these people told me today. It was almost scary.”

“Did something happen?” Ren asked.

“I’m not sure… But there were a lot of people who told me about how they get threatened.”

Both Morgana and Ren stared at him.

“Apparently there’s some shady people wandering around who threaten people.” Mishima started “Judging from the amount of people who told me almost identical stories… One could almost believe that there’s an organisation behind all of this.”

“So not only frauds are affected by this?” Ren asked.

“Frauds?” Mishima looked confused “No.. I’ve had contact with some of these people before. They seem honest.”

Morgana looked at Ren “See? We can’t let this slide! We have to find this organisation and destroy it!”

Ren looked conflicted “I never had a doubt that we would, but I can still utter my concerns about making an enemy out of the mafia.”

Mishima turned pale within milliseconds “The mafia?! Aren’t they from back in the old days?” he stammered.

“Seriously, why is everyone freaking out about giving it a name? It’s an organized crime ring. We can give it another name, if you’d like. Maybe yakuza?” Ren shrugged. It came to no surprise that Mishima didn’t enjoy hearing the name yakuza either.There were just too many stories that mentioned either one or the other and Ren had the nagging suspicion that they would soon entangle themselves in a mafia/yakuza-story of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but I'm kinda proud of this chapter. Maybe it's because I love snarky Ren;)
> 
> Anyway, things are starting to clear up and we're nearing the next big arc! Let me know what you thought of this a little bit more humorous chapter or just your thoughts in general, I'm always excited to read comments:)


	17. The Niijima-Thing

The decision had been a quick one. Makoto wouldn‘t have taken any other answer anyway. An evil organization that threatened innocent people, who already had to work hard to scrape by was something that she couldn’t ignore. Her father would have never ignored something like this either. He had tried and he had died upholding his morals and fighting for the safety of innocent people in a society where noone seemed to care about the once applying rules and laws. As his daughter, she felt obligated to do the same. As Sae Niijimas sister, she felt like she had to as well. At least she thought so. It had been a long time since she last heard from her sister. Not that Sae would know how to reach her, even if she wanted to. Makoto looked at herself in the mirror and adjusted the headband that kept her chin-long hair in place. She used her fingers to comb through her bangs before she zipped the black, fitted leather jacket closed. The holster holding her revolver was strapped to her thigh, a small pocket was attached to her belt, holding additional ammunition. She felt ready, although she couldn’t pinpoint for what.

As she walked downstairs, she saw the rest of the group waiting in the entrance, all of them armed and ready for action. They had decided that they wouldn’t go in guns blazing and without heavy artillery, but for safety measures, they had agreed on everyone having at least something with them for protection. Ren was leaning in the doorframe, toying with his knife. He was wearing a long black leather coat with black pants. She blushed when she noticed that they had managed to dress alike once again. Why did he have to have as many black clothes as her? When his eyes met hers, she thought that she saw a short flicker in his eyes, but she couldn’t tell what it was supposed to mean. The others had dressed in their preferred attires and equipment as well. Haru once again had to settle for an alternative weapon to her grenade launcher. The gun she was carrying was hidden underneath the loose sweat-jacket she was wearing, that almost looked like a dress on her, combined with leggings. Ann too had settled on fitted leggings, a tight top and a thigh-long trenchcoat, that concealed her weapon, that was strapped to her back. Her hair was in a tight ponytail. Yusuke had also decided to leave his rifle at home and was now carrying a gun at his hip, partly covered by an elegant looking coat. Ryuji wore his trademark cargo-pants and brightly-colored t-shirt under a bomber-jacket, his shotgun, like Ann, strapped to his back underneath.

“Is everyone ready?” Makoto asked. The others nodded.

“Here, take these. I modified them.. As long as you’re within range, you can communicate with each other.” Futaba stepped forward, holding out a small box with the tiny ear-pieces.

“Nice job, Oracle.” Ren smiled before taking one and placing it in his ear. He gave her two headpats.

“Just be careful out there, alright?” Sojiro said.

Ren nodded “We will.”

“We’ll just go and check out the place.” Ann assured him.

“If they only use this spot for debt-collection, maybe we won’t even meet anyone there...” Yusuke pointed out.

“We’ll be back in no time. Take care of the place for us.” Ryuji grinned.

“Why can’t I shake the feeling that you’re actually looking for trouble?” Sojiro asked.

Ryuji smirked “If we really take down a crime-ring, that’ll be a huge thing for us!”

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him “I think it’s a little early to think about that...”

“It’s good to be optimistic though.” Haru smiled. “We’re going to need it on the walk ahead of us.”

Haru wasn’t wrong, the walk there was a long one. It had been a good plan to leave early morning. As they reached the forsaken village, it was dead-silent. When they reached what they assumed must have been the main-street, they looked into destroyed shop-windows of tiny stores.

They decided to split into pairs to look around the entire village. Makoto and Ren decided to loot the stores on the main street while the others spread out to explore the streets around the city-center.

“It feels like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack, without knowing that we’re looking for a needle.” Ren said as he walked through an empty isle of what must have been a convenience store.

“If this really is just their pick-up spot, it would make sense that they don’t keep anything here. It’s very likely that their headquarter is somewhere completely different.” Makoto said.

Ren smirked at her “Someone knows her gang-stuff.”

“I guess some things my father taught me stuck.” Makoto said. It hadn’t been the most amusing dinner topic, but apparently, it was useful to know the internal organisation of a crime ring.

“You think your father would have been up in this case too?” Ren asked.

Makoto smiled “Investigating this is very Niijima, yes.”

“Huh, think we’ll run into your sister along the investigation?”

“I would be surprised if Sis was aware that something like this existed. I don’t think that she simply goes out and listens to random people talking about their worries.” Makoto answered. While her sister had a strong sense of justice, her method of approach had always been different.

“Do you miss her?” Ren asked.

Makoto was taken aback by his sudden question. She weighed her words before saying “I would like to know if she’s okay and how she’s doing. I keep telling myself, that she must be alive, even though there is no way of telling.”. It was ironic that her sister, who had told her, no, screamed at her, to accept the truth that their father was gone forever, had made the exact same move on her. Leaving her behind and guessing, if she was alive or not. “No matter how much I want to, it seems like I can’t forget one of the last things she said to me, before deciding to leave. _Right now, you’re useless to me_. I.. don’t know if it was the truth, but nonetheless, it was uncalled for. And I know, that she probably didn’t mean it like that, but still...”

“You can’t believe that your own sister said that to you.” Ren tried to complete her sentence.

“Something like that, yes.” Makoto answered. “I don’t even know what I would do, if we really were to run across her now… The life that I used to have with her and the one I have now are so completely different. I feel completely different to who I was back at Jinbocho too.”

Both of them flinched in unison when their ear-pieces crackled to life.

“Any of you find something good?” both of them heard Ryuji ask.

“I’m afraid not.” Haru answered.

“Yeah, nothing useful on our end either.” Ren answered across the room “What about you?”

“Nothing...” Ryuji sighed.

“We are close to some sort of café on the main-street now. Why don’t we all reconvene there?” Yusuke asked.

“Sounds good. See you there!” Ann replied.

Makoto and Ren exchanged a look before walking out onto the street. It didn’t take long for them to spot the mentioned café. As they walked towards their meeting point, Makoto noticed Ren looking at her.

“Even if we don’t find anything today, we’ll keep looking. Just keep in mind to not charge into any dangerous situations, okay?” Ren eventually said.

Makoto reluctantly nodded “I will try my best.”. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

They were the last to arrive at the café.

“Man, this place is dead...” Ryuji sighed, his legs dangling from the counter that he was sitting on.

“Maybe that’s what made it so attractive for our opponents...” Yusuke said.

“So none of us were able to find anything useful?” Ann asked.

“Neither something useful for us, nor something useful in terms of information.” Makoto said.

“I have a feeling that a lot of people have been here before us.” Haru said.

“It would have been scary good luck if we actually managed to find something on the first try...” Ren said “Come on, let’s go home. We’ll have Hermes listen to the people some more… Maybe there’s something else we can learn.”

The others reluctantly nodded before getting ready to leave. They had just walked outside when Makoto heard an engine roar. As she turned around, she saw a car speeding off into the other direction. She squinted her eyes as she looked after it. As her brain processed the picture, she started to feel that she was supposed to remember something. When it didn’t come to her mind, she sighed before giving up and following the others.

Their evening was quiet, as everyone was tired enough from their long day of walking. The thought of Makoto needing to remember something followed her the entire time, but she was so clueless what it could possibly be, that she couldn’t even talk to the others about it. After dinner, one after the other said their good-nights before retreating to bed.

As Makoto got ready for bed, there was this feeling in her stomach that she couldn’t name. Was it just the disappointment of todays investigation? They really were unable to come up with anything, but maybe Ren was right. It would have been too easy, if they figured everything out on the first day. It also would have meant that the organization that they were up against wasn’t that great to begin with, if they managed to be found out this easily. She put on a loose black long-sleeved shirt over her black and white Buchimaru pajama-pants. She had had those since forever. She knew that it was silly to be this attached to merchandise from a childhood-cartoon, but still, she felt like she slept so much better when she was wearing them. She climbed into bed and turned off the flashlight, which was their only source of light at night. Haru was still downstairs and Hifumi was on guard, so she had the room to herself for once.

As Makoto sunk into the mattress and let the day pass by in front of her inner eye, the image of the car reappeared. And suddenly she remembered. She darted out of her bed, grabbed the flashlight and hurried out her room. She knew it now. She was so wired up and excited, that she didn’t even knock but almost burst through the door of Rens room. Her flashlight found Ren, laying in his bed, looking at her drouzy and confused. “I figured it out!” Makoto excitedly said. Her brain was going at high-speed, but she forgot that Rens apparently wasn’t.

“You what?” Ren mumbled.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Makoto heard Shinya complain from somewhere in the dark part of the room.

“The car! It bothered me the whole time and I didn’t know why, but now I know!” Makoto explained, stepping up to his bed. Normally, she would have been embarrassed to stand in front of him in pajama-pants with cartoon pandas on them, but nothing mattered at the moment, but the fact that she remembered.

Since the flashlight was still pointed at Rens face, he shielded his eyes with one hand before reaching out to guide Makotos hand so the source of light pointed upwards. “Yeah, I still have no idea what you’re talking about.” he said.

“It was Tsukasas! The car we saw driving away today! It was Tsukasas!” Makoto said.

Ren blinked a few times while he seemed to process her information “Are you sure?”

“It was the same car that he dropped Eiko off with!” Makoto said.

“Yeah… but… couldn’t it be… two different cars?” Ren still looked dazed.

“No, it was his. It had a sticker on the back.” Makoto started pacing up and down the room. Her brain was going much too fast. A thousand theories flew around in her mind. “I knew that there was something wrong with him! My gut told me!” she said, a smile flickering across her face.

Ren seemed to have regained his composure when he sat up. His hair looked messy. “So you think that Tsukasa’s in the people-threatening business?” he scratched his head.

“It would be too much of a coincidence meeting him there if he wasn’t.” Makoto said, taking a step to the side when Shinya angrily trudged past her, his pillow and blanket tucked under his arm, muttering something about getting a room.

“I guess...” Ren agreed “So, what do you want to do?”

Makoto placed her finger on her chin in thought “Now that I think about it… There were a lot of armed people at that settlement. What if we have already been to their headquarters without noticing it?!”

Ren remembered the drunken journalist, who had told him that writing the wrong things could be dangerous “Seems worth a closer look. Especially since I assume that you want to go there anyway to tell Eiko?”

“She could be in serious trouble...” Makoto said.

Ren nodded before laying down again “Then we’ll go tomorrow.” he yawned.

Makoto was so lost in thought, that she didn’t notice that their conversation was over. She remembered the stories that her father used to tell her. About gangs that kidnapped girls to then sell them off for money. Had Eiko really fallen for someone like that? Had Tsukasa offered her to move in with him to lure her away? Eiko wasn’t even living with him now. Was that some grand scheme? How many girls had he tricked this way?

“Makoto?” Ren ripped her out of her thoughts.

“Yes?” Makoto asked.

“You should go to bed.”

Only then, Makoto realized that she had barged into Rens room without knocking or knowing what she was walking in on, discussing with him while he was sitting in his bed before spacing out and standing in his room as he was trying to go back to sleep again. Her face turned red “Oh! Right, please excuse me. Good night.” she quickly said before hurrying to the door.

“Good night.” Ren said “Nice pajama-pants, by the way.”

She didn’t need to see his face to know that he had put on that smug grin of his.

Driving up to the place that apparently had the name New Shinjuku based on a famous red-light district in Tokyo, had an entirely different feel once you looked at it as a mafia-den. Makoto didn't understand how she could have been so blind as to not find it strange that so many armed people in track-suits roamed the streets as if it was something normal.

As Ren and her walked down the street, they looked at the other establishments. A maid-café and other venues that offered the company of young and pretty girls. Makoto wondered if all of them were forced to be here. When they arrived at Tsukasas bar, they exchanged a look.

“Shall I come with you?” Ren asked.

“It’s alright. I’ll go in, look for Eiko and have a talk with her.” Makoto said.

“Okay. I’ve got something to look into. Meet you back here?” Ren said.

Makoto nodded before pushing the door open. Even under daylight, the bar was almost dark. When Makotos eyes adjusted, she scanned the room to find Eiko. It didn’t take long, when she recognized the girls exaggerated giggles somewhere across the room. As Makoto walked closer, she saw Eiko sitting in some old mans lap, dressed in a short dress and giggling. “Eiko?!” Makoto asked, disbelieving.

The girl turned her head only to gape at her “No way! Makoto?!” she squealed before getting up to throw her arms around Makotos neck. Eiko then turned around to the guests before smiling “I’m sorry, masters! This is one of my friends! She doesn’t live here, so I don’t get to see her often.” she giggled.

The other man at the table smiled “It’s alright, Eiko-chan. Why don’t you and your friend sit down with us and let us buy you a round?”

Eiko was about to drag Makoto down into the booth with her, when Makoto resisted “I’d rather not. If you would excuse us for a moment.” she said while grabbing Eikos wrist and pulling her away “Is there someplace we could talk?” she asked while walking.

Eiko looked confused but still seemed to suspect that she was just here to chat “Uhuh, we can use the break room.”

When Makoto closed the door behind them and checked the break room for other listeners, she focused on Eiko “Eiko, I think that Tsukasa is involved in something bad.” after looking at Eikos get-up, she added “You need to get out of here. You don’t have to sell your body for him!”

Eiko took a step back “What are you talking about? Tsukasa just runs a bar and I help him.”

“No, I have reasons to believe that he is involved in a crime-ring that blackmails people.” Makoto said.

Eiko raised an eyebrow “Where do you get this from?”

“We went to investigate an abandoned town where this gang is supposed to collect their money and I saw Tsukasas car!” Makoto said.

“Tsukasa doesn’t own a car! He shares it with some of his friends.” Eiko replied.

Makoto was speechless. She hadn’t anticipated that. Why hadn’t she thought about the possibility? Had she been so caught up with the obsession to prove that Tsukasa was shady? Had her gut-feeling been wrong? Had she imagined that her gut told her something, so she could be right? No, she had wanted to give Tsukasa a chance. But something about him set off her alarms. Her gut-feeling. Her father had always said that she should trust your gut. Even if Tsukasa wasn’t the one driving, it still meant that one of his friends was somehow involved with this place. “Eiko please, I have a very bad feeling about him. I… just feel it in my gut.”

Eiko stared at her before her face turned into a snare “Why are you saying this now? I thought you didn’t have a problem with him last time we hung out?”

“I.. I didn’t tell you, but he was hitting on me while you were in the bathroom and he was pushing to know my real name and...” Makoto said. Maybe appealing to Eikos jealousy would help her get angry at him?

But Eiko only snorted “Oh my god, Makoto. How low can you sink? He flirted with you? Why would he do that? We were on a double date, remember? Tsukasa is just a really nice guy who cares about me and my friends too. Get over yourself.”

Makoto turned defensive. Nothing about Tsukasas behavior back then could be described as friendly towards the friends of his girlfriend. “He wasn’t just nice. He was trying to convince me to drop Ren.”

Eiko crossed her arms in front of her chest and fixed her eyes on the floor. “I can’t believe this...”. Makoto thought that she came around now, but when Eiko raised her head again, she looked angry. Angry at her. “I can’t believe that I thought you were my friend. Are you never satisfied? You got it all and still you make it your goal to drag me down! Why can’t you just leave me be and let me be happy?!”

Makoto took a step back “Eiko, I do want you to be happy!”

“You’re so tough and smart and everyone admires you! Why is it, that as soon as I have someone who admires ME, you have to come and try to shit-talk him behind my back?!” she almost yelled. “Why does everyone love you so much when all you do is look down on them? Admit it! You think that you’re better than all of us! You think that human problems are beneath you and still you want to meddle in my love-life?”

Makoto was speechless “Eiko, I just want to protect you. Don’t you realize that he’s using you to work at his bar for free? You are sitting in strangers laps for money-”

“Shut up!” Eiko yelled “I don’t need your stupid protection. I have Tsukasa. He keeps me safe now. So get lost, before I go get him.”. She stormed past her and out the break room.

Makoto remained rooted to her spot while processing everything that had just been thrown at her. She noticed how her hand was shaking. Was it out of anger or out of sadness? She decided to quickly leave the bar before Eiko kept her word and called Tsukasa.

Ren had been to three bars already before he ended up in front of the “Crossroads”. He hoped that fourth time’s the charm when he stepped inside. He heard her voice before seeing her.

“Lala-chan, gimme a refill!” the self-proclaimed journalist hollered.

The bartender, dressed in a kimono, muttered something before turning around to the shelf with all the bottles.

When Ren slid onto the bar-stool beside her, she needed a few moments to recognize him “Heeeey, I know you! We’ve met in that other bar!” she said, way too loud. “Now, did you come back to give me some juicy info about that group of teenagers, or is it perhaps because you’re falling in love with meee?” she grinned.

Ren furrowed his brow “Definitely not the second.”

The woman glared at him “No need to be an ass about it.”. She grabbed the glass that the bartender handed her without looking and downed half of it.

“You’re welcome.” the bartender, dressed in a kimono, rasped.

“Sooo, that means you’re here to give me information, right?” the journalist asked.

“Maybe I am.” Ren said, before adding “But why don’t we make a deal first?”

The woman looked intrigued “I’m listening...”

“Last time we met, you told me that writing the wrong things here gets you killed and that I should be careful around the guy who runs that other bar.” Ren started.

“Wow, I really told you all of that?” the woman asked “You must be a damn good listener...”

“I get that a lot, but anyway...” Ren continued “Whatever that guy’s involved in… He’s not the leader, is he?”

The journalist looked suspicious before leaning back in her chair “Waait a minute… we haven’t established what’s in it for me. How good is the information you’re offering?”

Ren smirked “You run a surprisingly hard bargain for a drunk person.”

“Comes from experience.” the journalist answered. The bartender sighed.

Ren took a deep breath and hoped that he wouldn’t regret it later “The group calls itself the Phantom Thieves. I know their contact person.” he said “I can set you up with him.”

The journalist furrowed her brow “The Phantom Thieves? What kind of a name is that? Are you messing with me?”

“I’m not.” Ren said. He would have to tease Morgana about that later.

The journalist seemed to make up her mind whether to believe him or not. “Okay… I’ll just take your word for it. When can I meet with him?”

Ren drew her a makeshift map onto a napkin, pointing to a spot almost halfway to LeBlanc2 “Two days from now, in the evening. Come alone, he’ll be too.”

The journalist took the napkin and put it into her fanny-pack “Okay. Assuming your intel is legit…” she leaned forward. Her breath smelled like booze. “The man running this whole thing is Junya Kaneshiro. A real money-grubbing bastard.”

Ren nodded “And where can I find him?”

The journalist shook her head “Almost all of these places belong to him, but his base of operations is in an old bank building somewhere north-east of here.”

Ren nodded “I see.”

“What do you want with him anyway? Are you looking for a loan?” she asked “I really don’t suggest that though.. He’s rumored to add unrealistically high interest...”

“That’s another way to put it...” Ren muttered.

“I mean it, you should not take him lightly.” the journalist urged.

Ren shook his head “I won’t.” he got up “Thanks for the intel.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” the journalist asked “And don’t you dare set me up on this informant. I don’t have anything that you could rob me off!”

“The guy you’ll be meeting has the name Hermes. Don’t be late.” Ren said as he headed towards the exit.

“Fine, then you tell Hermes that Ichiko Ohya is intrigued to meet him!” Ohya slurred before calling out once more “Lala-chan! I got a new lead! Let’s celebrate!”

When Ren walked down the street again, he spotted Makoto standing on the opposite side of Tsukasas bar. She looked bothered and lost in thought. You could almost see the gears in her brain shifting as she was trying to make sense of something that only she seemed to see. It was sort of cute.

“Judging by your face, Eiko won’t be coming out that bar anytime soon?” Ren asked when she got into ear-shot.

Makoto looked up, almost looking relieved “I think we should get out of here...” she said. She started walking without waiting for a response.

Makoto seemed to deflate when they finally sat in the car again. “What happened?” Ren asked.

The girl sighed “She… didn’t believe me. She said that Tsukasa shares that car with friends.” she started “She seems to think that I only want to break them up.”. She tried to get a hold of herself when she put the key in the ignition and started the engine. “Maybe I was wrong… Maybe it really wasn’t Tsukasa in that car.” she said as she pulled out of the parking spot.

Ren looked at her from the passenger seat “I learned that almost every bar in there is owned by our mysterious mafia-man, so it’s safe to assume that Tsukasa is at least to some degree involved with them.”

Makoto looked surprised “You did? How did you find that out?”

Ren shrugged “A drunk journalist. I now have a name and the location of their headquarters.”

Makoto couldn’t help but stare “You learned all of that in 20 minutes?”

“Yup. And in return, I might have boosted our popularity. If this proves to be good or bad remains to be seen.” Ren grinned. When he noticed how Makoto didn’t react to his bantering, he asked in a serious voice “Is everything okay?”. Makoto was focused on the road, but it was obvious to him that her brain was working on something else besides keeping the car on the road.

“Do you…. think that I’m looking down everyone?” she asked after a few moments of silence. It was difficult to ask something like this, when you were actually afraid to hear the truth.

Ren looked confused “Why do you ask?”

Makoto sighed “When I told Eiko that Tsukasa tried to make a move on me.. She really believed that I wanted to steal her boyfriend from her. She said that she doesn’t understand how everyone likes me so much, when all I do is judge people.” When Ren was silent for a few moments, Makoto thought that she already knew the answer and that he was just trying to put it as nice as possible. “I’m sorry… Asking this puts you in a very uncomfortable position… I was just wondering because I knew that Eiko thought about me like this from the start, and over all these months, I have really started to feel like I’m making an effort in proving her wrong. I even tried to change the way I sit in front of her.” Makoto said “But apparently it’s no use no matter how hard I try….”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Ren said. “I think you remember how we all met each other, right? I’d say you’ve come a long way since then.”

Makoto managed a weak smile “Just because I don’t threaten you with a gun and blackmail you?”

Ren smirked when he answered “When you blackmail us now, it’s on a far more emotional base.”. He smiled “But to be honest, I wouldn’t take Eikos words too serious. You know that she gets emotional and that she sometimes says very harsh things without really meaning them in the end… I can’t say that I know a lot about her, but as far as I noticed, she really, really wanted a boyfriend. You going there to tell her that she should leave him probably threatened her whole existence...”

“Maybe you’re right.” Makoto said “We have other leads now. If we follow those, we might be able to uncover everything else going on in New Shinjuku.”

“Now that sounds like a plan.” Ren gave her an encouraging smile.

Later that evening, they were gathered in the living room, going over the new intel that Makoto and Ren had brought back from New Shinjuku.

“Junya Kaneshiro, huh?” Ryuji asked

“He’s supposed to be the mastermind. Aside from lending money, he also owns a lot of bars.” Ren said.

“What is he even doing with all that money? It’s not like there’s much to buy with it...” Ann said.

“You said it’s in a bank, right? Maybe he wants to fill the safe so he can take a money bath.” Futaba imagined a man diving into a pool of money.

“Is that a thing?” Ann wondered.

“Hey Haru, your family is rich. Did you ever do something like that?” Ryuji asked.

The girl shook her head “I’m afraid not. But I imagine it to be rather uncomfortable.”

“I guess it’s not really important why he wants all the money, but rather how he gets it.” Yusuke uttered.

“So, you really want to keep pursuing this?” Sojiro asked.

Makoto nodded “A lot of people seem to be bothered by these mysterious men. We should at least gather some more information.”

Sojiro shook his head “I won’t come looking for your corpses, just so we’re clear.”

Futaba looked up “Not even for mine?!”

Sojiro shot her a look “You’re not going, young lady. I can’t stop these fools from getting themselves killed, but I can and I will stop you from doing anything stupid.”

Futaba jumped up “But they will need me! Who’s going to stand watch outside?”

Ren stepped in to calm the situation “Let’s not get worked up over a non-existent plan, okay?”

Futaba turned away from Sojiro with a pout on her lips.

“Sooo… what is our plan?” Ann asked.

Ren scratched his head “Guess we’ll make another expedition….”. When the others in the round nodded, he turned to Mishima, who was leaning in the door-frame “Oh, by the way, I hope you don’t mind, but I set you up with someone who wants to interview you about the Phantom Thieves. You’ll meet her the day after tomorrow.”

“Leave it to me! I will only use the highest praise for the Phantom Thieves!” his eyes suddenly went wide “Wait, did you just say Her?” he nervously shifted his weight multiple times “Wait… did… you set me up on a date?”

Ren shrugged “If that’s what you want to call it. Her name’s Ohya, by the way.”

“Ohya...” Mishima muttered with a mixture of nervousness and happiness “But wait! Shouldn’t you tell me what she likes, so that I can sweep her off her feet when she meets me?”

Ren patted him on the shoulder “Don’t think about it too much. Just be yourself. With your connection to the Phantom Thieves, she’s already interested.”

When Mishima left the living room in bewilderment, Ryuji looked at Ren “Man, you set Mishima up on a date?” he sighed before grinning “Why not let her meet a real Phantom Thief?”. It was obvious that he was talking about himself.

Ann cast him an annoyed look “I doubt that she would get a good impression of us, if you went and gawked at her the whole time.”

“What? I would totally capture her heart with my charm and good looks.” Ryuji retorted.

Before Ann could reply something, Makoto intervened when she said “I think it’s best for Mishima to go. After all, he is the middleman between us and the people we help.” she said.

“Besides, I think we’ll need your “charm and good looks” for our next operation.” Futaba said.

“Hey, why did you put that in air-quotes?” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Futabas right-” when Ryuji shot Ren a look, he quickly added “-not about the air-quotes- we’ll need all hands on deck, if we really want to take down a crime-ring.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting somwhere, it's almost time for things to go down! Also: snarky Ren returns!:)
> 
> But first, since Makotos past has been mentioned a lot in this chapter, we're going to take a look on how she became part of the gang, so you can look forward to the next chapter "Queen" on Tuesday;) But after that, things will go down, I swear.


	18. Queen

15 months ago

It was a slow morning at LeBlanc as everyone worked together to prepare the tavern for the evening-business. Ann was wiping tables, Ryuji and Sojiro polished glasses behind the bar and Ren was stirring this nights curry in the small kitchen-niche. Yusuke was sitting in one of the booths, concentrating on reproducing the new menus.

“I require a book!” Futaba loudly announced as she entered from upstairs.

“A book?” Sojiro wondered.

“Yup! I am thirsting for a new Featherman adventure. I have read the one I have for the 30th time now!” Futaba declared. “And I am officially nominating you, you, you and you to be my champions in the quest of finding me one.” she said, pointing at the four teenagers.

“You want us to find you a manga?” Yusuke asked, confused “Where are we even supposed to start looking?”

Futaba sighed before pointing at the two blondes “You do know what you’re teammates are famous for, right?” she asked “What a silly question, Inari.” she muttered.

“My name is not Inari. Why do you continue to call me that?” Yusuke asked.

“Because of your face.” Futaba shrugged “I don’t know… it just fits.”

The others stared at Yusukes face before Ruyji spoke up “Should that be his codename then?”

“Oh right, he doesn’t have one yet!” Ann said.

“I refuse to be called Inari!” Yusuke exclaimed.

“What would you like to be called then?” Ren asked, leaning in the kitchen doorframe.

“Hm… how about Fox?” Yusuke pondered.

“What? That’s just the same as Inari!” Futaba exclaimed.

“There may be a correlation, but Fox is a name that I have given myself and Inari would be the one you gave me on a whim.” Yusuke replied to a pouting Futaba.

“Whatever” the girl huffed before returning to her queenly stance “Now go forth, my loyal subjects and bring back the desired item to the Sakura kingdom!”

Ren cast Sojiro a questioning look. With a slight shake of the head and a smile, the old man said “You heard the queen… I guess you should get going then.”

“Well said, court jester!” Futaba declared.

“Court jester?!” Sojiro asked, disbelieving.

And so Ren, Ryuji, Ann and Yusuke set out on a quest for a manga for Futaba. It didn’t need Ann and Ryujis expertise in finding things to know that the first address for looking for literature of any kind was Jinbocho. Opposed to most of the settlements taking the names of Tokyo districts while being in different locations, the settlement of Jinbocho really was still located in the original namesake.

“Jinbocho, huh? I heard that it used to be the central of literature.” Yusuke said as they walked through the empty streets of Tokyo.

“It still is. That place is crazy. Apparently a bunch of book-nerds collected all the books from the entire district and locked themselves into the biggest of the publishing houses there.” Ryuji explained.

“It’s a really strange place.. There’s not a lot of people there, but they are living in this huge skyscraper and all they care about is books.” Ann added.

“Huh… I wonder if I’ll be able to find a book to my liking as well.” Yusuke wondered.

“Judging from what Ryuji and Ann are telling, it’s either there or nowhere.” Ren said.

They had almost reached their goal when they heard a panicked voice in the distance “Please… Let go of me!”.

“Stop resisisting and come with me!” a male voice said, followed by a short shriek.

The four shared a look before picking up their pace. When they rounded the corner, they saw a man in a suit, grabbing a woman by the wrist, trying to pull her into a side-alley.

“Hey!” Ryuji didn’t hesitate to call out “Let go of her!”. They started to run towards the couple.

The man turned around “Please excuse us, it’s just a lovers quarrel.” he said, his hand still clamped around the womans wrist, who desperately tried to break free.

“Doesn’t look like it though.” Ren said before adressing the woman “Is this man bothering you?”

The woman nodded, the panic was obvious in her eyes.

Ann glared at the stranger “She obviously doesn’t want to be with you! Let her go, right now!”

Ryuji stepped up to the man “You heard her. Walk away, man.”

The stranger built himself up in front of Ryuji, letting go of the womans wrist who quickly ran away “Haven’t you heard of privacy, you brats?” he growled.

“Privacy? You tried to assault that woman on the open street! Nobody would look away from that!” Ann said.

The man shifted his gaze from Ryuji to Ann “Oh, you have no idea.” he said with a smirk “It’s dangerous out here. A pretty little thing like you wouldn’t know, but I’d be careful. After all, if I see something pretty walking down the street, who should stop me?”

Ryuji gave the man a shove “Dude, are you looking for a punch in the face? We just saw and we stopped you.”

The man waved Ryujis comment aside “One time.”

“You are despicable...” Yusuke said.

Ann was speechless when she stared at the man who so openly bragged about harassing women whenever he felt like it.

Ren looked at the stranger who was still standing in an intimidating stance in front of Ryuji. Ren had been standing beside the woman so he now viewed the scene from the side. He noticed how the mans hand wandered to his back, reaching under his jacket. Ren knew all too well that there could only be one thing. “Gun!” Ren shouted before tackling the man to the ground, sending the gun sliding away from them. When both Ren and the man tried to scramble towards the weapon, Ryuji grabbed the stranger by the ankles to keep him back. When Ren reached the gun and noticed that the man was busy with fending off Ryuji, he took a deep breath and released the clip from the weapon.

“You damn brats.” the man cursed as he slowly got back to his feet. His next move was so predictable that Ryuji had already punched him in the face when the man had only just begun swinging his arm.

“Get. Lost.” Ryuji growled, flexing his hand while the man rubbed his jaw. With a glare, the stranger walked off.

The group exchanged a look before Ren held up the gun “He forgot this.” he shrugged.

“It’s better that a man like this doesn’t own a weapon.” Yusuke said.

“I can’t believe that he so openly admitted to harassing women...” Ann said, disgusted.

“Let’s hope that we taught him a lesson...” was all that Ren could say “Come on… let’s get going. We’re almost there, right?”

They reached Jinbocho only half an hour later. From the outside, the huge publishers building looked empty, but based on Ryuji and Anns claims, it was inhabited. As they entered through the main entrance, they were greeted by two guards who immediately patted them down and confiscated all their weapons.

“Welcome to Jinbocho.” One of them said with a blank expression.

They stood in what must have been a lobby before. Now it was loaded with stacks of books and the occasional visitor who was looking through them. In the middle of it all stood a teenage girl, that must have been the same age as them. Her hair was brown and short, kept in place by a braided head-band in the same color as her hair. She was wearing a black turtle-neck sweater, black jeans and black leather boots. Her face looked stern and she observed the room with an icy glare. There was a certain superior demeanor about her, that made it look like she ruled the entire place. Ren couldn’t help but stare. She was beautiful.

“I don’t remember there being so many people the last time...” Ann muttered.

“You certainly weren’t exaggerating the amount of books..” Yusuke said before disappearing inbetween two stacks.

“I’d say it’s best we split up and look for Futabas manga...” Ann proposed before going off into another direction.

But Ren couldn’t pry his eyes away from the girl in the middle of the room. He didn’t notice Ryuji casting him a knowing smirk “I see what you’re looking at.”

Ren snapped out of it to look at the blonde boy “Sorry, must have spaced out there… I was thinking about the best strategy to filter through these stacks.”

Ryuji grinned a teasing grin when he said “Dude, just admit that you’ve been staring at Miss cold-shoulder over there.”

Ren impishly scratched the back of his head “Guess you got me...”

Ryujis grin almost reached his ears when he said “For real? So that’s your type!” he leaned closer to Ren to whisper “I mean.. she does look a bit scary, but hey, if that’s the thing you’re into.”. The blonde teasingly punched his upper arm before walking away.

Ren sighed as he walked towards the last free corner, his eyes occasionally drifting towards the girl in the middle. He was so entranced that he didn’t notice a woman approaching him.

“Did you find anything you like?” she asked in a kind voice.

Ren smiled before saying “I’m looking for something particular.. would you happen to know if there is a manga-stack?”

The woman smiled “I’m sorry, I haven’t been living here for long. I haven’t quite gotten used to the organization...”

“So there really is organization behind all this chaos?” Ren asked with a grin.

“Apparently. It’s one of the things that drives the Queen over there mad.” the woman whispered.

“The Queen?” Ren asked, his interest piqued.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you’re not from here.” the woman smiled while discreetly pointing to the girl in black. “We call her Queen. She’s the principals second-in-command.”. Across the room, Queen seemed to talk into a walkie-talkie before turning on her heel and walking off.

“The principal?” Ren raised an eyebrow. It was the first time he heard that title for a leader.

“Most of us used to live in an abandoned high school before we moved here.” the woman explained.

“I see.” Ren said “So, about that Queen...”

“Oh, I would be careful around her.” the woman said “She might act polite and correct, but sooner or later everybody learns that she’s only ever loyal to the man in charge.”. She gave him a quick smile before walking off.

Ren had worked through his quarter of the filled up lobby when he noticed the Queen walking down the big spiral staircase. He felt the air growing colder when she approached him. There was an aura of guarded fake hospitality surrounding her as she walked up beside him. She didn’t talk him up. She stood beside him and waited until he looked up from the books. He noticed that her stare was fixed on Ann and Ryuji, who had met halfway through their quarters and were laughing about something.

“What an odd little group… Two traitors, an artist and… you.” she said. Her voice was soft, but it was obvious that she put great care and consideration behind every of her words. It felt like she was laying out a trap.

“No flashy title for me?” Ren asked.

“It’s not because I don’t want to give you one, but you’re somewhat of a Wild Card...” she said. “The infamous Skull and Panther. Those two aren’t hard to ignore or identify. Your other friend though… He took a little investigating, but since he’s only looking for art books, I just made an educated guess.”

“I see you come prepared.” Ren said. “Let me guess… Security cameras?”

“Hm… a surprisingly keen eye.” the girl stated. Her tone never dropped or changed. Everything she said was precisely calculated. “What can I say, I just like to know who the people are, that enter and leave this place.” she let out a sigh, but even that managed to sound theatrical “I have to say, I’m almost jealous. It looks like they’re having so much fun. I wonder how they manage to stay so carefree after stabbing the very people they owe their lives to in the back...”

Ren raised an eyebrow when he looked at Ann and Ryuji, the first giggling about something the latter must have said. He turned to the Queen “Maybe your “investigations” aren’t as thorough as you think they are, because you seem to miss a lot of things.” he said. No matter how cute he thought she was, noone got a pass to spread such lies about his friends.

“Oh am I?” Queen asked, still unfazed.

“Calling them traitors and be done with it is a little narrow-minded, don’t you think?” Ren asked, trying to imitate her way of talking “Have you ever considered listening to their story?”

“I know who I can trust. Why would a stranger feel obligated to tell me the truth?” the girl answered.

“Why would anyone, ever?” Ren replied.

The girl seemed to have no immediate answer to that. Her eyes were still fixed on Ann and Ryuji, who had returned to searching stacks.

“Since you’re apparently still lacking a title for me: I’m looking for a Featherman manga.” Ren started. “But judging from the profile I have about you, you won’t know where to find it because you don’t consider anime literature.”

It was the first time that the girl looked surprised and at a loss for words “I’m afraid I can’t. But not because of the reason you claimed, but because I have no word in the organization of this place.” she said.

“Of course.” Ren smirked before walking towards his friends. There was something about her, that he found intriguing. He wanted to get to know her. Not that facade, that she put up, but the real her. But after talking to her, he realized that that wouldn’t be an easy feat, especially since they were about to leave as soon as they found the manga for Futaba. “Any luck?” he asked when he reached Ryuji.

“Nope…. there’s only boring books about history here.” Ryuji sighed before looking at him with a grin “Saw you talking with that girl. Did you two hit it off?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that.” Ren answered when Ann walked up beside him.

“She looks really mean, don’t you think?” the blonde girl whispered.

“She also doesn’t seem to think the best of you two...” Ren muttered.

“What?” Ryuji asked “But she doesn’t even know us!”. He looked angry.

“Calm down.” Ann exhorted “Who knows what rumors are going around about us...” she said, but failed to hide her own anger “Let’s just get out of here. We’re just visitors, we don’t need her friendship.”

“Agreed, I’m getting kinda sick of this old-book smell.” Ryuji said.

“What a shame… the smell of old books truly is one of the most comforting.” Yusuke said upon arrival, two books tucked under his arm.

Ann eyed the books before sighing “I guess you weren’t looking for the things that we actually came here for?”

“Apologies, I found this book on crustaceans and then another one… I think my mind must have wandered off somehow...” the artist said.

“So we still need to look through your quarter of the room?!” Ryuji loudly exclaimed before Ann clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Guess we’ll have to...” Ren sighed “Come on, the sooner we’re done, the sooner we get to go home...”

With the combined effort of four, they soon had scanned all of Yusukes lobby-quarter. Ren was the lucky one, who managed to find the – apparently – only Featherman manga in the whole of Jinbocho. They paid for their three books and walked to the exit to reclaim their weapons when a familiar voice rang out behind them.

“Freeze!” Queens voice managed to sound even colder than before. Ren heard a revolver click. He looked at the others, who seemed equally confused. Ren gave them a nod before slowly raising his hands. “On your knees!” Queen demanded.

“That’s my line….” Ann muttered while slowly sinking down to her knees alongside the others.

“Excuse me, but what’s this about?” Ren asked. The two guards from the main-entrance had their weapons pointed at them too when Queen walked up to face them.

“You are under arrest for assaulting one of our citizens.” Queens voice was harsh.

“Arrest?” Yusuke sounded surprised.

“What the hell? We weren’t assaulting anyone! We just came to buy some stupid books!” Ryuji yelled.

“That is not what the victim says though.” Queen said before focusing on something or rather someone behind them “You say that these four threw you to the ground, hurt you and stole your gun?”. Ren could hear steps behind them.

“YOU?!” Ann asked, disbelieving, when the man from their street-encounter walked up to Queen.

Queen looked at the four kneeling teenagers “So it seems you know him.”. Her stance looked so incredibly delicate. Judging only by the way she was standing in front of them, she didn’t seem tough at all. But the most dangerous weapon of hers seemed to be her tongue. “Do you deny harassing this man?” she asked.

The four shared a look before Ren looked up at Queen “No, we did that.” he had to admit, his hands still raised. Before he could continue, Queen cut him off.

“At least you’re honest.” Queen said before turning to the guards “Bring them downstairs.”

The guards marched them into the cellar, where a barred compartment had been emptied out and apparently served as the houses prison.

“What the hell?” Ryuji growled.

Ren looked at Queen, who was locking their cell door “So what now? Are you going to leave us here to rot or what’s the procedure?” he asked as he walked up to the gate.

“That is not for me to decide. I keep the order. The decisions are made by someone else.” she answered.

“Let me guess, the principal?” Ren asked before saying “So you really are just a puppet.”

Queen glared at him “I do what needs to be done. What you did was wrong.”

Ann walked up beside him, glaring at Queen “Is everyone in this damn place just listening to one side of the story? Aren’t we allowed to make our case?” when Queen didn’t immediately answer, Ann continued “The guy you are calling the victim tried to assault a woman on the open street! We stepped in to stop him. Why are we being treated as the bad guys?” she almost yelled.

Ren thought he saw a flicker of doubt in Queens stern eyes before she shook her head “You can tell that to Kobayakawa tomorrow.”. She marched off.

Ryuji walked up to the gate to shake it. When it wouldn’t budge, he let out a deep sigh “They’re arresting us?! What the hell is this?”

“Judging by the fact alone that they use the term “arrest”, it shows how full they are of themselves.” Yusuke said as he sat down on the floor.

“Ugh, what’s with that girl?” Ann exclaimed, annoyed. “She didn’t even listen to what I said! Do we really have to spend the night in this place?”

Ren sighed “I’m afraid we have to…”

“What started as an innocent trip to buy a manga turned into quite the affair...” Yusuke said. “They confiscated the books we already purchased too… I hope that we get them back, once we get out of here...”

Ryuji sighed when he slumped down on the floor “This sucks...”

There was no way of knowing what time of day it was down in the cellar. Ren guessed that it must have been night, when his teammates slowly started to fall asleep. He had sat down near the door to have an eye on eventual ongoings. The only light they had, came from a small lantern that hung on the wall by the stairs. He guessed that a guard must be positioned at the top of the stairs, since they were alone in the cellar. His eyelids slowly started to get heavy. The hard concrete floor was uncomfortable, but eventually the events of the day caught up to him and he felt himself drifting off to sleep.

He flinched when he heard the door on the top of the stairs open. His eyes shot open and he concentrated on identifying the dark figure approaching the door. He was surprised to see Queen, carrying three bottles of water in her arms.

“I realized that you might want something to drink.” she quietly said as she bent down to roll the bottles towards him underneath the gate.

“How hospitable, but I’m afraid we still won’t give this place a five-star-rating...” Ren answered.

Queen didn’t answer. There seemed to be a moment of hesitation until she decided to sit down on the ground too. “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier…” she carefully started “Would you tell me your account of what happened today?”.

Ren wasn’t sure whether he imagined it, but she didn’t sound as calculated as before. He couldn’t hide the corners of his mouth twitching upward “Of course.” he answered before giving her all the details. He told her about the man trying to molest the woman, how he had openly bragged about having it done many times and how he had tried to draw a gun on them first. As he was talking, he saw Queens expression change in the faint light of the lantern. “And that’s what happened.” Ren ended.

“I see.” Queen answered before saying “Both of your statements contradict each other. The man that you assaulted is a very esteemed friend of the principal.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “He’s a friend of the principal? Well that’s awfully convenient...”

It was hard to see, but he thought that Queen gave him a puzzled look. She sighed “What I am trying to say is, that he is a very valued patron to our community. There is no reason for me to not believe him. Nevertheless, you will be judged in a fair trial.”

“What reason would we have to lie? The way I see it, he has far more to lose than we have.” Ren said. He pointed at his friends at the other side of their small cell. Yusuke, like Ren, was sitting with his legs stretched out and his back against the wall. Beside him were Ann and Ryuji, sitting with their backs leaned against each other, their heads tilted backwards and resting on each others shoulders. Both of their mouths were slightly agape. One of them snored, but it was impossible to tell which one. “Like you said, we’re two traitors, an artist and a wild card. You already had your opinion on us as soon as we stepped foot in here. I think our chances of you or that precious principal of yours believing us were almost none to begin with.”. He stared Queen in the eyes. They almost seemed red when the light hit them from the right angle. “How is that fair?”

Queen seemed to think about his words before slowly getting up again. She gave him a stern nod before walking away.

Ren didn’t remember drifting asleep after his conversation with the Queen. When he opened his eyes again, he felt lost. He had no idea what time it was, but since the others were awake again, he figured that it might be morning.

“My ass hurts...” Ryuji sighed as he got up to stretch his legs.

“When did we get water?” Yusuke asked when his eyes fell on the three bottles beside the gate.

“The Queen blessed us with her presence last… night, I guess?” Ren explained.

Ann growled “Lucky for her that I was asleep. The next time I see her, I’ll strangle her with that fake-hair headband of hers...”

Ryuji smirked “Someone’s out for a cat-fight.”

“Ugh, shut it! How long are they going to keep us locked up in here? Isn’t this considered torture?” she whined.

“Geez, just use the bucket already!” Ryuji retorted.

Ann looked at him wide-eyed “That’s not what this is about!!” she shrieked.

“We could all turn around, if that makes you feel better..” Yusuke proposed.

“And cover Yusukes eyes… for safety.” Ren added.

Ann looked like she was about to have a meltdown “Stop talking about it! They have to let us out soon!”

“If you won’t, then I would like to make use of it.” Yusuke announced while getting up.

Ann sighed before cowering down on the floor “I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place...”

It was impossible to tell, but it felt like hours passed in almost complete darkness.

“I spy with my little eye-” Yusuke started.

“Is it black?” Ann interrupted. When Yusuke didn’t answer, she sighed.

“This game sucks...” Ryuji sighed.

“I was merely trying to lighten the mood.” Yusuke said.

“Do you think we’ll go blind if we ever get to see daylight again?” Ren wondered.

“Dude, don’t even say that...” Ryuji said.

“I agree. The thought of never being able to see makes me want to reach for the bucket again. But this time to throw up.” Yusuke said.

“Please stop talking about the bucket...” Ann sighed.

They flinched in unison when they heard distant gunshots.

“What the hell?” Ryuji asked, jumping to his feet.

“No, no, no… If they die.. No one will know that we’re here!” Ann got up too.

Agonizing moments passed until finally, the cellar-door opened. Queen looked troubled.

“What’s going on out there?” Ren asked.

“It’s nothing to be concerned about.” Queen answered.

“It makes us even more worried when you say that!” Ryuji exclaimed.

The look on Queens face suddenly changed. She put on that sweet and manipulative smile of hers when she looked at Ren. She looked incredibly sure of herself when she started pacing in front of their cell. “Judging by the weapons that you were carrying, it looks like you are quite the experienced fighters. I wouldn’t expect anything less from two experienced scavengers, but an artist with a katana?” she smiled “I’m sure there must be an interesting story behind this.”

Anns brow furrowed “Just spit it out already. What do you want?”

“Why don’t we make a deal?” she asked.

“And why would we do that?” Yusuke asked.

“From the looks of it, you seem to be in a far worse position than me.” Queen smiled.

“So you’re blackmailing us.” Ryuji said.

“I wouldn’t call it blackmail, but rather an opportunity for you.” Queen said. “If you agree to help me, you will be free to go. If you don’t…” she put in a dramatic pause “Well, since principal Kobayakawa has his hands full with more pressing matters at the moment, I don’t know how long it will take until he can make time for your trial.”

“What?” Ryuji exclaimed “That’s bullshit!”

“You’re totally blackmailing us!” Ann screeched.

“Now, now, there’s no need to shout.” Queen had this sweet but still somehow evil smile on her lips. She knew that she was winning. She looked at Ren “I’m sure you’ll help me. Won’t you?”

Ren looked at the others. It didn’t take a lot of light to know that none of them seemed rather happy about their situation.

“I suppose we don’t have much of a choice.” Yusuke said.

Ren looked at Queen again “So if we help you, you’ll let us go?” he asked. “Must be one hell of a task...”

“I’m sure it’s just everydays business for a tough group like you.” Queen said “Why don’t we go upstairs, before I give you the details.”

All four of them had to shield their eyes when they climbed the stairs into daylight again. They were greeted by more guards who were tailing them and Queen through the lobby. When they arrived at the main entrance guard-posts, they noticed that the wooden barricades on the doors were in bad shape. As if someone – or rather something – had tried to get inside. Queen turned around to look at them.

“We have been attacked by shadows quite a lot lately.” Queen started “I suspect that they might have started to settle somewhere close by.”

“You do live rather close to Mementos...” Yusuke remarked.

“Oh right! Didn’t we pass a train-station on our way here?” Ryuji remembered.

Queen smiled that robotic smile of hers “I see that you can already guess where this is going.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “You’re sending prisoners out to do your dirty work?”. He gave her a teasing grin “Is that revolver at your hip just for show?”

The brown-haired girl looked surprised. Ren guessed that she wasn’t used to someone talking back at her, and even less questioning her authority. Her look of surprise was followed by a glare. She obviously wasn’t happy to be called out in front of her subordinates. “It is not. I will accompany you to make sure that you uphold our deal.”. She walked behind one of the barricades to hand out their weapons. “I call upon your honor to not use them to stab us in the back.” she said while giving out their melee-weapons.

Ann frowned “You want to talk about honor? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Say what you will. My main responsibility is keeping the people of this settlement safe. From both humans and shadows.” Queen replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ann sounded irritated.

Ren saw Ryuji grabbing his bat before turning around and muttering to Ann “Calm down. If you keep challenging her, we’ll never get out of here. Do you want to keep pissing into a bucket forever?”

Ann let out an annoyed groan before attaching the whip to her belt. “Lead the way, your majesty.” she said, her voice dripping with acid.

They set out toward the nearest train-station. To Rens surprise, two of the guards went with them too, making the rear. Ren didn’t want to think too much about it, but he figured that they were here to shoot them, in case they decided to run. They walked in silence, but now and then, Ren was able to listen in on the two guards conversation.

“Sae-san would have went in there alone and killed every one of those damned shadows.”

“Right? And no prisoner would have ever dared to talk to Sae like this.”

“She would have ripped their tongues out.”

Ren cast a sideways-glance at Queen, who seemed to be listening to the conversations as well. He figured that he had nothing to lose. “So, who’s Sae-san?”

Queen looked surprised. She seemed to argument with herself, whether she should tell the prisoner or not. Finally, she said “She’s my sister. And something like my predecessor.”

“Sounds like you got big footsteps to follow.” Ren answered.

Queen looked guarded when she answered “She set out half a year ago to be a crimefighter, like our father used to be.”

“And she left the protection of Jinbocho in your hands?” Ren asked.

“I earned my position.” Queen sounded defensive before her face eventually turned softer “But it would be a lie to say that my sister wasn’t expecting me to carry on her legacy.” she sighed “So far, I don’t feel like I’m succeeding.”

Ren was surprised by how honest she sounded all of a sudden. “And why’s that?” he asked.

“My sister was respected, she was tough and fierce. And still everyone seemed to like her.” Queen explained “But me… Everyone thinks that I’m a push-over and a snitch. I’m trying to help, if someone has a problem, but I have no hand in the principals decision. And still it somehow ends up being pinned on me.”. It was the first time that it felt like she talked without guard.

“That seems like a thankless task...” Ren said.

Queen sighed once more “I shouldn’t be talking about this with a prisoner.”. She put on a stern look again “I will prove it. I will drive those shadows away.”

Ren was confused _Drive them away?_ A realization dawned on him “You’ve never fought a shadow.”

Queen looked embarrassed when she looked around “That..” she stammered before regaining her composure “There’s always a first time. I know Aikido. I’ll be fine.”

Ren raised an eyebrow but decided to not crush her hopes yet. It was a bad idea in general to try to fight a shadow in hand-to-hand combat, but if she really never fought a shadow before, it was no wonder that she didn’t know.

As they arrived at the staircase, Queen ordered the two guards to stand guard here. She didn’t say it, but Ren knew that it was to prevent them from running away.

As they descended into the station, he noticed how tense Queen got. “So this is Mementos...” she muttered.

Ryuji turned around “It’s just the station. Mementos is further down.”

Indeed, they were still in the part that looked like a collapsed train-station rather than a strange maze of train-tracks with creepy-looking veins on the side. They had almost reached the service counter area when Yusuke signaled them to stop. They found cover behind a corner to analyze the situation. Ren counted three shadows, two minors that would be easy to get rid of, but the third one was huge. It was hard to guess it’s weak spots, since it was nothing more than a big, round, floating mass with fumes rising from its body.

Ann peeked around the corner before turning to Ren “Should we try drawing the weak ones out?”

“I’m not sure.. If we lose the element of surprise, it could get much harder defeating the big one.” Yusuke added.

“If we’re quick, we can shoot the small ones before the big one realizes.” Ryuji said.

“Which part do I take?” Queen asked.

“Honestly, since you never fought a shadow before, it’ll probably be best if you stay behind.” Ren said.

“Yeah. With such a big one, there’s not much you can do.” Ryuji agreed.

Something suddenly switched in Queens eyes. She almost looked crazy with determination “I’m not useless.” she said with a grave voice before storming around the corner.

“What the hell?! I didn’t even say that!” Ryuji looked confused.

“That idiot!” Ann said before getting up and running after her.

“So much for preparation...” Yusuke sighed, unsheathing his katana.

“Dude! I didn’t say she was useless! You heard it!” Ryuji tried to defend himself.

“I know.” Ren said “I.. think she might have some other issues...” He pulled his gun out of his holster “Guess we’ll improvise.” he nodded to Ryuji before running towards the action. To his right, he saw Ann whipping up a few loose floor-tiles, creating a distraction so Yusuke could approach to land a killing slash with his katana. Behind him, he noticed how Ryuji spread out to the left, delivering a full-force blow with his bat before finishing with the shotgun. Queen, in her fit of crazy, had directly approached the intimidating one and was now emptying an entire revolver barrel into the wavering, floating mass of the shadow, that looked unfazed by her efforts.

“It’s immune to bullets! You’re wasting your ammo!” Ren called out to her, noticing how she got more and more distressed and frustrated.

“Then what’s next?” she asked.

“Now we pray that we find its weakness!” Ren shouted when the shadow let out a deafening roar.

“I guess I shouldn’t have rushed into this like I did!” Queen yelled.

“At least you noticed!” Ren yelled back while holstering his gun to trade it for his knife. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the others approaching.

“Hey! What do we do?” Ryuji called out.

“Guess we’ll hit it until it dies!” Ren replied.

“Sounds good to me!” a grin appeared on the blonde boys face. “Let’s show him what we’re made of!” he grinned at Ann.

The two blondes started sprinting towards the shadow. Mid run, Ryuji gave Ann a boost into the air. As the blonde girl was gracefully sailing over the shadow, she lashed out with her whip, letting it wrap around the shadow multiple times. After landing on her feet behind the shadow, she went for a spin, taking the tangled shadow with her. “Knock it out the park, Skull!” she called out with a wink before releasing her whip with a flick of the wrist and sending the still stunned shadow flying towards Ryuji, who was already waiting to swing his bat. The shadow let out a bone-chilling wail when Ryuji hit it full-swing. Ann was about to cheer, but since their opponent hadn’t dissolved into smoke yet, they knew that it wasn’t over.

The shadow still looked dazed as it was limply floating in the air. Yusuke swiftly approached it with long and silent strides, his katana drawn by his side. He gracefully slid underneath the shadow, dragging the edge of his katana along the underpart of their opponent. The group was now divided, Ann and Yusuke standing on one side of the shadow, Ryuji, Ren and Queen on the other. With a loud groan, the shadow seemed to pick itself up again. It was hard to tell who it was focusing, but with another roar, it sent forth a stream of fire towards Ryuji, who barely managed to jump out of the way.

Yusuke and Ann started a combined attack at the back of the shadow, giving Ren the opportunity to run up close to it undetected. With one swift movement, he slammed his dagger into the spot where it had released the stream of fire before. With another wail, the shadow dissolved around his knife. A few moments of silence passed as they all took a deep breath.

“Ryuji!” Anns voice cut through the silence. Her steps echoed through the huge hall as she hurried towards him.

When Ren looked over to his best friend, he noticed that he clutched his hand to his upper arm. It was dark, but if Ryuji actually showed signs of being hurt, it usually meant that things were bad. “What happened?” he asked as he started walking towards him too.

“It’s nothing, must be just a small burn..” Ryuji tried to sound as if he wasn’t in pain. He grimaced when Ann pried his hand away from his upper arm. Judging from her expression, it mustn’t have been that small. “Stop looking like that. It’s really not that bad.” Ryuji directed at Ann.

The blonde girl spun around and glared at Queen “What the hell is your problem?!” she yelled. Queen looked like she’s been slapped “We could have died because of that stupid stunt you just pulled!”. Her voice rang through the hall as everyone was staring at her.

“I- I’m so sorry.” Queen brought out. She looked horrified.

Ann glared “As if. All you ever care about it is your own image, isn’t it? We all heard the stories. The Ice Queen of Jinbocho. Blackmailing prisoners into doing your dirty work so you can continue to kiss the principals ass is probably not even the top of your list you-”

“Ann!” Ryuji cut through her rant when he reached for her arm “Calm down. All of us are alive. I’m sure she didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I’m so sorry.” Queen repeated. There was no trace of calculation or deeper meaning behind her words now. “I put you all in danger because I was too proud to admit that there’s things that I can’t do.” she sank to the ground. “You’re right… I recruited you so I could tell Kobayakawa that I took care of everything.” she admitted. “Ever since my sister left, everyone is breathing down my neck with their unrealistic expectations. All they do is compare me to her, telling me how she had it all under control.” she sounded desperate and frustrated.

The other four stood beside her, looking confused. Ren met Anns eyes. She sighed and nodded before taking a step towards Queen.

“Hey… I’m sorry...” she squatted down beside her. “I… tend to freak out when my friends get hurt.”

Queen looked at the blonde girl “No… you were right to call me out. I was reckless.”. She slowly got back up to her feet. “You upheld your end of the deal. I will tell Kobayakawa that you redeemed yourself. You’ll be free to go once you pick up the rest of your gear.”

“Finally some good news.” Yusuke said.

“Alright, let’s get going then. I’m sure they’re already waiting for us at home.” Ryuji said.

“All that’s left to do is close those shutters and you shouldn’t have any problems with shadows anymore.” Ren said, motioning for Yusuke to come help him pull down the metal-shutters, that led to the platforms and to Mementos.

As they were walking back to Jinbocho, it didn’t feel like the guards that were still trailing them with their guns drawn knew about their redemption. Besides Ren, Ryuji was whistling a tune, his singed arm seemingly forgotten. As he looked around at the rest of them, he noticed that Queen herself looked much more relaxed now. It seemed like her sharing her burden had actually taken some weight off her shoulders.

“So.. your principal will let us go, but what about you?” Ren walked up close beside her “It sounds like that place is giving you nothing but hell.”

Queen was staring at the way ahead of them when she said “There’s not much I can do about it. Ever since my father… disappeared, we’ve been supporting Kobayakawa. First at Shujin, now in Jinbocho. When Sis left, she delegated her responsibilities to me.”

“But is this the life you want?” Ren asked.

Queen smiled “Maybe it isn’t. But it’s the life that’s been prepared for me.”

“Just because it’s prepared for you, doesn’t mean your fate is decided. Or do you plan on being Queen for ever?”

“I… actually never intended to be “Queen”. Especially not with such a dark undertone.” Queen said with a sad smile “My name is Makoto. But I don’t remember the last time someone called me that. It’s either Niijima, the younger Niijima, or Queen.”

Ren looked at Makoto. She had a beautiful smile when it was honest “Makoto...” he repeated with a smile. Her eyes seemed to light up when he said it.

Makoto turned around and looked at the others, who were chatting and laughing. “To be honest… I meant it, when I said that I was jealous. I never had friends, or someone that I could talk with. Seeing you and your friends… it seems nice.”

Ren cast a look over his shoulder too. Ryuji was messing with Yusuke, who looked rather annoyed, since he was trying to sketch something while walking. “Yeah. It really is.” he said with a smile.

When they arrived in Jinbocho, they were greeted by more guards and a toad of a man pressed into a beige suit. His almost non-existent neck seemed to ooze out of the collar of his shirt, that did its best to keep its buttons attached. He didn’t look happy. “Niijima, what is this? I come downstairs to take a look at these criminals and I find an empty cell. On top of that, you took two of the guards with you? What if these monsters came back?”

Makoto smiled her polite and guarded smile again “Sir, I took care of the shadows that kept attacking us. I took the prisoners with me to help as a way of redeeming themselves. I will hand them back their gear so they can leave.”

The toad looked surprised “And why would you do that?” he sounded enraged. “None of this has been coordinated with me. Now, I know that you are trying to handle things like Sae-san would-”

“This is exactly what my sister would have done too.” Makoto replied.

The principal looked uncomfortable “This might have been the case under normal circumstances, but this case is different. These criminals have assaulted a very loyal friend and he demands harsh consequences.” the man huffed.

“But sir...” Queen studdered.

The principal turned towards the guards “Kill them.”

“WHAT?” Ryuji yelled.

“This has got to be joke.” Yusuke exclaimed.

Ren looked at Makoto, who looked equally shocked.

“What are you talking about? They have risked their lifes!” Makoto said. “Besides, you haven’t even heard their side of the story! Sir, you can’t be serious!”

The toad looked at Queen “My hands are bound here.”

Makoto huffed, a weak smile on her face. It looked as if she had awoken from a dream “So they really are innocent…”

“I’m sorry, but there’s things that you just don’t get. Life isn’t only about justice, it’s about politics too. Your sister would hav-”

“Shut up!” Makotos voice ran through the lobby. Everyone stared at her in surprise, even the people that had been busy with the books in the back of the room. “You keep talking on and on about what my sister would have done, what Sae would have understood. She’s not here. I am. I have bent over backwards to get your acceptance, your respect, your praise. Sae left me behind and she left you too. I don’t know if she really was so deluded to just let you do as you please, but I will NEVER stand by and watch you executing innocent people.” Makoto fumed.

Kobayakawa looked surprised before reclaiming his composure “I’m the one giving the orders.”. He looked at the guards again “Take them outside and dispose of them.”

The guards closed in on them, one of them grabbing Anns arm to drag her outside.

“Hey!” Ryuji growled, shoving the man aside before being pushed to the ground by another one. Yusuke tried to get the guard off the blonde boys chest and a chaotic skirmish ensued as Ann tried to claw the guards eyes out, that had grabbed her before. A fourth guard approached Ren from behind and secured his arms.

Rens eyes met Makotos “Is this your justice? Is this what you want your life to be?” he asked.

There was a glint in her eyes when she pulled the revolver out of her holster and put off a warning shot into the ceiling. It seemed like time froze.

“That’s enough.” Makotos voice was freezing cold. She looked at the guards “Is this what you think is right? You don’t even know if they are guilty or not! Do you want to be mindless executioners? Are you just going to listen to him and make yourself murderers?”

The guard holding Ren slowly loosened his grip. Yusuke let his guard out of his head-lock.

Queen focused on Kobayakawa, her gun now pointing at him “They will leave. Unharmed.”

The principal stared at her, wide-eyed “What is your plan here, Niijima? Do you think that we can go back to how things were, after you pointed a gun at me and forced me to release a bunch of criminals?”

“I will leave too.” Makoto answered.

The principal looked torn between anger and despair. “I’m sure that your sister had something different in mind when she proposed you taking her rank. Where do you think you’ll go? You’re not going to survive on your own!”

“I don’t know where I’ll go. But it’s time for me to find out.” Makoto said while lowering her gun again. She continued handing out gear to the perplexed group. “You’re free to go. Thank you.” she said, her gaze focused on Ren.

The four teenagers were walked outside the building by perplexed guard.

“Those book-people are crazy...” Ryuji remarked when the door closed behind them.

“Let’s never come back, okay?” Ann proposed.

“I agree. We have what we came for. If the need for another book ever arises, we should stay clear of this place. I would assume that they wouldn’t be happy about seeing us again either.” Yusuke said.

“What about Queen? Do you really think that she’ll leave this place?” Ryuji asked.

“Staying would most certainly be awkward for both sides...” Yusuke added.

They flinched when the door opened once more to reveal Makoto, who carried a duffle bag. She smiled as she approached them.

“Thank you for saving us in there.” Ren said.

Queen smiled “It was the least I could do. I’d like to thank you too. Meeting you has opened my eyes. I shouldn’t try to live the life that my sister wants me to live, especially not if it means betraying my integrity.”

“And how do you feel, now that you’re out?” Yusuke asked.

Makoto sighed “A little overwhelmed.. I never went anywhere alone before. Now that I think about it… it seems like I have missed out on a lot of things. It will take some time getting used to… but I hope I will manage.” she sounded confident.

“You were badass in there!” Ryuji exclaimed “You’ve got the intimidation-part down, dude! They were so scared, most of all that stupid principal!”

Makoto looked confused. It seemed like she’s never been called a Dude before. “That.. might be true, but I’m not sure if I can keep this act up all the time...”. She adjusted the duffle bag on her shoulder. “I would like to apologize once more, for getting you tangled up in all of this. First I dragged you out into a shadows den, only to then almost get you executed…”. She cast an unsure glance at Ren “Could I… ask you for one last piece of advise?”

Ren nodded with a smile.

“My first instinct as a lone wanderer would be to leave the city and head for the country-side. What’s your take on this?” she asked.

Ren nodded “Sounds like a solid plan.”

Makoto nodded before turning around “I’ll be going then.”

They watched Queen walk away with raised eyebrows.

“You’re going to tell her, right?” Ann leaned over to Ren.

“You’re walking into the wrong direction!” Ren called out after her. When she turned around to look at him, he added “The country-side is that way!” he pointed behind him.

“Dude, are you really going to just let her walk away like this?” Ryuji nudged his side.

“Are you suggesting that we offer her to come with us?” Yusuke asked. “She does seem to be capable...”

Ren cast a questioning look into the group. “What’s your take on this?” he asked Ann.

“I guess she’s not so different from us… She just needs a place to belong.” the blonde girl said.

Makoto had almost reached them again when Ren said “Hey.. why don’t you come with us for now? We’re headed for Yongen. If you like it there… you could stay with us.”

Makoto looked surprised and for a brief moment her cheeks turned red. “I’d appreciate it.” she said with a smile.

“Sooo Makoto… Do we still call you Queen when things get serious?” Ryuji asked when they had almost reached the city limits.

“But do you really want to keep the name that the people gave you out of ill-will?” Ann wondered.

Makoto seemed to think about her answer before saying “No, I think I should keep it. It will remind me of what kind of Queen I don’t want to be. In the beginning, I thought they called me Queen because I was kind or because they felt like I cared about them… That’s the Queen that I will strive to become.” she looked to the others “And I hope that you will hold me to these standards.”

“We will.” Ann said with a smile. “That reminds me! We’re going to be roommates then! I feel like we totally got off on the wrong foot, we should go and share one of those super-delicious apple-pies from Yongen!” Ann went on and on, while Makoto looked more and more nervous.

“Will this be alright?” Makoto whispered to Ren. “I… think I’ve never done something like this before.”

“Share a room or apple pie?” Ren asked.

“Both.”

“As long as you leave most of the pie to Ann, it should be fine.” Ryuji had apparently listened in.

“So you mean there’s a different ratio than 50:50?” Makoto sounded nervous.

The blonde boy grinned “Relax! You’re one of us now, no need to be nervous. Noone’s gonna eat ya.”

Makoto still looked terribly nervous before taking a deep breath “You’re right, thank you. I probably should try to gather some experience for these kinds of situations too.” she seemed to notice something when she let out a defeated sigh “I just sounded like a robot, didn’t I?”

“Beep boop.” Ren answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really interested to hear everyones thoughts on this one;)
> 
> Makoto was such a pain before becoming a Phantom Thief and for being the "smart one" she did a lot of dumb stuff, for which she never really got hell for. I feel like it makes sense for Ann, who is the empathetic one, to get ticked off when her friends have to risk their lives for, what she only sees as the push-over who wants to suck up to her boss. Of course there's more to Makotos back-story and she has troubles of her own, but at that moment, only Ren knew a bit of it. 
> 
> You might have already noticed in an earlier chapter, that I'm referencing the Showtimes from Royal. I would have really liked to know how one of Ryuji and Ann looked like, so I gave that one a try ;D


	19. The Lions Den

“ _Sis…?“_

“ _Yes, Makoto?“_

“ _Do you think that Dad would have agreed with what the principal did today?“_

“ _What‘s the point of this?“_

“ _I mean, Dad always talked about being just. Was throwing this man out simply because he questioned Kobayakawa really that?“_

“ _We do what we must to survive.”_

“ _But…”_

“ _Why don’t you understand that this idiotic sense of justice that our father tried to push upon us is the reason why he isn’t here now? We wouldn’t have to live in an abandoned high school that is governed by one of the biggest narcissists if he hadn’t decided to go out and take down a gang. Why don’t you ever question why he prioritized some strangers over his own two daughters?”_

“ _Sis...”_

“ _Go to sleep, Makoto. You only think like this because you don’t have to worry about anything. Everything you have is because I don’t question Kobayakawa. Right now, you’re useless to me, so don’t try to lecture me about some lofty morals.”_

Makotos eyes flew open to stare into the dark room. This wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. It must have been two and a half years by now, since Sae Niijima packed her bags and left. She remembered that night all to well, when Sae knocked on her door to tell her that everything was settled, that Makoto was now in charge of being Kobayakawas right hand because Sae Niijima was about to go solo. It had given Makoto many sleepless nights as she was trying to wrap her head around what must be going on in the head of her sister. Even though she talked about justice, it never had quite the same ring to it, like it had when their father would talk about it. It made her sad, when she thought about their father. He did what he did, because he believed that the world could be a better place. And in the end, their fathers selflessness to complete strangers was the reason why his oldest daughter felt like she needed to prove to the world, that she wasn’t going to lose to anyone. Remembering one of their last conversations also showed how Sae had known that Kobayakawa wasn’t the most honest of people. Makoto had thought about Jinbocho a lot, after she had left. All she did was leave her old self behind, but she didn’t feel like she triggered a change in Kobayakawas behaviour. She had left without caring whether anything changed in Jinbocho, which was the opposite of what her father would have done. But somehow, she had felt like she couldn’t bare to stand in this place any longer. If she hadn’t set off that warning shot, Kobayakawa would have had the others killed, which would have been even worse. She had eventually come to the conclusion that in that particular moment, there was nothing she could have done differently. Things had happened the way they did, because she had closed her eyes to the truth for so long and had just went with whatever Kobayakawa asked her to do. She had been stuck with the hope that maybe her words to the guards actually had an impact, but there had been no way of knowing, except for constantly asking the merchants in Yongen. It had actually been weeks of asking around when someone was finally able to tell her that he had heard, that there had been a shift in leadership in Jinbocho, and that the settlement was now ruled by a committee of various inhabitants. Makoto hadn’t been able to find out what happened to Kobayakawa, but she found that she couldn’t care less about what happened to the old toad. Makoto sat up and looked at the window. It looked like it was about to dawn soon. She carefully swung her legs out of bed and got dressed in the dark. The other side of the bed was empty, Haru was on watch-duty somewhere. Across the room, Hifumi was silently sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

Downstairs, everything was quiet when Makoto tiptoed towards the backyard. She took a deep breath as she stood outside. As much as she disliked it, she had an idea why the memories of her sister suddenly came back all of a sudden. She felt useless again. And she felt helpless. She knew that there was something wrong about Tsukasa, yet Eiko wouldn’t listen. In her head, she heard her fathers stories about the kidnapped and sold girls. She shivered without being cold. Even after everything that Eiko had thrown at her, she could never forgive herself if they were too late to safe her.

“Mako-chan?”

Makoto whirled around to look into Harus surprised face.

“Are you okay?” Haru asked.

Makoto nodded “Yes.. I just couldn’t sleep any longer.”

Haru sat down in one of the plastic chairs “Did you have a nightmare?”

Makoto sat down beside her “It was more of a memory.”

Haru nodded “I think I know what you mean.”

Makoto looked surprised “You do?”

Harus gaze wandered off into the distance for a moment before she turned to Makoto “Yours was about your sister, I assume?”

Makoto nodded.

“Sometimes I remember the things that my father told me. About what he needed me to do to be a good daughter...” the fluffy-haired girl sighed “I wish I was able to remember the kinder side of him too.”. 

Makoto nodded. She too felt like all of her memories of Sae were those, that involved her being mad at Makoto or lecturing her about growing up. “I suspect it’s coming back to me because I feel helpless with this whole situation. If Tsukasa really is involved with Kaneshiro, then Eiko is in danger. But can we really go up against the mafia?”. It was stupid to ask this now, especially since she was the one who pushed everyone else to do it. She knew that she would never be able to let this go, even if Eiko hadn't been involved.

Haru reached over to her and squeezed her hand “All we need to do is keep a level head. Maybe we’ll come up with a plan once we’re there.”

Makoto nodded “You’re right.” she smiled at the girl before getting up again. “I’ll go and make sure that everything is prepared.” she was halfway through the door when she looked at the fluffy-haired girl once more “Thank you, Haru.”

“Alright everyone, you know the drill. Keep this place safe while we’re gone.” Ren announced a few hours later. “We should be back by the end of the day.”

“Where’s Futaba?” Haru asked as she looked into the group.

“She’s pouting upstairs.” Sojiro said. “I’m sure she’ll come down sometime through the day again.”

“Is everyone ready?” Makoto asked. The others nodded. Everyone was equipped with the same weapons as yesterday. Like before, today was only about spotting out the places and getting a feeling of what they were up against. They decided to take Morgana with them, in case they came upon tight spaces. The plan was to drive half the way before walking the rest as to stay unnoticed and to save fuel.

As usual, Makoto took the wheel. In the passenger seat sat Haru, the rest was in the back as they slowly rolled down the narrow road. Back on the loading area, light chatter ensued.

“Those earpieces sure come in handy.” Morgana said.

“True.” Ann said “Although we still never got the answer to our question if she bugged all our rooms too...”

“I guess you would have to worry about this the least, since you room with her and all…” Ryuji shrugged.

“I wouldn’t put it past Futaba to bug her own room...” Yusuke said.

“What the hell? So you are gossiping about me!” Futabas voice sounded muffled, but this time it wasn’t from the earpieces.

Rens focus fell on the big duffle bag that was positioned behind the drivers cabin. Normally they stowed their extra ammunition in there but it seemed like they had a stowaway. The bag started wiggling until the zipper started moving as if by magic. When her carrot orange hair popped out, Morganas face froze.

“You were in there? I kneeled on the bag when we left.” he stammered.

“Yeah and it freakin’ hurt but I couldn’t say anything or you would have ratted me out to Sojiro.” Futaba said as she wiggled her way out of the bag.

“Boss is gonna kill us.” Ryuji groaned.

Ren massaged his temples before he looked at his little sister “You know Sojiro is going to have a heart attack when he finds your room empty, right?”

Futaba waved his comment aside “I’m not an amateur!” she pulled out a big plastic box with a few buttons and an antenna on it. “I came prepared.” she grinned. The radio crackled when she pushed a button “Oracle to homebase, come in!” She visibly enjoyed herself.

After minutes of radio silence Ren cleared his throat “Have you also thought about instructing the others how to use it?”

“Hehe… whoops...” Futaba grinned.

“We’re so dead...” Ann sighed.

Everyone flinched when the walkie-talkie started crackling again “Hello? What is this thing? Oracle?” it was Shinyas voice.

Futaba looked at the others with a triumphant grin “Ahah! I told you!” she pushed down the button before replying “General, put Boss on the line.”

“Um… okay...” the boy replied.

It didn’t take long for Sojiros voice to boom through the speaker “Futaba, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Even over speaker his voice sounded threatening. He wasn’t happy.

“They will need my help! I can’t just stay at home and do nothing!” Futaba replied.

“That is not for you to decide. I am your guardian and you are still a kid. You should do what you’re told instead of running off.”

“Isn’t that exactly what kids do?” Futaba replied.

Everything Sojiro had to answer to that was a growl before saying “Ren, if you hear me, we’re not done talking about this. Keep her and yourself safe so I can murder you myself when you get home.”

“Okay, byeeee!” Futaba quickly replied before packing the radio away again.

“That could have gone better...” Yusuke remarked.

“If I’m going down for this, I’ll drag you all the way to hell with me.” Ren pointed at Futaba. It wasn’t because he thought that Sojiros worries were justified but he couldn’t blame the old man for worrying about his daughter. The “adoptive” was an adjective that noone really used. While Sojiro had learned to trust Ren and the others on their instincts and their abilities, it had never really reached Futaba since she had been a shut-in for so long. In his defence, Futaba had been able to get lost in her own home-town, so maybe his worries were well-founded.

“He’ll be fine. You know him, deep down he loves all of us far too much.” Futaba said.

“That might be the reason why he doesn’t want you to die.” Yusuke said.

“Well no shit, Inari.” Futaba scoffed.

They parked the car somewhere off the road when they spotted a town in the distance. After covering it with some leafs to not make it look too attractive to bystanders, they started their walk towards the alleged mafia-town.

“And you are sure that this will be it?” Haru wondered.

“Judging from Ohyas description it must have been at least a decent-sized town if they had a bank-building. This is the only location that fits the bill...” Ren answered.

The town looked rather lively, bustling with the occasional sleazy looking men. As Ren and Makoto looked around they noticed various faces from New Shinjuku, some of them probably bar owners others guards that were patrolling the streets, apparently not only guarding the streets of New Shinjuku but also this place. Whatever there was to guard, since there was no bank-building in sight.

“So… ya think these guys all belong together?” Ryuji leaned over to mutter into Rens ear.

“Judging from the looks they shoot us, I’d say yes...” Ren muttered back. Some of them ignored them but the track-suit-wearing guys with the sunglasses and machine-guns threw them suspicious looks. Apparently this place wasn’t open to visitors. He made sure to keep a close eye on Futaba as to not lose her. If she got separated from the group here, it could turn out that Sojiro wouldn’t have to kill them later after all.

Futaba however was terribly unfazed by the situation around her. Her interest was directed to some small device in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Ren asked.

“This place.. everything here is connected. Radio waves, wires...” she whispered, impressed. “They’re like… on an entirely different level.”

“The amount of openly carried weapons is unsettling too.” Yusuke uttered.

As everyone took in the intimidating stares Makotos eyes wandered around. She noticed various conversations going on in the streets. Men in business suits having shady conversations, two guards in track-suits whispering while shooting them occasional looks. There were people passing through but everyone who didn’t have any business here looked eager to get out of this place as soon as possible without making a fuss. “Let’s find a spot that’s a little more secluded.” Makoto proposed before leading them into a side-alley.

They ended up in a dead-end street behind an old apartment-complex.

“I think I figured out what this place is.” Makoto suddenly announced.

“You did?!” Ann looked surprised.

“That’s amazing!” Haru exclaimed.

Makoto kept her voice low “My father taught me a lot a lot about criminal organizations. My guess is that all the lower ranks are living and operating from here. The guards that we saw in New Shinjuku must have shifts while living here. I’d imagine that some of them concentrate on wandering around, offering loans to settlers to indebt them. It’s possible that they don’t want people to come here for paying their debts or they use that other village for those debtors who live far away.”

“Damn, that’s impressive.” Ryuji muttered.

“Ohya said that Kaneshiro is in a bank.. So far we haven’t seen one.” Ren brought up.

“We’re not even at the root and this place is already full of suspicious men… Even if we find the bank, do you really think that it is wise to storm in there?” Yusuke asked.

“I have to agree with Fox. Do we even have a plan?” Haru added.

“She’s not wrong… We can’t just barge in there with a bunch of people, ask Kaneshiro to stop and leave again. Judging from the looks of these guys, we’d probably wind up dead...” Ren said.

“I really hate to say this but we might be in over our heads with this one...” Ann had to admit.

“Agreed. It feels like we have only scraped at the surface and we are already outnumbered by far.” Yusuke said. “If we proceed to investigate without a realistic plan at hand, we might be running towards our deaths.”

Makoto chewed her lip. She hated it but they were right. As she was standing in this back-alley of the lions den, Yusuke was right, they had only scraped the surface. There was so much more, waiting to be discovered by her. There were so many mysteries to be solved.

“Queen?” Ren waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention.

“Sorry.” she shook her head. “I was just thinking about something...”

As the others were discussing their next moves, Futabas gaze wandered down the back-alley. She squinted her eyes when she noticed movement in one of the houses farther down. The girl tugged at Morganas sleeve before jerking her head towards the building, signalling him to follow her.

“What are you doing? They’re going to freak out if they find us gone!” Morgana whined as he followed her.

“Relax, we’re just checking out that building down the road.” Futaba whispered.

They found a window to crouch beneath before Futaba started searching her pockets. When she found the item of her desire, a small pocket mirror, she held it up at an angle so she could peek inside. She had always been crafty and she had spent a lot of time testing her gadgets and techniques. If Sojiro didn’t want her to leave, she had just spied on him. Since he would have surely complained if he had noticed, she figured that she must have done some things right. As she was sitting underneath the window, tilting the mirror to get a good view of the room, she spotted two men sitting at an office desk. Lined up against a wall were a dozen people, men and women, most of them young, some of them middle-aged. Beside the line-up stood a guard, his machine-gun ready at his side. The two men at the desk were talking about something but it was incomprehensible to Futaba. She looked at Morgana before a thought crossed her mind. “Hey… you think you can get in there without being seen?” she whispered.

Morganas eyes grew wide “You want me to go in there? Are you sure Ren would allow this?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t but right now all they do is wreck their brains about how little they know. If you can get in there and tape their conversation, we could return to them with some new info.” she held up a small voice recorder. “If you don’t want to do it, I’ll go.” she was determined. She was tired of being treated like a dead-weight. She knew that Sojiro was just worried about her but she was a member of this team as much as the others, so she felt like it was time to do her part.

Morgana grabbed the recorder from her hand “I’ll do it.” he nodded before sneaking off while Futaba continued to watch the conversation in the little mirror in her hand.

Morgana snuck around the corner to peek into another window. It looked like an adjacent room to the one that Futaba was observing now. After carefully checking his surrounding for any possible witness, the kid carefully tried to push open the window. He froze when the window swung open with a high-pitched creak. When a few moments passed without a reaction, Morgana carefully climbed inside. The room was empty and the door was closed. The boy silently walked closer to the door. The closer he got, the clearer the voices on the other side of the wall became. He carefully placed the little recorder by the slit underneath the door and pressed the small button to start the recording. The little gears on the small tape inside started rotating while Morgana crouched beside the door.

“These here would be in your price range. Not the youngest but depending on what you want to do with them, I guess the older ones will do too.” one man said.

“Interesting...” another voice said. Morgana heard floorboards creak. Someone was moving. “You there.” the creaking stopped when the voice spoke up again. “How much do you know about cooking and cleaning a house?”

There was a small sob before a third, rough sounding voice cut in “Answer him, damnit!”

After another sob a female voice could be heard “I… used to cook in my settlement.” her voice was shaky.

The second man spoke up “She does look older compared to the other ones.”. Creaking on the floorboards again. “Are you sure that we can’t do anything about the price here?”

The first voice answered “It seems like what she lacks in youthfulness she brings back in cooking-skills. I’d say if you’re looking for a housekeeper or servant she sounds like a solid choice.” there was a short pause “But since you’re a somewhat loyal customer, I’m willing to offer you a little discount. You can have her for… let’s say 500.000 Yen.”

Morganas eyes grew wide. 500.000 Yen?!

The second man chuckled “It’s a deal then.”

The boy figured that he taped enough when he carefully reached out to grab the recorder to press the Stop-button. He was on his way to the window again when a loud creak errupted from the floorboard underneath him. Morgana stopped dead in his tracks as he strained his ears to listen to the situation in the other room. His forehead started sweating as he listened for any footsteps. He couldn’t hear their voices anymore.

After a few moments of agonizing silence he heard one of the men saying “Damn floorboards...”. The boy stopped holding his breath before carefully making his way back to the window. After climbing down and closing the window again, he snuck back to Futabas location, who was still watching with her mirror.

When Futaba saw Morgana approach, she packed away her mirror and started crawling away from the window before getting back to her feet. The two walked back towards the rest of the Phantom Thieves, who were still having a meeting in the dead-end street.

Morgana handed her the recorder “They’re selling people in there.” he said, still shocked.

“So Queen was right to worry about Eiko...” Futaba whispered.

When they reached the others again, it seemed like noone had noticed that they were gone in the first place. They were still discussing about their options when Futaba cleared her throat “Ahem! We might have something interesting for you.” she said before presenting the little recorder.

When the others only gave her a confused look, Futaba rolled her eyes before hitting Play.

“Human trafficking?” Haru sounded shocked.

“They’re selling people?” Ryuji exclaimed with a mixture between a shout and a whisper.

“So Eiko really could be in danger...” Makoto said.

While the others processed the information from the recording, Rens serious stare was on Futaba “Do I even want to know how you obtained that?” he asked.

“Meh, probably not.” Futaba shrugged. “I’m sure Sojiro wouldn’t want to know either.”

“I guess not.” Ren nodded and with that they had an agreement.

“This is getting worse and worse… How are we supposed to walk away from this now?” Ann sighed.

“Queen, do you think that you could try to convince Eiko with this tape?” Yusuke asked.

Makoto looked torn “It would be wrong to only get Eiko out of this and leave all the other people in captivity….”

“But how are we supposed to get them out? There’s hoards of those brutes with machine-guns.” Ryuji said.

“All would be for naught if we get killed before releasing anyone...” Haru admitted.

“This whole discussion is going nowhere!” Morgana sighed.

“He’s right.. Maybe we should get out of here and try to think of a different approach. This isn’t just some greedy man with three body guards. It would be wise to have a solid strategy this time. Maybe Umbra has some ideas too...” Ren sighed.

“Fine by me. Let’s get going then.” Yusuke nodded.

Makoto reluctantly followed the rest of the team back to the main-street. She felt defeated, not only because they had come here for almost nothing but also because she felt like even if she did show the tape to Eiko, it still wouldn't pin anything on Tsukasa. Everything she had for a connection was the same guys who walked for protection in New Shinjuku and her gut-feeling. If only she would recall some of the men in suits on the streets too. While following the others, she let her eyes wander down the streets and side-alleys. She saw more and more men in track-suits, mixed with men in business-suits. She was about to give up when a particular suit caught her attention from the corner of her eye. It couldn’t be. It would have been too good to be true. But it was.

“I really wonder where that bank is supposed to be though...” Ann muttered as they walked back towards the woods and the place where they hid their car.

“I agree… Since this seems to be the town-center, it would have made the most sense for it to be here...” Haru pondered “What do you think about this, Queen?” she asked as she turned around to the second-in-command, who had brought up the rear-guard before. “Queen?”

Everyone else turned around to find Makoto gone.

Makoto strode through the side-alley after a group of suited men. That hair-style… It must be him. She needed to know. If she was able to link him to this place, Eiko had to believe her and she wouldn’t feel so incredibly useless anymore. Step by step she closed the distance and step by step she felt more sure that it was him. When she rounded the last corner she called out “Tsukasa!”

It felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders when one of the men turned around. It was him. She had been right. A flicker of confusion was visible in his eyes before it was replaced by a smug grin “Look who we have here. Didn’t think that this is your kind of place.” he said.

Makoto caught up with him. The rest of his group looked confused. “It was you, right? You were the one we saw in the village yesterday.” Makoto cut to the point.

Tsukasa crossed his arms in front of his chest “So what? You’re gonna rat me out to...”. There was a far too long silence following.

Makoto looked surprised. He was dumber than anticipated “To who, Tsukasa?” she asked, a cocky grin now spreading on her face.

“You know who I mean.” he spat.

“You call her princess because you don’t care to remember her name, right?” Makoto said “How many girls have you reeled in that way? Did you sell all of them off?” she stepped closer to him. The men that were standing on both sides of Tsukasa seemed to have melted into the background. “I don’t know what you did to wrap her around your finger but I will tell her everything. I will take you and that organization of yours down even if it’s the last thing I do.”

The initial look of unease turned into a sneer “Bring it, bitch.” Tsukasa said, before his friends emerged from the background again, surrounding her. One of them bound her wrists with zip-ties. Tsukasa grinned at the other men before saying “Let’s see what the Boss thinks about this one.” he turned around and started walking.

“Guys, there she is!” Haru called out to the others as she spotted Makoto walking with a bunch of men on the other end of the street.

“What is she doing?” Yusuke asked.

“That idiot… Why would she talk up a whole bunch of them on her own?” Ryuji sounded stressed.

“Guys… this is bad. Her hands are tied up.” Futaba noticed.

Ann watched how Rens face darkened. It looked bestial, as if he was about to run up to them to tear out their throats. Something in his eyes changed from those observant, grey eyes that analysed situations before coming up with elaborate plans, to pits of hatred and rage that couldn’t be bothered with thinking about next steps other than beating the shit out of his opponents. Before she could say something, he barged past everyone, walking in huge strides before starting to run.

“Shit!” Ryuji cursed before he picked up the pace to follow their leader until soon all of them were running down the alley.

As Ren was sprinting down the alley, he couldn’t even think of a witty thought on how his training with Ryuji had benefitted him. All that was on his mind was getting to her. His eyes were fixed on her kidnappers, who shoved her towards a big SUV. It wouldn’t have been Makoto if she didn’t try to fight back but even she couldn’t do a lot against a bunch of well-trained mobsters. They must have noticed them running for when they got into the car, they drove of with squealing tires.

“Now what?!” Futaba asked as they watched the car speed off into the distance.

“They’ll be out of sight soon!” Haru exclaimed.

Ren growled something incomprehensible when he spotted two men standing beside another shiny SUV. He began walking without hesitation. When the two men started to pay attention to him, they were already too late when Ren grabbed one of them by the freshly ironed shirt to hurl him into his friend, the element of surprise causing both of them to tumble to the ground. With two precise hits he had both of them unconscious before getting into the car.

“Whoah, wait up!” Ryuji called out before motioning for the others to follow.

Yusuke hadn’t closed the door yet when Ren hit the accelerator and sped in the direction that Makotos car was off to. He wasn’t the most skilled driver but with no real traffic you didn’t really need to be one any way. With combined effort from Fox and Noir they managed to pull the door closed while going full speed.

“Hey um… I know that we have to catch up to them but could you not kill us in the process?” Futaba exclaimed as she was being tossed around in the trunk along with Morgana. In the rear seats, Ryuji, Haru and Yusuke were clinging to the doors and each other. Ann had climbed up front into the passenger seat and was now holding onto a handle as Ren drove up a winding road like a maniac.

“I think I have to throw up...” Ryuji groaned after the third sharp turn.

“I’ll murder you if you puke down my neck!” Ann threatened since she was sitting in the seat in front of him. She was holding on to different parts of the car with both her hands to stabilize herself.

“I wonder where they are taking her.” Haru said.

“That town that we left seems so far away now..” Futaba noted as she was looking out of the rear window.

“Maybe we were wrong about the location of the bank after all.” Yusuke pondered.

“I think we found it now.” Ren suddenly spoke up. The car in front of them was slowing down. He now steered the car after them with a little bit of distance.

The three Phantom Thieves in the back-seats were on the edge of their seats as their eyes were directed at the wind-shield and the huge bank building that they were approaching.

“Who builds a bank on top of a mountain?” Futaba asked while hugging the headrest of one of the back-seats.

“This place is getting more and more bizarre...” Yusuke muttered.

“Maybe this Kaneshiro has a god-complex… This bank overlooks the whole town. Like he’s the ruler in his palace or something...” Ann thought out loud.

“Guess someone must have had the same complex before him since he definitely didn’t build it himself.” Morgana called out from the back.

Ren watched the car in front of them come to a stop. From all four doors the men streamed out before one of them dragged out Makoto. As they shoved her towards the main entrance, Ren noticed that one of the men walking with them was none other than Tsukasa. “Damn it, Makoto… You just couldn’t wait, could you?” he muttered under his breath before pulling up beside the other car, killing the engine and jumping out.

When everyone had managed to climb out the car and Ryuji had returned from a quick detour to a bush, the group stood in front of the huge bankhouse. Huge columns gave the building an almost antique vibe.

“This is just… tacky...” Yusuke said. It didn’t happen often that he used words like these.

“Let’s worry about the architecture later.” Ren said, carefully reaching for his gun for reassurance. As he turned around he looked at the others who nodded at him. His heart sank for a moment when he noticed Futaba and Morgana. In the heat of the moment he had forgotten that he dragged a kid and his – although just by one year – younger sister into a mafia den. But he couldn’t let them wait outside either. As he looked at Futaba, he realized that she wasn’t in need of his protection. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know exactly how but she had already been able to obtain that recording. “You two keep a low profile, okay? If bullets are flying, you go for cover first thing, got it?”. Morgana and Futaba nodded.

His initial worry of them not being able to find where they took Makoto turned out to be arbitrary for when they entered the big main hall, they found the men gathered in front of what seemed to be a luxurious two-seater. On the marble floor lay Makoto, still tied up and even gagged now. It didn’t take long for them to notice the Phantom Thieves approaching. When the suited men parted in front of them, they revealed a short and fat man sitting on the velvet two-seater. His eyes were small and his puffed up cheeks managed to cover them to a point where Ren had to wonder how he was able to see at all. His suit looked fancy but among all these other mobsters, it didn’t look like something special anymore. If Ren would have been able to tell, he would have guessed that the supposed leader narrowed his eyes.

“So you’re the ones sniffing around in our business.” the only word to describe the mans voice was: slimy.

“We were actually on our way home when this little misunderstanding occurred. We’re just here to pick up our friend and then we’ll be on our way.” Ren put on a laid-back grin while all he wanted to do was shoot all of them.

The man imitated Rens grin while leaning back “You know… My guy here tells me that this friend of yours seems to be quite up in his business. I don’t know if you can relate but if she keeps spouting lies to the wrong people...”

“She’ll stop. None of us will bother you any longer!” Ann put on a wide and innocent smile.

Tsukasa turned to the leader “Kaneshiro, she’s friends with one of my girls. If she blabs to her and word catches on, we could make serious losses...”

Kaneshiro sighed before he looked at Tsukasa “Haven’t I told you to stop boasting so much about everything? If you could just keep a low profile for once...” he grunted before looking at Ren “You think that your little problem can be solved this easily?”

“That’s what I hoped.” Ren answered “We just got lost. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re damn right it won’t happen again because if it does, all of you will have more holes in your bodies than you can count.” Kaneshiro said “You kids have been kind of a nuisance, walking around on our turf doing god knows what… You need to be taught a lesson about not meddling in other peoples business.” he said before sitting down again. “So that’s why you’ll pay me 3 million Yen.”

“3 Million?!” Haru gasped.

“You have two weeks time. I don’t care how you do it… Steal, work for it.. You have some pretty girls among you, so I’m sure there’s a market for them...”

“That is preposterous. We would never be able to come up with that much money in two weeks!” Yusuke exclaimed.

“That sounds like an excuse a person with not enough motivation would make.” Kaneshiro grinned “And that’s why your nosy friend here will stay with me until you pay your debts. Or until you die, if you don’t manage to pay up in time.”

“That’s bullshit!” Ryuji blurted out.

“If you think so. 4 million it is then.”

“WHAT? What would you even want with 4 million Yen?!” the blonde boy exclaimed.

“Skull, shut up!” Morgana called out from behind him.

Kaneshiro chuckled “See, that’s your problem. You should stop caring about the Why I want the money from you and instead start to think about How you’re going to get it. I thought that me taking your friend as a hostage would be enough of an incentive.”

“We don’t work well under blackmail.” Ren tried to play it cool while inside of him a storm was brewing. Kaneshiro was a good haggler and so far it looked like it would need a miracle to turn the odds of taking Makoto with them in their favor again.

“That’s too bad because the only other option is me putting a bullet into each of your heads, starting with the kids in the back-row.” Kaneshiro said.

Ren balled his fists in anger. There was nothing he could do. Kaneshiro knew that he had the upper hand. Everyone knew it but he couldn’t just leave Makoto here. It was safe to assume that there was nothing they could offer in return for Kaneshiro to let Makoto go. Except... "Take me as your hostage instead."

On the floor, Makotos eyes went wide. The entire room fell quiet until Kaneshiro eventually started to chuckle "And why would I do that? A young and attractive girl like her will be of far more interest to my regulars and special customers."

Ren pressed his eyes shut for a few moments to clear his head and to move on to the next phase. If they weren’t able to get Makoto out, he needed to try to assure her safety here. “How will we know that our friend won’t get hurt while being your hostage?”

Kaneshiro bristled “It would be my good right to treat her like an intruder and have her work off her debts.” he seemed to think for a second “But I keep good care of my pawns. If you hold up your end of the deal, she will be returned to you in the same shape as she is in now.”

Ren looked at Makoto. There was defiance in her gaze when their eyes met. She would understand, right? And she wouldn’t do anything stupid while they were gone. Right? Ren hoped that she saw that he was sorry when he said to Kaneshiro “Okay.”

The man nodded “Two weeks from now, you’ll bring the money here and we’ll have an exchange. And now get out of my sight.”

As they were escorted towards the entrance, Ren turned around one last time to look at Makoto. “We’ll get you out!” he called out to her, fully aware that it sounded lame.

As they were standing in front of the bank again, noone dared to speak.

A panicked chuckled escaped Yusuke “4 million Yen.”

“This is insane...” Ann sighed.

Ren was about to say something when someone grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He found himself staring into Tsukasas face “That bitch of yours got lucky.” he growled “If any of you ever set foot into New Shinjuku or try to approach my girls, I will find a way of getting to her and while Kaneshiro made a deal with you to not harm her, I sure as hell didn’t.”. He didn’t wait for a response before walking back inside.

“This is getting shittier and shittier…” Ryuji muttered.

“What are we going to do now?” Futaba asked.

When Morgana looked to their leader, he found a blank face “Let’s… get going for now..” the boy proposed. Normally it was Makoto who would talk whenever Ren was unable to. It seemed like now someone else needed to step in.

“I suppose we shouldn’t take the car we came with, right?” Haru cautiously asked. They had stolen it after all. The rest of the group groaned.

“For real? We have to walk all this way?” Ryuji complained.

Going downhill was easier than the other way around but it still took a good amount of time until the Phantom Thieves were back in the small town. Business was bustling in there as usual, although Morgana guessed that there must be a change of shifts going down at the moment, for there were a lot less guards roaming the streets. As the day started to come to an end, the business-men seemed to have gone back to their night-businesses too. They had almost made it to the other end of the main-street when they passed a gruff-looking middle-aged man walking past them, a bazooka resting on his shoulder. He wore a huge grey coat and a matching cap on top of his head. Placed on the cap was a pair of yellow ear protectors. When Morgana looked at him, he thought that he was scary. The boy was about to avert his gaze again as to not cause another commotion when he noticed the man getting down on one knee in the middle of the main-street, aiming his weapon at one of the buildings. With a hollow sound, the missile was launched and the sound it made on impact was deafening. When Morgana looked to the others, he noticed how they flinched and turned around in shock.

“Shit! Come on! Whatever is going on here, we don’t want a part in it!” Ryuji took charge before ushering everyone further towards the towns border.

While Morgana was running after the rest of the group, he noticed a few of the track-suited men approach the intruder, who had gotten up again and now ran in their direction. Morgana was so confused that he didn’t watch where he or the others were going. A sudden yank on his upper arm directed him into a side-alley, where the others were already waiting. As the kid looked up at the person who had just dragged him in the right direction, he saw that it had been Ryuji.

“What is going on in this place?” Yusuke sounded confused.

“That man just now...” Ann muttered.

“Finally someone with a real weapon.” Haru said, immediately catching a few confused looks “Did I say something wrong?”

When Morgana looked towards the main-street again, he noticed the man running past them, shortly followed by guards who already had their guns drawn. None of them were in sight anymore when three shots rang out. Haru gasped when an eerie silence filled the until now busy street.

“Dammit… missed him again. Shouldn’t we follow him?” they heard one of the guards say on his way back to his original post.

“Don’t worry about it… He’s gotta learn the lesson at some point...” a second voice answered.

Morgana looked at Ren, who still looked lost. The boy tugged at Rens sleeve “Hey.. shouldn’t we go and check on him?” he asked.

“What?” Ann exclaimed.

“There is this saying about your enemies enemy, isn’t there?” Yusuke tried to recall.

“It would already be a huge help if he could just tell us where he found that weapon of his.” Haru said.

“You’re really into that bazooka, huh?” Ryuji sighed.

Haru giggled before turning serious “We will need everything we can get if we want to get Mako-chan out safely.”

Time seemed to be moving again when the Phantom Thieves dared to step out onto the main street. It didn’t take long until Morgana spotted a trail of blood leading out of town and into the woods. You didn’t need to be an ace detective to find the injured gunman leaning against a tree, his face twisted in pain.

When he noticed the strangers approach, he quickly drew a gun. Upon realization that these teenagers didn’t look like Kaneshiros men, his brow furrowed “What the hell do you want?” his voice was low and raspy.

“We thought that you could use some help.” Haru spoke up first.

“Yeah? And what can a bunch of kids do?” he asked before pulling a face.

“This kid here can patch you up for example.” Ren pointed to Morgana. Since Morgana wasn’t the best fighter due to his age and height, he had focused on learning to be the teams medic. And what a medic he turned out to be.

The man let out a snort when he looked at Morgana “And what’s in it for you? There are no good Samaritans in this god damn world.”

Ren felt something of a fresh motivation when another possible path opened up in front of him “We seem to have a mutual enemy. Why don’t we talk about that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope I didn't promise too much, but yeah, this is where the Kaneshiro-arc really starts. Makotos gut had been right all along, but her obsession with uncovering the truth has thrown the Phantom Thieves into the cold water. What should have been a slow operation to learn more about their new enemy now turns into a run against the clock to save one of their own. And who might the mysterious man with the bazooka be? ;)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think:)


	20. With Our Backs Against The Wall

“Looks like the bullet went right through.” Morgana said as he wrapped a bandage around the arm of the man with the bazooka. “This should do until we’re somewhere safe and with better equipment...” he said.

The man slowly got back to his feet before grunting “I know where we can go. We can talk there.”.

Considering that the man had been shot in the arm, he was still able to walk quite the distance. The Phantom Thieves started to wonder if they were following him into a trap when they arrived at a cabin. Midway they had decided to split up, so Morgana could retrieve his medical kit from the hidden car. Ann, Futaba and Yusuke volunteered to go with the kid. From the outside, the mans shack looked run-down and empty, but that was the vibe that most houses went with these days. The man unlocked five padlocks until finally pushing the door open.

Harus eyes went wide when she looked at racks and displays full of weapons.

“Dude, you got a freaking arsenal in here!” Ryuji exclaimed.

The man motioned for them to follow him into the next room, where two couches were set up. He dropped down on one of them. “Guess I should uphold my part of the deal while we're waiting... What do you want to know?” he sighed.

“Well, the first thing that comes to mind is why you waltz into a gangs headquarters to blow up a random building?” Ren sat down on the second couch. Haru and Ryuji were still perusing the other room, the blonde boy focused on a shotgun and Haru had her hand on a battleaxe.

The man scoffed “You can call it a little fight between neighbors. They’re trying to recruit me to supply them with weapons.. Recently, they have gotten pushy. I’m just fighting fire with fire.”

“I wouldn’t want to be in this shack if they decide to return the favor.” Ren said. Busting out the charm seemed like the natural thing to do, but he couldn’t help but notice that today it felt forced and wrong. With every moment the man beat around the bush, the more nervous he got for treading in the same spot for too long. They didn’t have time to pull the intel out of the guys nose. Some part of his brain constantly felt like screaming, but he pushed it down.

The mans head turned towards the other room, where Haru was giving the battleaxe a few test swings. She looked incredibly happy. Ryuji was standing beside her, chuckling at first before his demeanor changed when he found himself ducking away to protect his head. “That girl seems to know her way around an axe...”

“And she’s not using it to chop wood...” Ren answered, looking at the brown-haired girl who was now tracing a finger over the edge of the axe.

There was a short knock on the door before the rest of the group walked in, an equally surprised look on their faces when their eyes fell upon the various weapons. Morgana carried his medical kit under his arm, that he now set up in the assumed living room.

“Pfft… getting patched up by a little kid… I’m getting old..” the man bristled while Morgana pulled off the bandage. “Who taught you stuff like that?”

Morgana squinted his eyes while dabbing alcohol on both the wounds “Books… hands-on practice… This guy over here hurt himself a lot before was able to show off with his knife skills.” he jerked his head toward Ren.

Ann couldn't hide a short giggle.

“I thought we had an agreement to keep quiet about this...” Ren muttered.

“By the way, what is your name?” Yusuke asked.

The man looked at the lanky artist before rolling his eyes “Iwai.”

“So, Iwai-san...” Haru started, formal and courteous as usual. The battleaxe was still resting in her hands, as if it had finally found the place it belonged. “We were wondering if you know anything about Kaneshiro and that bank.”

The man looked surprised “That’s what you want to know about?” he shook his head “You guys must be either crazy or stupid. Noone goes to Kaneshiros bank for a heist...”

“Except for this is not about a heist...” Ann said.

“Yeah… we got something – or rather someone – in there, that we desperately need back again.” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck.

“Huh… so Kaneshiro has taken another pawn?” Iwai pulled a face when Morgana started stitching him up.

“Since apparently you also aren’t Kaneshiros biggest fan… is there anything we need to know? Cause there’s no way in hell that we can come up with 4 million in two weeks.” Ren continued.

Iwai looked unfazed “Kaneshiro runs a tight ship. He ties up loose ends, he chooses to keep more guards than necessary at all times. If you ask for my opinion: If you want your friend back, you’ll have to pay up.”

“That’s… not what we wanted to hear...” Yusuke sighed.

“But everyone has weaknesses!” Futaba exclaimed.

“Banks are built to protect and if they’re owned by the biggest cheapskate they become impenetrable.” Iwai said through clenched teeth while Morgana was doing stitch after stitch.

“Is that why you resolved to just-” Ren raised his shoulders “blowing up houses?”

Iwai huffed “Look, I’ll admit that you might not have seen my clearest moment, but I know that in the end I will have to bend to his will. He can look at it as a demonstration of my trade.”. He cast a look at his arm, where Morgana had wrapped around a clean bandage. “That’s some good work there, kid.” he admitted.

Morgana looked pleased as he packed up his med-kit.

“So… that’s it? That’s all you’ll tell us?” Ryuji called out.

“I don’t know what you expected. These guys are no amateurs.” Iwai said as he got up. “Thanks for patching me up, kids. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

Haru looked sad when she carefully placed the axe back onto the rack.

“Back to the drawing board it is then...” Yusuke sighed.

“You’re already thinking of painting?” Ann looked surprised.

“We could defs use the money, pretty boy.” Futaba said as she walked towards the door.

Ren was the last to leave when he turned around one more time to look at Iwai “You got someone in there too, right?”

The man reluctantly nodded.

Makoto was shoved through the hallways of the bank building. After the rest of the Phantom Thieves had been escorted out, her kidnappers had shown the mercy of at least ungagging her. For now, Makoto decided to play along. No matter what she would have tried, she would have been on the losing end. On the inside, she was fuming. She still saw Tsukasas stupid smile in front of her inner eye. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been. How had she completely ignored the men that Tsukasa had been with? What had she been thinking, when she charged at Tsukasa? Sadly, the consequences for her actions were immediate but what was even worse was, that she caused trouble for the rest of the Phantom Thieves too. As if it hadn’t been embarrassing enough to be tied up on the floor like some deer that they had shot, she also wasn’t able to get the expression on Rens face out of her head. He had looked nervous and maybe even scared? 4 million Yen for all of their lives. And all because of her obsession with digging up dirt on Tsukasa. Because that’s what her father would have done, and hopefully her sister too. But they would have went about this in a more professional way. Maybe she really was useless after all. Or even worse: a liability. She had run off like a little child only to then get abducted. Talk about needing to keep an eye on Futaba. At least she didn’t get herself kidnapped.

One of the guards that accompanied her unlocked a door before shoving her inside. It must have been an office once, but now it seemed to be a holding cell. Outside of the windows were iron bars, supposedly ever since the days that this building was still a bank. Compared to the holding cells that she used to lock people into back in Jinbocho, this room looked rather luxurious. There even seemed to be a separate bathroom. As she stood in the middle of the room, she noticed a boy about the same age sitting on one of the camping mats.

“Hello.” the stranger said.

Makoto nodded “It seems we’re going to be cell mates.”

“Did they kidnap you too?”

“I don’t want to give them too much credit… I’m afraid I almost ran into their arms.” Makoto admitted. “How long have you been here?”

“About a week…”

Makoto sighed before dropping down onto the second mat “My name is Makoto.” she introduced herself. She figured that she could at least share her real name with her cell companion.

The boy nodded “I’m Kaoru. It’s nice to finally be able to talk to someone again… I think I was starting to go crazy in here...”

“So they won’t let us out to go some other places?”

“Only if your debtor demands to see if you’re okay… Then you get paraded downstairs into the main-hall before being shoved back.” Kaoru replied.

Makoto remembered that last look that Ren had shot her as he was escorted outside. He had told her that they would get her out, but after seeing and hearing about the way this organization worked, she feared that this wouldn’t be as easy as Madarame. Her eyes wandered across the room a she scanned her surroundings. There had to be something. A loose floorboard. Anything. She noticed how Kaoru was eyeing her sceptically.

“When I first got here, I was like you. I kept thinking that there must be a way for me to get out on my own. But there isn’t… There’s multiple guards in the hallways at any time, all of them armed to the teeth. They really want to keep their assets safe...” Kaoru said.

Makoto sighed. She had never been an asset before. Moments of silence passed, when Makoto finally asked “So what’s your asset?”

“My father is a well-known gunsmith… They want his support but he said No, so they wanted to have a better argument…” Kaoru sounded sad. “What about you?” Kaoru asked.

While telling the entire story of today, Makoto once again realized how incredibly stupid she had been. It was almost embarrassing to tell Kaoru that she had just barged up to an obvious member of the mafia, insulted him and completely ignored his friends around her.

“That wasn’t smart...” Kaoru noted.

Makoto couldn’t help but let out a desperate chuckle “It sure wasn’t...”. She sighed “I made everything so much harder for my friends… It was me who kept pushing them to investigate this too...”. It was more a thought to herself when she muttered “Sis was right… Seems like my fathers lofty ideals are my downfall after all.”

Kaoru shifted in his seat before saying “But if you think that your fathers ideals are right, maybe it’s best to stick with them before they get lost? Sometimes sticking to what’s right is the harder path… But maybe it’s worth it too?”

Makoto smiled “You’re right… It’s kind of refreshing to hear this.”

“You’re father seems like an honest man.”

Makoto managed a sad smile “He truly was.”

“Oh… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. He died doing what he thought was right and that was protecting people. My sister despises him for it, but I… think that his deeds were quite admirable, even if they ultimately cost him his life.” Makoto sighed.

“I bet your sister is furious about you getting kidnapped then.”

“Chances are very low of her ever getting to know that… I haven’t heard from her in years.”

“So you’re traveling with just your friends?” Kaoru looked surprised.

Makoto nodded “My sister left me to pursue her own justice. I still don’t know what that means...”

“And I thought my family-situation was complicated.” Kaoru muttered.

“What about yours?” she asked.

“It has always been me and my father. My mother died right after I was born, so he was the one who raised and provided for me. He.. was working a lot. Selling guns, maintaining them… I know that he did it so he could keep us fed and protected but I feel like he became more and more distant over the last weeks. Like he was hiding something from me... Or maybe I just disppointed him... I don't know...”

“Maybe he just didn’t want to worry you with something?” Makoto replied.

“Yeah, but see what that got us? If he had told me what’s going on, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this place right now!” Kaoru said. “Now they force him to make weapons for them in return for my freedom… He’ll just resent me even more for getting caught and there’s nothing that he can do because he’s stuck with me because I’m his son.”

Makoto wondered if her own mind-set regarding her family was equally set in stone as Kaorus. She used to think that her sisters love was something that she desperately needed, because she was her family. She was her blood and she needed to get along with her, because who else would she have, if not Sae. In a way, she had believed that Sae must feel obligated to love her as her sister too. After all, they were the only ones left. Who else could they have? But Sae leaving had opened her eyes. Her sister wasn’t obligated to be with her and vice versa. If Sae had never left, she would have never met Ren and the others and she would have never experienced how loving and warm a family could be. She would have never learned that it didn’t take blood to make a family. She looked at Kaoru "If my sister taught me anything, it's that even blood can't force you to love people. I'd say your father still sticking around seems like a good sign."

Their drive got more and more depressing the closer they got to home, when the direness of their situation became more and more apparent.

“How are we supposed to get out of this?” Ann sighed as they were sitting in the back of the car, driving along the bumpy road.

“Hey, it’s not over yet! We haven’t even begun! I’m sure Ren already has an idea.” Ryuji tried to lighten mood.

Yusuke cast a look through the rear window of the drivers cabin. Ren was currently sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window. “I’m afraid to say it, but it seems like our leader is at a loss too...”

“When we were in there, I busted out some of my gadgets and… they’re really overpowered tech-wise.” Futaba stammered “I’m talking cameras, communication…”

“How were they even able to get all that stuff?!” Morgana exclaimed.

“How should I know?!” Futaba shrieked.

“Damnit! Are we already sure to lose?” Ryuji winced.

“Calm down, everyone!” Ann called out. “We… shouldn’t lose our heads over this now! We have two weeks! I’m sure we can come up with something.” despite her positive words, she felt more than hopeless too. “We just… have to.”

In the drivers cabin Ren was staring out the window, watching the trees pass them by. His initial hope that Iwai would be able to give them information so useful that it would magically make it all clear and give them the upper hand in a fight against the mafia might have been a little too optimistic on his end. He didn’t recognize himself. He felt like his brain should be constantly working, thinking of strategies, of people to ask, of things to prepare, of intel to gather. Yet all he could think of was the tied-up Makoto laying on the marble floor in front of Kaneshiros throne and the defiant yet defeated look in her eyes. Instead of thinking tactics, all he could think of was going in there and tear the whole building down until he found her and was able to cut those restraints.

“I just hope Mako-chan is alright...” Haru suddenly spoke up from behind the wheel.

Ren nodded “Yeah… Me too.” he shook his head “I should have known. I should have looked out for her more. She was too emotionally involved with this from the beginning...” he muttered, his gaze still fixed on the woods.

“You can’t blame yourself.” Haru softly said. “Noone could have known that our tactician would go rogue like this.”

Ren shook his head “I should have guessed and yet I did nothing to prevent it.”. He remembered their first mission together. His very first humane impression of Makoto had been her stubbornly declaring that she wasn’t useless before charging ahead into a battle with a shadow.

“You trusted her. If we needed to keep an eye on each other at any time, than what kind of team would we be?” Haru replied, her voice considerate and kind. “None of this is your fault.”

“Then why do I feel like it is?” Ren replied, helpless from the sheer blood-lust that raged in his head when he imagined clamping his hands around Kaneshiros throat until his face turned purple.

Haru smiled a patient smile when she took her eyes off the road ahead for a moment to look at him “Because you care about her.”

“I care about all of you, but I’ve never felt this lost before.” Ren answered before returning to staring out the window.

When they pulled up in front of LeBlanc2, they were greeted by an angry Sojiro.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he growled at Futaba as she hopped off the back. He was about to hold a speech when Futaba threw herself at him to crush him into a hug. Sojiro, perplexed by the sudden outburst of affection, looked into the faces of the other Phantom Thieves. “What’s with all the gloomy faces?” he asked, no trace of anger to be heard anymore.

“Makoto was abducted!” Futaba blurted out before bursting into tears, still clinging to Sojiro.

Sojiros eyes went wide before he carefully put his hands on Futabas shoulders. “Let’s… go inside.” he said before leading Futaba into the house, shortly followed by the others.

With a heavy heart, the Phantom Thieves gave a recap of their day. When they were done, Sojiro shook his head “What was she thinking?” he asked. It managed to sound angry, disappointed and frustrated at the same time.

“Blaming her won’t change anything.” Ren sighed, but his usually so diplomatic tone seemed to have lost its edge. He just sounded defeated now. Normally, Makoto would be the one to take the lead whenever he was unable to, but now it felt like everyone was looking to him for a completed plan.

“If what Iwai said is true, we should start thinking about how to come up with 4 million Yen...” Yusuke eventually said when he realized that Ren wasn’t about to say anything.

“4 million...” Sojiro muttered under his breath like a parent who couldn’t believe what his children had just done.

“Even if we do every job there is, there’s no way that we’ll get this much in less than two weeks!” Ann exclaimed.

“Especially since most of our contracts are with people who pay us in other things than money….” Mishima said.

“So the only trades that could actually bring us some cash are Inaris paintings and maybe Harus vegetables?” Futaba asked.

“Maybe you could sell some of your tech-stuff?” Morgana proposed.

“Hnngh…” Futaba flinched before balling her hands into fists “I’ll… I’ll do it if it helps Makoto!” she called out.

“I don’t think that we should start rigging games again, but please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.” Hifumi spoke up.

“Sojiro could sell his stew! And I can give aiming-lessons!” Shinya proposed.

As more and more ideas came up to gather money for Makotos release, Ryuji noticed Ren sitting on the couch, staring into empty space, not moving a muscle. Wherever he was, he wasn’t here with them. Their normally so determined and solution-creative leader was nothing but a shell of himself. The blonde boy thought that he had never seen his best friend so lost.

“Oh! And don’t forget the eggs!” Futaba exclaimed.

Even with his voice nothing more than a whisper, Ren managed to have the whole room fall quiet. “It’s no use...”

The Phantom Thieves all looked at their leader.

“Don’t you get it? No matter what we sell, it doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have rich people to sell to.” Ren said.

“Then… what else can we do?” Yusuke asked.

“All of Madarames gold must be gone by now too.” Hifumi uttered.

Sojiro huffed “I told you that you shouldn’t have gone there! Just because you managed to take down Madarame, doesn’t mean that you can go and rough up the mafia!” he growled “That’s what you get for wanting to play heroes of justice. I don’t know what happened, but Makoto should have known better.”

Rens face turned into a grimace when the constant screaming in his brain suddenly seemed to take over everything in him. He jumped to his feet to rush out. As if he didn’t know himself that all of them had fucked up. But like Makoto, he too had a far too strong sense of justice. They should have never gone there. It was a stupid idea and they had learned nothing. On top of that, they even managed to get one of them abducted. He forcefully pushed the front door open. As he was standing in the front yard, he screamed. He screamed all his frustration out into the night. Only when his throat started to hurt, he stopped to take a deep breath.

“Ren?”

He whirled around to look at Ann. The blonde girls face was lined with worry.

“We need to keep a clear head about this.” she calmly said.

“Oh please, don’t tell me that you wouldn’t have burned the place down already if it was Ryuji in there.” Ren spat at her.

“I would, but then you would be the one to tell me to calm down.” Ann replied.

Ren squatted down while holding his head in his hands “I… don’t know what to do…. I have no idea how we could get her out of this.” he muttered.

Ann looked down at the curled up Ren. She had never seen him this helpless. Normally he always was the one to call everyone together, to sit down and to approach everything with a clear head. She walked up to him to place a hand on his shoulder “You don’t have to work this out on your own.” she calmly said “All of us, we want to get out Makoto too.”

Ren took a deep breath before getting back to his feet again. He turned to Ann, who gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re right. Thank you.” he said.

Ann nodded, giving his shoulder a last squeeze before saying “Come on, let’s go back inside.”

Ren shook his head “You go ahead.. I’ll stay here for a bit longer.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I just need to clear my head a bit.” Ren forced a smile for her.

Ann gave him a skeptic look before she reluctantly nodded and walked back inside. As she entered the living room, she was greeted by inquisitional looks from the rest of the team.

“So? What did he say?” Morgana asked.

Ann shook her head before dropping down on the sofa beside Haru “He seems… pretty unfocused.”

“On our way here, he kept saying that it’s all his fault.” Haru sounded sad.

“But that’s bullshit! How should he have known that Makoto would go solo and get kidnapped?” Ryuji cursed.

“Thoughts like that will leave him unable to make any impartial decisions...” Yusuke uttered.

Futaba glared at Sojiro “Why would you yell at us like that? It’s not like we don’t know that we messed up!”

“Guys, this is no time for fighting!” Ann cut everyone off. “If Ren can’t do it at the moment, then at least we should keep a cool head. For him. And for Makoto too.”

“You’re right.” Haru nodded before looking into the round “We don’t have to come up with a bulletproof plan tonight. We should all go to bed and get some rest.”

“Everyone, try to think on your own of something, anything, that we could do!” Morgana ordered.

“I dare to say that at this point, every idea is worth a second thought.” Yusuke agreed.

The others nodded before splitting up to retire to their rooms. The only one who stayed behind was Ryuji, who decided to check on Ren outside. He almost couldn’t find him at first, as the dark-haired boy who always dressed in dark clothes was laying on the lawn. Ryuji sat down beside him “You okay, man?” he asked.

In the dark, Ren managed a weak smile before sitting up “Kind of…” he looked up at the sky before chuckling lightly “Damn… I think now I know how it feels to be blind with rage. Is that the Ryuji-experience?”

Ryuji snorted. Rens attempt at a light conversation was pathetic because he couldn’t get rid of the weight in his voice. “Something like that.” the blonde boy grinned.

“I feel so incredibly angry and at the same time so clueless… All this rage is clouding my thoughts and I hate it.” Ren muttered. “How do you get it under control?”

Ryuji shrugged “I dunno… I’m not the master tactician, so I guess I mostly bottle it up until we have a plan and then let it all out...”

“Huh… that’s not really an option when there’s people who are looking to you for a plan...” Ren stated. “I don’t even know how I should go to sleep. I feel like running in circles, but not because it would help me think but really.. just run in circles and panic.”

“Hm..” Ryuji pondered before getting back to his feet “Then maybe you need to blow off some steam.” he said before dragging Ren to his feet. “Come on! Hit me!”

Ren raised an eyebrow “What?”

“You heard me. Hit me! Punching it out works wonders.”

“I’m not going to hit you!” Ren said.

“Then what’s your plan? Are you going to go to bed and get some sleep?” Ryuji asked, jumping up and down, as if he was warming up for something.

“I told you, I can’t.” Ren replied.

“Then...” Ryuji pointed at himself before doing a series of shadow hooks.

“This is ridiculous. Beating you up won’t help me.”

“You can’t say that if you never tried it.” Ryuji had a challenging grin on his face when he gave his best friend a light shove. “Come on, give it all you got. Just maybe not in the face.”

Ren sighed before raising his fists. His first two – reluctant – swings were easily blocked by Ryuji.

“Is that all you can do?” Ryuji taunted “Lame! How are you going to get Makoto out of there with hooks like these?”

Ren grunted before stepping up the speed. Soon, he didn’t register his opponent as his best friend anymore when he let his rage flow into his muscles and let his anger guide him.

While relaxed at first, Ryuji soon found himself in a real challenge to counter and block Rens blows. “So what are you going to do?” he goaded him.

Ren huffed, accentuating every word with a punch “I don’t know yet. But I’ll find out. And then I’m going to kill that bastard Kaneshiro. And finally go on that date with Makoto.”

His last sentence threw Ryuji off-guard, causing Rens fist to directly connect with the blonde boys jaw. Ryuji staggered back a step, looking surprised.

“Shit, I’m sorry...” Ren said, his rage immediately gone.

Ryuji popped his jaw back into place before a wide grin spread on his face.

“That… kinda slipped out..” Ren scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. He went through all kind of emotions today. Was this how Makoto felt whenever he teased her?

Ryuji grinned “So that’s where you guys are at.”

Ren stretched his arms while saying “We’re not really at anything. We just happened to talk about it on our way back from that double-date. We were kind of busy with other things since then.” He dropped back down onto the lawn.

Ryuji slumped down beside him “So I was right about her being your type!” he teased.

Ren sighed “Of course she’s my type. She wears black all the time, she’s got brains for days and when you actually get her to smile at you it makes your heart melt.”

“No wonder you’re freaking out this hard...” Ryuji replied.

“I guess you’re the one who can relate to that best, huh?”

Ryuji wanted to stammer his usual excuses before deciding against it. It was no use with Ren anyway “Yeah… guess you’re right…”

“You know that she basically admitted to burning down a house for you?” Ren casually said.

Ryuji looked confused before a faint smile tugged at his lips “Sounds like her...”

“Seriously though, isn’t it like… already a done deal with you two? Everyone knows that you’re going to end up together. The only ones acting dense about it are you and her.”

“Why are we even talking about this? 10 minutes ago you were all lost and mopey and now after you punched me in the face you’re suddenly trying to play matchmaker?” Ryuji exclaimed, giving Ren a shove.

Ren chuckled “Hey, I thought you wanted to help me take my mind off of things. This whole will-they-won’t they with you and Ann provides just that.”

“Are you up in everyones business like this or just mine?” Ryuji sighed.

“You’re beating around the bush. Why don’t you just spit it out already? Do you like Ann?”

“Of course I like Ann!”

“Yeah, but you know how I mean it.” Ren pushed.

“You’re effing annoying, you know that?” Ryujis voice rose to heights unknown so far.

“You’re stalling again.”

“Ugh, fine!” Ryuji groaned before muttering through gritted teeth “Maybe I like Ann.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Maybe?”

“Fine, cut the maybe.” Ryuji hissed. “Are you happy now?”

Ren grinned “Gonna sleep like a baby tonight.”

Ryuji got up “Great, so we can go hit the hay now.”.

As they walked back to the house, Ren noted how for a short time he was able to forget about the big picture threatening them. While he felt a little guilty about having pushed aside his worry for Makoto to banter with Ryuji, for the first time since Makotos abduction, his mind felt clear. Like he was able to think again.

They were about to retire to their respective rooms, when Ren turned to Ryuji “Thanks man. Your method really helped. Sorry for hitting you though...”

Ryuji flashed him a grin before saying “Don’t sweat it. Somehow having you punch me in the face was still not as uncomfortable as you grilling me about feelings.”. He patted Ren on the shoulder "Hey. We'll get her back." 

For the first time that day, Ren actually believed so too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guessed correctly, the mystery man was Iwai.
> 
> So our Thieves are dealing with the weight of their situation and especially the usually so calm and level-headed leader seems to be hit very hard by losing his second-in-command. Also in this chapter: Ryuji being a bro.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think:)


	21. A Step Forward

In Ryujis dream, they were standing in what looked like Madarames gallery again, looking at paintings, but somehow he wasn't able to register anything because the only thing he could focus on was her hand in his. They stopped in front of what seemed to be one of Yusuke strange fever-dream paintings when Ann looped her arms around Ryujis neck like she had done back then. She was about to say something when his sleep was interrupted by the door being ripped open, followed by a short shriek from Mishima.

Ryuji blinked the sleep away before sitting up in his bed. On the other side of the room, Mishima looked horrified, his blanket pulled up to his chin. The cause for his distress seemed to be Ann, who in the short time between her noisy entry and him opening his eyes, had already crossed the room to go trough Ryujis drawers.

“What the eff...” Ryuji sighed.

“Relax, I just want to borrow a sweatshirt.” she answered while filing through his clothes.

“Then why don’t you go and bother the girls?!” he groaned.

“Because yours are more comfortable.” she replied, unbothered. “I’m looking for the red one. Did you put it somewhere else?”

“Ann, get out!” Ryuji groaned “You’re making Mishima uncomfortable.”

The girl seemed to notice Mishima for the first time when she said “Oh, hey Mishima. Sorry, I won’t be long.”

“Uh… uh… no problem...” Mishima stuttered, still desperately clinging to his blanket.

“See, he doesn’t mind.” Ann shrugged as she turned back to Ryuji. “So? Where is it?”

Ryuji dropped back onto the mattress “You’re so annoying!” he exclaimed.

“You’re making things more complicated than they could be.” Ann groaned before throwing Yusukes pillow at him. “Come on! Just tell me already!”

Ryuji rolled his eyes before pushing himself out of bed. Before Ann could react, he grabbed her by the waist to throw her over his shoulder. Under loud protest from the girl, he carried her towards the door to put her back down in the hallway. With an annoyed look on his face he reached for the red sweatshirt that had been laying on the chair by the door the entire time and threw it at her face before slamming the door shut. She called out a “Thanks” through the closed door as Ryuji stomped back to his bed. Sometimes he didn’t understand himself. How could he like someone this annoying? Telling Ren in the front-yard yesterday had been the first time he had said it out loud. He liked Ann. More than anything. He couldn’t remember when exactly he started to see Ann as something more than his partner-in-crime and partner in basically everything else too. Maybe it was just one time too many that she had casually hung from his shoulder or given him one of those excited laughs when they beat up shadows together, that somehow managed to slow time and space and send his heart for a jolt mid-fight. Maybe it was in Kamoshidas castle, when the thought of that mans hands on her had sent him into a rage that he had never experienced before. Ren was right, Ryuji did know what it felt like to be blind and incapacitated by his own anger and bloodlust. It had always been related to Her. He knew that she was strong. She was the only one who managed to kill shadows and incapacitate raiders while still looking breathtaking at the same time. And still he couldn’t help but see red whenever she was in danger, the thought of her getting hurt sending his ears ringing and blood pumping at tremendous speed. It’s been like this forever and while Ryuji had liked to tell himself that it was because of their close friendship and growing up together, something had changed along the way. Something that suddenly made him flustered, especially when she had pretended to be his girlfriend back at Madarames gallery. Something that made him want to kiss her.

The blonde boy was just about to fall back asleep when he heard the door open again. He sat up a with an annoyed groan “Ann I swear to- Oh. Hey Ren.”

Ren cast him a confused look before saying “It’s good that I find you two here. I have an idea. Mishima, I need you to set up another meeting with Becky.”

Mishima and Ryuji shared a confused look “Are.. Are you sure that this is the right time to do that?” Mishima asked.

Ryuji too was surprised to hear his best friend talking about the maid-service again, when only last night they had talked about him and Makoto.

Ren chuckled “It’s not what you think. I just remembered that Kawakami said that she needed the job for the money. Since we know that New Shinjuku is run by Kaneshiros clan and that they also seem to be meddling in the maid-business, I thought why not ask her if she works for them?”

“You think that Becky works for them?” Mishima gulped.

“Man, this is messed up… She taught me how to read.” Ryuji muttered.

“I’ll get ready and go right away.” Mishima nodded before getting up.

“You seem to be in a better place today.” Ryuji noted after Mishima left for breakfast.

Ren nodded “Yeah… My head feels a lot clearer now. Your method really worked.” he smirked. “Why did you think that I was Ann when I just entered?”

Ryuji sighed “Because she was here just moments before you to steal my clothes.”

Ren cast him an unsurprised look. He had known them for long enough to know that this was nothing new. He turned towards the door when he said “You’re late for breakfast.”

When Ryuji entered the kitchen, the first thing he saw was his sweatshirt on Ann. It was already huge on him, so on her it almost looked like a dress, that she had combined with tight black leggins and ankle-high canvas sneakers. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and there were two braided rows at the side of her head. It was a mature look that she actually managed to pull off, instead of her usual fantasies of being what she called a "femme fatale", Ryuji thought. He had never understood that particular desire. She was fatal but in her own, kind of cute, way and he liked her just fine how she was. He couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on her a little longer. Something about seeing her in his clothes sent a flush creeping up his neck.

When Ann noticed Ryuji staring at her, she rolled her eyes with a grin. It was kind of fun to make Ryuji - the person who never seemed at a loss for words – lose his voice. Ann actually found his flustered face sort of cute. She quickly turned towards Ren when she felt her cheeks heating up, when Ryuji took a seat beside her. “So, Mishima seemed to be in a hurry… Did you already come up with a plan?”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan yet, but maybe it’s a lead.” Ren said, sipping his tea and hoping that noone would want to know any further details.

“I have come up with an idea too.” Morgana proudly announced.

“Don’t you mean “we”?” Ann sighed.

“Haru, Lady Ann and I will be paying the fortune teller another visit. Maybe she knows some of the other victims.” Morgana was unfazed by Anns comment.

“Sounds as good a plan as any.” Ren nodded before looking at the others “The rest can stay home. Try to think of any other approaches that we might not have considered so far. We don’t know if locating more victims will be of any use to us, but it’s a start.” Ren leaned forward “We’ve never had a time-limit like this before. I don’t like the idea of leaving Makoto alone in there for too long, but I think it’s safe to assume that Kaneshiro won’t harm her until the end of our deadline, which is in 13 days. I’d say that we make good use of this time.”

The rest nodded before everyone disbanded to their respective tasks of the day.

“I wonder if Chihaya will see into your future too.” Morgana said as he was walking towards the small town alongside Ann and Haru.

“I would like to know what the future holds for me...” Haru pondered.

“Oooh, when I was little, there was this woman who lived in our settlement who claimed to be able to see into the future too.” Ann recalled “She was pretty weird and I don’t remember that any of her predictions came true… It’s always been the exact opposite.”

“So did you have your fortune read by her?” Haru asked.

“It wasn’t like anyone would go and ask her… She would just shout it at you when you passed her in the streets.” Ann explained.

“Did she say anything about a younger man sweeping you off your feet?” Morgana asked. He still wasn’t ready to settle in the little-brother-zone.

“If Ann says that her predictions never came true, wouldn’t it actually be bad for you if she had predicted this?” Haru asked.

Ann tried to recall the womans words before saying “Not really…. She kept talking about how I hadn’t met him yet and what a calm character he would be...”

“I’m not calm!” Morgana was quick to point out.

“But that must mean that Ann had to know him back then too.” A wide smile appeared on Harus face “And I think I know who that could be.”. She started giggling.

Ann sighed. Had it really been written in stone already so long ago? Was it really as obvious as everyone claimed?

It wasn’t long until they approached Chihayas table in the middle of the streets. She wasn’t with a customer at the moment, so the young woman sat alone as she absentmindedly shuffled her tarot-deck. She was wearing a tie-dyed dress on top of a long-sleeved shirt and her eyes looked a little sadder than the first time Morgana and Ren had met her. She cast a puzzled look at the group in front of her until she seemed to recognize the little kid. A tinge of fear could be seen in her eyes when she said “I’m sorry… I can’t pay you back yet.”

“That’s not why we’re here.” Ann tried to calm her down “Would you like to talk somewhere a little more... less public?”

Chihaya gave Ann a puzzled look before muttering “I… feel like I’ve seen you before...”. She furrowed her brow before shaking her head. The fortune teller got up and lead them into a house, that the others guessed to be hers. “I don’t sell stones anymore, if that’s what you wanted to check.” she said, a little bit irritated.

“We’re not here because of that.” Haru reassured her. “We wanted to ask if you happen to know any other victims of that clan that lent you the money?”

“Huh?” Chihaya looked surprised before pondering “There have been a few of my clients who wanted to get a money reading recently… That doesn’t have to mean anything though, some people just want to be rich.”

“So noone comes to you because they’re scared or something?” Ann asked.

Chihaya knitted her brow “I wouldn’t be able to help them with their fear, if that’s what you mean. Fate is still absolute...”

Morgana noticed that her mantra didn’t seem as convinced as before. “But don’t the people trust you and talk to you? Why would anyone ask for your relationship-advice, if they didn’t?”

“Didn’t you notice that that man was pretty quick to listen to your friends advice rather than mine?” the fortune teller replied, annoyed. “They come to me because they want advice on what path to take.” the woman focused on the ground “I can speak from experience that in these cases, there’s not really an option but to pay up...”

The three Phantom Thieves shared an uncertain look before Ann spoke up “So, if you stopped selling holy stones…”

Chihaya sighed “One of their middle-men approached me recently. They wanted their next rate by next week, but I was able to draw that out so they want me to be at the usual place by Friday in two weeks…” she shivered “I have already been late with my payments two other times… I don’t know how long I can keep this up...”

Morgana looked up at the girls “That’s 13 days, right?”

Haru nodded “So in 13 days one of the men will wait for you in that abandoned village?”

Chihaya nodded, slightly confused.

Ann turned to Haru “Do you think that they make the trip from their headquarters?”

“It would make sense...” Haru shrugged.

“Can you remember how many people there usually are at these pick-ups?” Ann asked.

The fortune teller looked lost in thought for a few seconds before saying “It’s only ever been one car with three people in it… The driver, one in the passenger seat carrying a weapon and one in the backseat, that takes the money. The one in the passenger seat has some kind of earpiece, that he talks into when they take off.”

“And in the town itself? Are there any other men that look like they belong to the same group?” Morgana asked.

Chihaya shook her head “It’s always been empty when I was ordered there...”. She furrowed her brow when she looked at them “Why are you asking me all of this?”

Haru sighed “To be quite honest… at the moment we’re just gathering everything we can.”

“One of our friends got captured by the leader.” Ann explained.

Chihaya looked shocked “I didn’t know that they take hostages too..”

“It seems like they make an exception every now and then…” Morgana sighed.

“If I may ask.. How did you get involved with them?” Haru asked.

Chihaya bit her lip before reluctantly saying “I… was driven out of my previous settlement. I predicted something that came true and people started to blame me for it.”

“So you really have powers?” Ann looked surprised.

“Of course I have!” Chihaya huffed “Everyone shunned me. The settlement where I grew up was in the mountains and very secluded, so leaving wasn’t exactly easy… There was only one man who was able to get me off that mountain and to the nearest village, but he demanded that I pay him. That’s when someone got me in touch with this guy who offered me a loan. He said that he’d pay the driver and that I could repay him later.” she shook her head “It was stupid, but I didn’t ask any questions.. I just wanted to get away from this place where everyone looked at me like I was a criminal and a witch.”

The room fell quiet until Ann eventually said “That sounds horrible. I understand that you wanted to get away from there.”

“But now I have these men breathing down my neck, demanding more and more… Making money with readings soon wasn’t enough anymore and so I had to think of something. I know it was wrong, but if I hadn’t done it, I would probably be dead already.” Chihaya sighed “But it was inevitable… Months before you and your friend came around, I saw in my cards that I wouldn’t be able to keep doing this. It’s no use. Fate is absolute. If my cards tell me that there’s no escape, then there’s no escape.”

“But Joker changed fate! He told that guy to follow his heart and to stay with his girlfriend and you said that his cards changed!” Morgana exclaimed.

“But that’s different!” Chihaya said, defiant. “Maybe I deserve all this. Maybe I could have done something to prevent the people from getting hurt back home. And then I lied to those clients who trusted me. This must be the universes way of telling me that I deserve all of this.”

“That’s bullshit!” Ann exlaimed. “The universe isn’t telling you anything! Isn’t tarot and all that stuff just interpretation? Maybe you interpreted your cards wrong! None of this happens to you because you deserve it!”

“Yeah! Our leader proved that fate can be changed, so we will change yours too!” Morgana agreed “We will take those people that threaten you down, you’ll see!”

Haru nodded “We will put an end to this.”. Her stoic demeanor changed when she made a small bow and said “Thank you for your time.” in that kind voice of hers. They left the house, leaving a confused and baffled Chihaya behind.

It was around midday when Mishima returned from his little excursion. Hifumi and Yusuke were sitting on the floor, playing a round of Shogi while Ryuji, Ren and Shinya were sitting at a table in the corner, polishing and maintaining the entire weapon-inventory.

“Tonight, same time, same place.” Mishima muttered as he passed the two. “I won’t be able to come with you though, since I’m meeting with Ohya...”

Ren nodded “Good job. We can still walk together. We’ll leave an hour before that.”

“Hm… I can’t help but wonder who that mysterious contact is…” Yusuke muttered while focusing on the shogi board.

Hifumi was about to say something when a loud Bang rang out from the cellar.

“What the hell is Futaba working on down there anyway?” Ryuji asked.

“She said something about a secret weapon.” Shinya answered.

“Sounds like she’s building a tank...” Ryuji muttered before all of them returned to cleaning their weapons in silence.

A few moments passed until Hifumi called out “Eagles Observation Strike!”. Everyone flinched.

Yusuke blinked in surprise as he took in how Hifumi just changed the game.

“I’ll never get used to this..” Shinya muttered.

“Right?” Ryuji agreed before looking at Ren who just stared dead-ahead at the wall.

“I apologize… Please excuse my outburst.” Hifumis cheeks were red.

Ren shook his head before turning to her “Can you say that again?”

Hifumi looked embarrassed when she muttered “Eagles Observation Strike?”

“Observation….” he absentmindedly muttered before jumping to his feet and hurrying out the living room.

“What the hell was that about?” Ryuji looked confused.

“I can only imagine that Ren had something that we in the art world call a flash of inspiration.” Yusuke chuckled.

The cellar was almost empty except for the large workbench that served as Futabas office when it came to tinkering.

“Who dares enter my kingdom?” she called out when she heard footsteps on the stairs.

“It’s just me.” Ren said as he took two stairs at a time “Hey listen, I’ve been thinking. You said that everything in Kaneshiros bank is connected. Is there any way that we can get into their system? So we could see what they see kind of thing?”

Futaba didn’t look up from her workbench when she answered “Mwehehe, I’m way ahead of you.”. She turned towards him and lifted the safety-goggles from her eyes “What do you think I’ve been working on the whole day?” she grinned proudly as she pointed to her newest project.

As Ren approached the workbench he noticed a battered laptop.

“This baby here should be able to get me into their system and tap their cameras!” Futaba patted the laptop “I should also be able to come up with something to intercept their radio-calls, so we can listen in on them too. Given that we’re in close enough range of course.”

“You’re amazing.” Ren grinned as he gave his little sister a head-pat.

“Aww.” Futaba chuckled “Thanks.”

“If you need anything, you let us know, okay?” Ren said.

Futaba put on her safety-goggles again while giving him a salute with the other hand “Aye aye, sir!”

The day passed by and an hour after Rens visit into Futabas kingdom Morgana, Haru and Ann returned from their expedition.

“What a walk…” Haru sighed as she dropped down onto a sofa.

“Did you buy us a new stone?” Ren asked Morgana with a smirk.

“She doesn’t sell them anymore.” Morgana proudly announced.

“Yeah, she might have chosen to do the morally right thing, but now she has to fear for her life because she can’t pay Kaneshiros goons.” Ann said. “She didn’t steal anyones food or something though… To be honest, if you really fall for something like “holy stones”… maybe you deserve to lose 100.000 Yen…”

Morgana looked like someone slapped him across the face “Lady Ann...” he stammered.

“We did learn something potentially interesting though.” Haru pointed out. “In 13 days, Chihaya has her next meeting at the abandoned town.”

“That’s our deadline too.” Yusuke nodded.

“Yeah, but according to her, there’s only three people who show up in a car and that’s it.” Ann said.

“Ya think we could take them out and pose as them to have a way in?” Ryuji asked.

Ren pondered for a moment before shaking his head “I’d say there’s no need to try and sneak in. They’ll await us anyway and whether there’s three more or less won’t make a difference.”

“I assume the more complicated question would be what we are to do once we’re in.” Yusuke brooded.

“Chihaya also said that one of them seems to be in contact with someone else over an earpiece.” Morgana recalled.

“If they’re transporting the money, maybe it’s to call for back-up if they’re in danger?” Ryuji said.

“Sounds plausible...” Ren said.

“What if we use this to create a distraction?” Hifumi asked, lifting her head. “If we manage to get a hold of their radio communication, we could set off a fake call for back-up, drawing more of their forces away from their headquarters.”

Everyone exchanged a surprised look before Shinya spoke up “That’s genius!”

“That really could work. We’ll have to time everything with Chihaya and there’s also the question how we’ll get the three collectors out of our way, but it’s a plan worth hatching.” Ren nodded.

Hifumi couldn’t hide a modest smile before her focus returned to the shogi board.

Ren got up “Good work everyone, now it’s our turn to dig up some new ideas.” he motioned for Ryuji and Mishima to go.

“Will we ever find out who that mysterious contact of yours is?” Ann called out.

“Not if we can help it.” Ren winked before drawing the front door shut.

Kawakami must have already had an idea when she was ordered to the same house again, but she still didn’t look pleased when she saw Ryuji and Ren. She quirked her eyebrow “Haven’t we talked about this?” she asked before looking at Ryuji “And you? I was your teacher! Judging from last time, I assumed that you were at least as uncomfortable as I was.”

“I was! I swear!” Ryuji quickly exclaimed.

“We’re not here for Becky, we’re here to talk to Kawakami.” Ren tried to clarify.

Kawakami still looked doubting but sat down on the sofa nonetheless “I’m listening...” she said with a suspicious undertone.

“Do you work for someone based in a settlement called New Shinjuku?” Ren cut straight to the point.

Kawakami looked taken aback “How… could you know that?” she glared at all of them “Are you stalking me?”

“Calm down, we’re not.” Ren tried to reassure her “So it’s true. Do you live there?”

Kawakami slowly shook her head “It’s too far away. Me, some of the girls and the promoter are staying somewhere close to here.”

“Do you sometimes have business in New Shinjuku?” Ren asked.

Kawakami shook her head again “I’ve been there when I started working until it became apparent that noone was interested in someone as old as me. When the boss decided to send some of us out into the countryside to work there, I was one of the first. I haven’t been there ever since.”

“So there’s nothing you could tell us about how the place is run?” Ryuji sighed.

Kawakami furrowed her brow “I don’t think I understand.”

“As far as we see it, there’s guards wandering around the street and keeping order in the establishments...” Ren started “Do you know if they live there, or if they come from outside?”

The teacher-turned-maid looked confused when she answered “I can’t say for sure, but if I remember correct, each day, there was someone different on guard.”

Ryuji looked at Ren “So that could mean that they come in from out of town, right?” When Ren nodded, Ryuji turned back to his former teacher. There was something that’s been nagging him ever since their first meeting “Hey… um… how did you end up with a job like this anyway?”

Kawakamis shoulders dropped when she reluctantly said “It’s complicated… The long story short is that I’m not fit to be a teacher.”

“But that’s bullshit!” Ryuji said, confused. “You were a great teacher! I know that I wasn’t the fastest learner, but you always helped me, even after school. And I know that Ann would say the same.”

Kawakami almost had tears in her eyes “It’s nice of you to say that.. But in hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have meddled in your life that much. While I held you back to practice some more reading, you could have actually done something more useful to the settlement.”

“What are you even talking about?” Ryuji asked, so desperate and confused that he almost sounded angry again.

“There was a boy in another settlement, that I taught. He had some issues, so I stayed longer most of the time, to do some extra exercises with him. His guardians were furious when they found out, because me staying longer to help him study meant that he came home later and couldn’t go out to work in the field as long...” Kawakami sighed “He wanted to keep on studying and I knew that he could be someone big one day, but-” her voice trailed off and she looked lost “He was working in the field late one evening after one of our study sessions when… a shadow killed him.”

Ren and Ryuji exchanged a worried look.

Kawakami looked like she tried to gather herself before she eventually said “Takases guardians blamed me for the accident, because he wouldn’t have been out there if I hadn’t kept him longer… And they are right… So when they started to demand money, I paid up because I felt guilty.” Kawakami wiped a single tear away “They demanded that I quit teaching as to not endanger any other children. Given the amount they were asking of me, I had to find something more lucrative. And that’s how I ended up here.”

“But it wasn’t your fault! It was just an accident!” Ryuji exclaimed.

Kawakami got up “Fact is that it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t decided to tutor him after regular lessons. So I really shouldn’t be a teacher. All I can do now is pay my debts to the Takases. That’s the least I can do.”

“So you don’t owe anything to the people running the maid-service?” Ren asked to make sure.

Kawakami shook her head “No… In fact I should be grateful for them still giving me a chance, even if I barely get requested. Cleaning and cooking for people is actually no that bad, compared to other things the girls have to do in different locations...” Kawakami shivered “Although I might have to talk to my supervisor if I don’t make more money soon...”

“But… you shouldn’t give them any money! That won’t bring back their son!” Ryuji sputtered.

“Sakamoto...” Kawakami sighed “you’ve always had a good heart. I wish more people were like that.”. The maid looked at the other two guys “I don’t know what you expected to get out of me, but I feel like I wasn’t a lot of help…” she sighed.

Ren shrugged “It’s okay, you were still a great help.” he took a roll of Yen-notes out of his pocket “Here you go.” he handed her the role before saying “Wanting to support your students mourning family is a kind thing to do, but don’t let them take advantage of you.”

Kawakami carefully tucked the role of Yen into her aprons pocket before taking a deep bow. “Thank you masters.” she chirped with fake enthusiasm.

“Let’s not do that...” Ren flinched. In the back, he heard Ryuji gag.

After their meeting with Kawakami, Ryuji and Ren waited in their designated meeting spot for Mishima to return from his date/interview with Ohya. They had slowly started to worry when the teenager finally showed up in the distance. Upon closer inspection, his face looked even paler than usual. He almost looked traumatized. When he walked up to them, he pointed at Ren “You made me believe that this was a date! With HER?”

Ren shrugged “You came up with the whole date-thing...”

Mishima shuddered “That woman is the devil...”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow “Dude, how horrible can she be?”

Mishima stared at Ryuji “I have no idea how she got there, because she was already drunk! And she was really… touchy...” he returned to look at Ren “Are you sure that she’s even a real journalist?!”

“What is a “real journalist” these days anyway?” Ren asked.

Mishima stared at him in horror.

“So anyway… did you tell her something good about us?” Ryuji butted in.

Hermes reluctantly nodded “I gave her a quick resumee of what you guys did for other settlements and gave her a polished version of Madarames fall from grace… She seemed to be pretty impressed.” he scratched his head “I don’t know how much good it will do, but she said something about “boosting the Phantom Thieves”?”

Ryuji grinned “You mean we’re gonna be in the news?!” he turned to Ren “How awesome would that be?”

Mishima sighed “Who knows if she even remembers… she was slurring a lot...”

Ren smirked “Oh, don’t be fooled, she’s pretty perceptive, even when drunk.”

By the time they walked home, it was almost completely dark. Ryuji and Ren filled Mishima in on what Kawakami had told them.

“I never thought about it, but if we take down Kaneshiro… what if we destroy workplaces that others desperately need?” Mishima said.

“I thought that Kawakami must have been pressured by that clan to work for them, but in the end she literally applied to be a maid...” Ryuji sighed.

Ren pondered his words before saying “I still think we need to do this… Just because we rid Kaneshiro of his powers, doesn’t mean that whole New Shinjuku will collapse.”

“So… was this meeting everything that you hoped for?” Mishima asked.

Ren shook his head “To be honest, I hoped that she had a little more contacts in the city… But it seems like we need to resort to Plan B.”

“And what’s Plan B?” Ryuji asked.

Ren sighed “It’s a bit of a tricky one… But I guess our only choice is Eiko.”

“Eiko?!” Mishima exclaimed.

“I thought she hated us?” Ryuji asked.

“I would hope not...” Ren replied.

“Even if she doesn’t, how are we going to contact her? Tsukasa said that we can’t show up there, so none of us who were at the bank can go..” Ryuji said.

Ren sighed “I haven’t forgotten… And all I can say for now is that Sojiro won’t be happy about what I’m going to propose...”

As they returned to LeBlanc2, the house was already dark. Ryuji yawned as he walked upstairs behind Mishima. Before he turned towards his room, he cast a last glance at Anns door. He would have liked to tell her all about Kawakami and how she suddenly thought that she was a bad teacher. He was sure that Ann would agree with him. But how was he supposed to explain how they met her again in the first place? He sighed before following Mishima into their dark bedroom, where Yusuke was already curled up into a blanket on his twin bed on the right side of the room. Mishima blindly navigated himself until he eventually found the electric lantern that he then turned on.

To Ryujis surprise, a red bundle was placed on his bed on the left side of the room. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be the red sweatshirt that Ann had pestered him about in the morning. He grinned when he picked up a small note that was placed on top of the sweatshirt, that read “Thanks” with a little smiley-face underneath it. Ryuji shook his head with a smile as he put the note down on his nightstand before taking the sweatshirt to throw it back onto the chair that he had taken it from this morning. As he readied himself to throw it, he didn’t fail to realize that throughout the day the fabric had taken on Anns scent. It smelled nice. And familiar. It made him feel at home.

“Is everything okay?” Mishima asked and tore him out of his mind. He had already settled down onto his mattress that was placed by the wall at the foot of Yusukes bed.

Ryuji quickly threw the sweatshirt away “Yeah… just lost in thought.” he muttered before getting ready for bed too. As he crawled underneath his cosy blanket he remembered the dream from last night. His eyes were already closed when Mishima turned off the lantern again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Ren was able to get his anger under control and now the planning phase begins as the Phantom Thieves start to gather pieces of their puzzle that will hopefully later become their plan of taking down Kaneshiro. And while doing so, they also learn of the predicaments of Chihaya and Kawakami and what lead them to even end up entangled with their new opponent. Also, since it's been far too long since the last time: Finally some RyuAnn-content again ;) I just love writing these two dorks. 
> 
> Bonus question: Anyone have an idea why Chihaya felt Ann was familiar? ;)


	22. The Last Gentleman

„You want me do to WHAT?“ Sojiro growled. The others around the breakfast table had fallen quiet as they stared at Ren.

“We need you to play a horny old man.” Ren said. Before Sojiro could lunge across the table, he added “None of us can go to New Shinjuku and if you go to the bar that Eiko works at and request her company… Who would refuse you?”

“Now hold on a second, you want me to pretend like I’m some pedophile who’s after your friend?” Sojiro sounded disgusted.

“I know it’s not the role of a lifetime, but we need someone to give a message to her.” Ren said.

“Honestly, the person who would raise the least suspicions is you...” Futaba stated, much to Sojiros dismay.

“And what message would I give her?” Sojiro was still upset but seemed to have decided to listen for now.

“That we want to meet her and that it’s important.” Ren answered.

“But judging from what Makoto told us… Will she really want to hear what we have to say?” Haru asked.

“We have to believe for now.” Ren sighed. He didn’t like the thought of his next plan depending on Eikos mood either.

“I mean, we did free her from Kamoshida… She wouldn't have forgotten that, right?” Ann asked.

Futaba grinned “If she’s reluctant, you just bust out that good-ol’ charm of yours!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, that charm is reserved for ladies, not under-aged teenage girls!” Sojiro defended himself.

“Maybe you could turn a blind eye this time?” Ren asked.

“It’ll need more than that...” Sojiro grumbled.

“Then two blind eyes it is!” Futaba said.

Sojiro sighed “I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

“I’m afraid there’s no other choice.” Ren admitted.

Sojiro sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers “When are we leaving?”

If Makoto hadn’t known any better, she would have thought that she had been at Kaneshiros bank for weeks already. But according to the notches that Kaoru carved into the tapestry each day, she was only there for the second day. She couldn’t remember if she had ever been this unproductive in her entire life. There always had been something to do, even if it was just reading a book. Right now, in this abandoned managers office, there was nothing. Everything that happened was that one of Kaneshiros men threw some food their way twice a day, and sadly that wasn’t even a metaphor. The few times that the door of their prison actually opened up, Makoto had observed. But no matter how hard she tried to come up with a possible escape plan, in the end she had to acknowledge that Kaneshiro wasn’t an amateur. And so her days were limited to eating, sitting and sleeping. Judging from Kaorus notches, it was his ninth day in Makotos personal hell, but he didn’t seem to take it as bad as her. And while she seemed to get more and more anxious by the hour, worrying about whether her friends were alright and hoping that they wouldn’t come up with a haphazard plan to bust her out, Kaoru looked rather… unemotional. He seemed like he had accepted his fate.

“So… they gave my friends 14 days to pay… How long did they give your father?” she asked as they were both chewing on pieces of bread that their guard had thrown in for breakfast.

“They didn’t give him a time-limit, really… He has to deliver 50 machine guns and pledge his ongoing support for them to let me go.” Kaoru reluctantly answered.

“50 is a large number…” Makoto admitted. No wonder he had been here for so long.

“The worst thing about this place is that you have so little to do that you can’t help but overthink everything. At least twice a day I start to wonder if he’ll even come. Of course he will… even if I’m nothing but a burden to him, he still wouldn’t leave me to rot in the hands of the enemy.” Kaoru said.

Makoto looked out the barred window to gaze into the distance. She had to admit that the view over the woods was quite nice. Kaoru was right, there was far too much time to think. Too much time to think about the bad things and too much time to think about the things left unsaid. Like how she hadn’t been able to tell Eiko the truth about Tsukasa. This whole obsession of hers was because she wanted to proof to her, that he was no good. Now she even had the evidence to back up her suspicion, but all of this was no use as long as she was locked up. And then there was Ren. She actually had no idea what she would have told him, if there was the opportunity. Probably nothing, because she was coward. And yet whenever she closed her eyes and imagined her rescue, all she saw in front of her inner eye was Ren, approaching her with that sly grin of his before taking her hand to lead her out of this hellhofe. She was almost embarrassed about having thoughts like these. Her father hadn’t raised her to be dependent on others. Sae would have told her to grow up, like she had done a million times. Sae would have also said that she wasn’t thinking straight and that she didn’t see things as what they were. Depending on someone else? What a disgrace to the Niijima-name. But that was Saes view of the world, not Makotos. At least it wasn’t anymore. After meeting Ren and the others, she had been introduced to a world where people did things for each other out of kindness instead of collecting favors that you kept in the back of your head should you ever need something. Sojiro had taken her in without hesitation. Futaba had reduced the size of her blanket fort so Makoto had some room to sleep. And Ann, the one that seemed to dislike her the most in the beginning, dragged her through the entire settlement to tell her about all the stands that she liked and to get pastries together. During her first week at LeBlanc, she had wrecked her head trying to understand how this group of misfits could be of any use to each other with their emotions so visible on their sleeves. She had observed Ren and Sojiro, who were more than the simple employer and employee. She had watched Ann and Ryuji, probably the two most impulsive people she had ever met, bickering about something before laughing about something else in the next minute, all while claiming to be professional partners and nothing more. Futaba, who had been reserved towards her at first, had been an entirely foreign book for her, since she didn’t really do anything outside of the house. And while she had somehow enjoyed the weird painting that hung in the tavern, she still couldn’t help but think that art was something useless these days. All of these people had looked so dysfunctional on their own - Futaba the shut-in, Ann the airhead, Ryuji the big mouth who liked to talk before thinking, Yusuke who seemed to live in his own world – but they functioned as long as they were together. And the glue between all of them was Ren, who had thrown her off-balance with his pointed questions and bemused grins since the very first days. She had changed. The person that especially Ren liked to refer to as the “Jinbocho Queen”, would have been mad at Eiko for being so blind and childish and dependent. She would have enjoyed telling her the truth about the man that she claimed to love so much and showing her her flaws by demonstrating that Makoto had known from the start. It would have been the Sae-way. But now, she was actually sad that she had been right all along. She tore her eyes away from the window again. Kaoru was right. There was just too much time to think about things.

It was dark outside when they stopped the car near a small hunters shack. Ren cast a last look at Sojiro, who was sitting behind the wheel. “You know which bar to go?” Ren asked.

The old man nodded.

“Good. Maybe you should park the car a little farther away and not in the parking lot. Who knows if they’re able to link it to Makoto and me since we drove it for the double-date… We’ll be waiting over there in that shack. Watch out that you’re not being followed.” Ren listed. He couldn’t believe that he was about to send Sojiro into a place bustling with their enemies. His shoulders were tense and his hands were balled into fists without him realizing it.

Sojiro nodded “I wasn’t born yesterday, kid.” he smirked.

Ren sighed before releasing the tension in his body “You’re right… I’m sorry.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve last infiltrated a place though...” Sojiro remarked.

“You never talk about your pre-LeBlanc days.” Ren chuckled “They sound wild though.”

“Hoo boy… Wakaba and I used to get into all sorts of messy situations.” Sojiro had a warm but also sad smile on his face. “Don’t worry kid, I’ll be fine.”

Ren nodded before getting out of the car. In the back sat Ann, Futaba and Shinya, who had declared that he wanted to join for once. When all of them had jumped down the loading area, Sojiro drove off.

Sojiro Sakura hadn’t always been the laid-back bar-owner that had made it his policy to never ever serve a customer a low-quality cup of coffee. He used to be young too and that at a time where the already barely existent order in the world had been even less existent. He was involved with building houses, walls and defenses and he had had to protect a lot of things and people from both the monsters that would later have the name shadows and the humans that instead of rebuilding a system rather chose to live on their own and take whatever they wanted. He parked the car as Ren told him and traversed the last distance on foot. He shook his head when he saw all the neon-lights from afar. Times truly had changed since when he was younger. A bar or a club was something that he would only hear about from his elders.

As he stepped onto the main-street, the different music blaring from every other door was almost too much for him. Everything was flashy, bright and loud, no matter if it was a maid-cafe, a bar or a disco. As someone who saw himself as a gastronomer too, he had to admit that he found nothing appealing about these establishments. The more he saw, the more nostalgic he got about his lost tavern. What a great place it had been. Eventually, he ended up in front of the place that Ren had described to him. Sojiro let out a deep sigh before he walked inside. He was relieved to be out of the flashy lights as he entered the dark bar with the fancy-looking dark wood interior. As he took a look around the room, he didn’t register the hostess approaching him.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room. Can I lead you to your table?” a far too young voice asked.

Sojiro looked at the girl who must have been about Futabas age. While he never had kids on his own, he saw all those kids back at home and Futaba especially as his children. Seeing that young girl in front of him, wearing a short skirt and a tight tube top, he felt the urge to put his jacket around her shoulders and to get her out of this place. But instead of doing that, he just nodded and followed the girl to a free booth.

As he sank into the velvet cushions of the bench, the girl asked “Would you like some company tonight?”

Sojiro swallowed when everything inside of him wanted to jump to his feet and leave this creepy place. He put on a smile and said “A friend of mine told me about a lovely companion named Eiko. Is she here tonight?”

The girl replied in a cheerful voice “She is! I’ll go get her for you”.

Sojiro looked around the room where various booths were filled with men that were accompanied by much younger girls who were giggling and throwing them admiring looks.

He saw Eiko approaching from the other side of the room. Her get-up wasn’t much different from the other girls, but the few times he had seen Eiko back at LeBlanc2, it seemed that that was the way she liked to dress. When Eiko neared the table, she seemed to recognize him too. By the time she sank into the booth on the opposite site of the table, she was scowling.

“Didn’t think you’d be someone to enjoy a place like this…” she looked suspicious.

“I’m not here for my entertainment.” Sojiro replied.

“She just doesn’t quit, does she?” she bristled, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“I’m not here because Makoto told me to.” Sojiro explained. “The truth is, that we need your help. The others can tell you everything, they’re waiting somewhere out of town.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Eiko said. “Besides, what could the oh-so-tough Phantom Thieves need from me? This is just some scheme from Makoto to lecture me again.”

“I can assure you that she’s not there. It’s just Joker, Panther, Oracle and General.” Sojiro replied. That girl must be full of hate for Makoto.

“As if they’re not judgy as hell..” Eiko muttered.

Sojiro was at a loss. He had never been good with handling pubescent teenagers, but in this case, it could prove fatal for all of them. He decided that he was done playing nice when he growled “Now listen here, missy, you get off your high horse and at least listen to what they have to say after all these kids have done for you.”

Eikos eyes widened in surprise but to Sojiros surprise, there was no defiance to be seen in them. She looked around the room before leaning forward “Fine, I’ll come.” she said while rolling her eyes. For a brief second, Sojiro saw Futaba in Eikos behavior.

Sojiro couldn’t hide his surprise “Really?”

Eiko rolled her eyes again “For someone who doesn’t have kids you’re pretty good with the guilt-trip… Let’s go then.”

Sojiro nodded as he got up. “You can’t tell anyone who we’re going to meet and that you knew me before, understood?”

“I just have to tell my boyfriend that I’m leaving. If anyone asks, you’re taking me for a stroll or something else old-timey.” Eiko muttered while passing him to walk to the bar.

Sojiro made his way towards the exit while keeping an eye on Eiko, who was talking to a man in a suit. It would have been easy for her to just tell on him and the others. When her assumed boyfriend gave her a kiss and a slap on the butt, he figured that Eiko had his blessing to leave. The old man internally shook his head. How could someone have his girlfriend hang out with all these old men just for money and good publicity? He had accepted that his approach was somewhat old school, but now that he saw the things that young people did today, he thought that there was nothing wrong with his ways of charming a lady. Eiko approached him with a fake smile before hooking her arm around his and letting him lead her outside.

“Does it happen a lot that old geezers like me take you out for midnight-strolls?” he asked as they traversed the brightly lit street.

“Sometimes, but most of them don’t like to walk so they take me for drives.” Eiko stated. “Others like to take me shopping during the days.”

Sojiro got an uneasy feeling only from listening to her “And your boyfriend has no problem with that?”

“Of course not. The more someone else buys me, the less he has to get me. It’s not like he has to be jealous or anything. It’s just business. In the end, the only one I love is him and he knows that.”

Sojiro slowly shook his head “I think I’m too old to understand any of this...”

Eiko shrugged “It’s really easy. Wasn’t Ann your most popular waitress back when you had a tavern?”

“I would have never sent her to sit with our patrons and bat her lashes at them!” Sojiro defended himself. He couldn’t deny that some peoples motivations to visit his tavern had changed when word had gotten around that a beautiful blonde girl was working there now. But he had always made sure that noone ever got inappropriate towards her. Not because he worried about her, no, he had been more worried about the health of his customers. He had learned rather fast that Ann was capable of defending herself against pervy remarks and stray hands. She had had a very stern but still discreet method to call the men to order, but all hell broke loose if Ryuji witnessed something from behind the bar. Not that he could blame the boy. Sojiro would have been the same if his back didn’t prevent him from lunging over the countertop.

“It’s still the same thing. Men enjoy the company of pretty girls and they leave even more money at the venue when they have a nice companion to chat away the night with.” Eiko answered.

Sojiro was surprised. He hadn’t thought of Eiko as such a business-oriented person.

After their somewhat midnight-stroll towards the car, Sojiro drove them to the hunters shack. With four sharp knocks he announced their entrance before slowly opening the door. Inside, Ann and Futaba were sitting on a broken bed while Ren and Shinya each watched a window.

“Look who’s here...” Sojiro announced as he stepped in before Eiko followed short after.

Ann smiled as she approached Eiko and gave their former teammate a hug “It’s good to see you.” she said before letting her go again.

Eiko still looked suspicious about Anns embrace, but replied it none the less. She looked at the rest before her eyes were fixed on Ren “So, what’s this serious matter that you want to talk about?” she asked.

Ren swallowed. He had put a lot of thought into how to start the conversation only to now find that he was clueless. “Have you heard of a man named Kaneshiro?” he eventually brought out.

Eiko raised an eyebrow before answering “I’ve heard the name here and there… Why?”

“We learned that Kaneshiro runs almost all the establishments in New Shinjuku, making insane amounts of money. Besides that, he threatens and blackmails people. And if that wasn’t enough, it seems that he’s also selling slaves.” Ren continued. “We assume that the protection that walks through New Shinjuku are all Kaneshiros men too.”

“Sounds like that big case the Phantom Thieves were looking for, doesn’t it?” Eiko asked. “Makoto must be ecstatic.”

“Makoto is a prisoner of Kaneshiro now. If we can’t pay 4 million Yen in 12 days, she’s dead.” Ren said.

Eiko looked surprised “Makoto got taken? How?”

Ren sighed. It made no sense telling her that she was obsessed with taking Tsukasa down, Eiko wouldn’t hear it anyway. “You could say that she was ecstatic about something.”

The girl actually looked bothered for a moment before asking “But.. what do you want with me?”

Ren took a deep breath. It was now or never. “What we are about to tell you now, you have to swear that you won’t tell anyone, especially not Tsukasa.”

As soon as the name Tsukasa fell, Eiko looked irritated again. She still obliged “Fine, I promise.”

“We will bust Makoto out and take down Kaneshiros clan in one swoop. But to do that, we need to have a deeper understanding of the organization of New Shinjuku and for the best case, someone on the inside.” Ren said.

“You want me to be your mole?” Eiko bristled “And why would I sell out my Tsukasa?”

Ann burst out “Because “your” Tsukasa is in deep in all of this stuff! They’re involved in human trafficing, they’re blackmailing people, they run all those shady bars!”

Eiko cackled “So it’s this again? Is Makoto even kidnapped or are you just desperate to break me and Tsukasa up?”

“Why would me make something like this up?!” Ann shrieked.

“We saw him at their headquarter! HE was the one who delivered Makoto to Kaneshiro!” Futaba joined in.

“You keep on talking but there’s never any evidence! How can I be sure that this isn’t just Makotos control fantasy to get me out of the relationship just because she doesn’t understand how love works?” Eiko almost yelled.

“Evidence….” Futaba started muttering before calling out “Evidence!!”. She rushed to her bag to pull out the small recorder. She fidgeted with some buttons before a voice could be heard from the small integrated speaker:

“ _These here would be in your price range. Not the youngest, but depending on what you want to do with them, I guess the older ones will do too.”_

Ren cast his little sister a questioning look.

“Whoops, hold on a sec.” Futaba said before pressing some more buttons.

“ _That bitch of yours got lucky. If any of you ever set foot into New Shinjuku or try to approach my girls, I will find a way of getting to her and while Kaneshiro made a deal with you to not harm her, I sure as hell didn’t.”_

Ann gaped at Futaba “You taped that??”

“I had a feeling that it might come in handy.” Futaba stated before looking at Eiko, whose face had dropped “So, that clearly is Tsukasas voice, right?”

“That’s why we had to send Sojiro to bring you here. We figured that word travels fast in there and I actually have no doubt that Tsukasa would be happy to get of rid of us before the deadline.” Ren explained.

“That was… Tsukasa?” Eiko stammered.

“Look, I know that Makoto and you got into a fight the last time you talked, but you know that she was only trying to protect you. The reason why she was taken in the first place was because she was dead-serious about proving Tsukasas involvement. She suspected that he first seduced and then sold off girls.”

“But…" Eiko looked like the rug had just been pulled from underneath her when she covered her face with trembling hands "I thought Tsukasa cared about me… He was the only one who loved me.” Eiko started shaking and sobbing. Ann approached her to take her into her arms while the rest stood around in uncomfortable silence. It took a few minutes where the only sounds were Eikos sobs against Ann shoulder, before the girl slowly looked back up at Ren. “I’ll help you. What do you want to know?”

The weight dropped from Rens shoulders “Thank you, Eiko.”. He leaned against the nearby table “Is it true that the guards and security come from outside of town?”

Eiko nodded “They work in shifts. When they get relieved, they drive off to somewhere else. Both the guards walking the streets and the securities in the bars work like this.”

Ren put his finger to his chin in thought “What would happen if shadows attack?”

“Every location has a something like a telephone to call for back-up.” Eiko replied, wiping away the last tears from her cheeks.

“And how long does it usually take for back-up to arrive?” Ren asked.

“Something about 20 minutes maybe? They come, shoot down the enemy and leave. They never stay long...”

Shinya looked at Ren “So we could draw another few of them away if a distress-call came from New Shinjuku.”

Ren absentmindedly nodded as he was going through another plan in his head.

“So… you really think that Tsukasa sells off girls?” Eiko studdered.

Ann had sat down on the broken bed again “Futaba and Morgana listened in on something that sounded like a deal going down, so he’s connected to them at least. We don’t know what Makoto learned before she was taken though...”

“I feel so horrible now...” Eiko muttered “I said all those mean things to her too...”

“You can talk it out once we get her back.” Ann reassured her with a smile. Makoto had told her about the things Eiko said to her, and Ann had to admit that they have been pretty low blows. But Eiko was one of them after all, and right now, they needed her help. It seemed like she had finally taken off the rose-colored glasses and accepted that maybe Tsukasa wasn’t the knight in shining armor that she always believed him to be.

Ren looked up again when he asked “How many people do you think you could get to come at once?”

Eiko looked surprised before she gave it a longer thought “Hm… They always come in groups of four and it depends on how big the problem is.” she explained “But I think that they have some communication-issues… Last time, there was a small shadow near town and two bars called in to report it. That day, two cars came, but none of them knew that, so they were pretty confused and annoyed.”

“Mwehehe… sounds like we could make some mayhem.” Futaba chuckled.

“Don’t get cocky...” Sojiro reminded his daughter.

“So you’re getting her out in 12 days?” Eiko asked. “I’ll help you. Please.”

Ren looked at Eiko “You’re not going to come along to Kaneshiros bank with us, but we might need your help in New Shinjuku. Our plan isn’t fully hatched yet, but Sojiro will come pick you up again in 9 days and we will go over everything. Until then, keep your eyes and ears open for anything useful.”

Eiko nodded.

“Good. I’ll take you back then.” Sojiro said.

After saying good-bye, Sojiro led Eiko outside. The remaining Phantom Thieves stood there in silence before Ren spoke up again “You saved our asses there Futaba… She would have never believed us, if you hadn’t recorded that.”

“That’s why I recorded it.” Futaba chuckled.

“That was so awesome!” Ann agreed. “I’m so glad that she finally saw the truth.”

“So what’s the plan, Ren?” Shinya asked.

The leader shrugged “I can’t say I know yet… But I feel like we’re getting somewhere...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eikos back and on the Phantom Thieves side again, thanks to a bit of convincing and berating from everyones father Sojiro;)! And Ren slowly but steadily comes up with a plan. 
> 
> Also, to solve last chapters bonus question: In Chapter 16, Chihaya "saw" Ann (or at least whatever resembled her) in Ryujis future, which is why she felt that Ann was familiar without being able to pinpoint it;) I don't know how seeing into the future really works, but hey, who does?;)


	23. War, Two Ways

“And now if we do this… then activate the Ultra Move…” the orange-haired girl mumbled before pressing a single button. “AHA!” she triumphantly called out.

“Are you in?!” Mishima sounded excited.

They were sitting in the forest beside the large bank building. Futaba was sitting on the ground, cross-legged with her laptop in her lap. Mishima and Yusuke were standing beside her while Hifumi was sitting in a tree, binoculars in hand.

“See for yourself!” Futaba proudly announced before showing the two guys the screen.

Yusuke and Mishima stared at the laptop in Futabas hands, that now displayed footage of various security cameras in the hallways and rooms.

“Impressive.” Yusuke admitted before looking up into the tree “Umbra, I believe that you will get a better feeling of this place if you look at this.”

Hifumi nodded before carefully climbing down the tree. As all of them sat behind Futaba, staring at the display, Yusuke busted out his sketchbook and started sketching a rough floorplan based on Hifumis specifications, who was scrolling through the various different camera angles with Futaba.

“Just how many hallways does this place have?” Mishima whined.

“They’re not all different hallways, there’s just multiple cameras in each.” Futaba replied.

“Is there any way to find out where Queen is being held?” Yusuke asked as he sketched a maze of hallways.

“Let’s see...” Futaba said, tapping away on the keyboard. A few moments of silence passed before she said “There seems to be another network of cameras, but this one seems to have better protection...”

“That means that it must be important, right?” Mishima asked.

“Time to bust out some moves.” Futaba cackled before tapping away.

While Futaba was occupied with the screen in front of her, Hifumi resumed peeking into the windows with the binoculars. “Every window is barred. Without proper equipment, there’s no way for us to get in our out.”

“A true fortress...” Yusuke muttered. “That means we have to escape the way we entered - through the main-entrance.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that...” Hifumi said. “No matter how cautious we’ll be, we can’t rule out that Kaneshiro will be able to call in back-up from the town… Leaving through the main-entrance would mean that you run directly into their arms.”

“But you just said that we can’t go through the windows!” Mishima exclaimed.

Before Hifumi could say something, Futaba chimed in “She said that we won’t get in without proper equipment. There’s a difference.”

Hifumi nodded without taking down the binoculars “Precisely.”

Futaba raised her arms in triumph before saying “Feast your eyes on this.”. The display now showed different locations in the bank.

“That’s Kaneshiro!” Yusuke pointed at a corner of the screen, that showed the fat man in a sterile-looking room with stacks of money.

“What is that place?” Futaba was puzzled.

Hifumi set down the binoculars before taking a look “It looks like the vault.”

“Ooooh! That makes sense!” Mishima said.

“So he just sits there and counts his money?” Yusuke sounded disgusted.

“So far, we have no way of telling where exactly the vault is located and how to get there though...” Hifumi noted.

“But do we really need to know the exact location? We’re not planning to rob him, right?” Mishima asked.

Hifumi stared at him, dead-serious “You need to know every detail of the enemies territory before advancing. Joker has assigned me with devising a strategy. Sloppy preparation is something that I will not tolerate.”

Futabas eyes went wide as her gaze wandered between Hifumis stern face and a surprised Mishima “Damn...” she muttered.

When Yusuke started chuckling, Hifumi blushed “I’m sorry! I overreacted! Please forgive me, Hermes.”

Futaba cackled “Ah, I think Nishima can take it.”

Hifumi stared at Futaba “Shouldn’t we use our codenames?!”

Futaba lazily waved her comment aside “It’s not like I just said his real name anyway.”

“Wait…. Oracle, you know my real name?!” Mishima looked dumbfounded.

“Duh, course I do.” Futaba shrugged, her focus on the laptop-screen again “It’s just more fun to call you NPC, or – as I so brilliantly combined – Nishima.”. She rolled her eyes when she noticed that Mishima hadn’t stopped gaping at her “Get it? Cause N from NPC? With your name?”. When Mishima didn’t answer, she shrugged and returned to her laptop. For a while, nothing more than Futaba tapping away on the keyboard could be heard. The atmosphere had settled down so much that everyone flinched when Futaba suddenly called out “I found her!!”

The other three squeezed together to stare at the screen, where Futaba had enlarged a transmission of one of the cameras, that showed their second-in-command in a room with another teenager about their age.

“She seems okay.” Futaba sounded relieved.

“This looks like an office!” Mishima said.

“Judging from the angle of view of the windows, I’d say that her prison is somewhere on the upper floor.” Yusuke noticed.

“That still leaves a lot of possibilities...” Futaba said.

Hifumi placed her finger on her chin in thought before saying “We might be able to deduce which rooms are where by observing their movement-patterns.”

Futaba sighed “And how long will that take?”

“The entire day. And the days after today.” Hifumi said.

“What?! We have to come back tomorrow?” Mishima asked.

Hifumis stare was determined when she said “The more we learn about their daily routines, the better we can prepare. If they have a strict protocol that they follow every day and we get to know it, we can come up with a precise plan on when and where to best hit them.”

“Hehehe, I might have stumbled on something else...” Futaba grinned. “Apparently, this building is able to go into full lockdown. I’m talking about iron curtains on every window and a metal-shutter on the entrance.”

“That would make this place impenetrable. If they sense our intentions beforehand, they could easily lock us out and leave us out in the open.” Yusuke said.

“All the more reason for you guys to not act suspicious when you approach.” Futaba said.

“Noir won’t be happy to hear that she can’t bring her grenade launcher or axe again...” Mishima sighed.

“Many of us wouldn’t be able to bring our weapons. Carrying a rifle undetected is near impossible.” Yusuke replied.

“If I were to make an assumption, I’d say that the next time you enter the bank you might get patted down for weapons. The last time you entered, it was somewhat of a surprise. Now they will be waiting for you.” Hifumi said.

“So they can’t bring any weapons at all?!” Mishima looked pale.

“Depending on how thorough they check, I would at least say that none of you should carry weapons on your body when entering.” Hifumi said.

“Okay, you can’t tell me that you learned all of this from Shogi. There’s no way that there’s a piece that let’s you pat down opponents for weapons.” Futaba said.

Hifumi shook her head “No, but I’m trying to think like their leader. I wouldn’t let anyone walk into my place armed, especially not if they don’t carry their arms on the open. You would have already entered my kingdom once without being checked. I would assume that this would lead you to believe that I won’t check on your second visit either and that would lead you to believe that you could just approach me, armed to the teeth, without anyone noticing until you start shooting. But that’s where you are wrong, because I would order especially tight security-checks on you, to crush that initial hope of yours that you could just waltz in and assault me in my own home.”. As Hifumi looked into the scared faces of her team-mates, she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear “I’m sorry… Was I behaving strange again?”

“You’re both scary and cool...” Futaba said in a fascinated tone.

“Resuming where Umbra left off, that would mean that we should approach Kaneshiro unarmed?” Yusuke got the conversation back on track.

“If we can’t find another way to get in your weapons, then yes.” Hifumi nodded.

“Hm… what if they carried them in something else? I don’t see any metal-detectors in the lobby.” Futaba said after taking a closer look at the security-camera that observed the huge entrance-hall.

“It would be risky, but maybe they wouldn’t check on something that looks like it’s holding something else.”

“It would look strange if we brought them a bouqet of flowers..” Futaba said.

“I mean… aren’t we technically going there under the pretense that we’re bringing them a load of money?” Mishima spoke up.

Futaba grinned “We are. Nice one, Hermes!”

Mishima gaped at her “You never called me Hermes before!”

Futaba shrugged “You didn’t behave like an NPC for the first time.”

Mishima sputtered something incomprehensible before deciding to shut-up, a confused look remaining on his face.

“Going back to the shutters, Oracle, can you access the controls?” Hifumi asked.

Futaba typed away before saying “Nope… The lockdown can only be triggered from the security-office which seems to be in…” she switched through the different cameras before landing on one that observed the lobby “there.”. She placed her finger on what looked like an office overseeing the big lobby.

Yusuke nodded before adding the room accordingly to their makeshift floor-plan.

“So someone would have to go upstairs and activate it...” Hifumi muttered.

“Um… shouldn’t we assume that there’s already someone sitting in there?” Mishima asked.

Hifumi shook her head “I wasn’t thinking about the risk of them locking us out.”

“Wait, what?” Mishima squeaked.

Futabas eyes went wide “Ooooh! I get it.” she chuckled “Mwehehe. Now we’re talking about a heist.”

Surprised would have been an understatement for Iwais expression when Haru, Ryuji and Ren waltzed into his shack.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” the man rasped.

“We’re looking to buy.” Ren stated matter-of-factly.

“Sorry to break it to you, but I’m not selling. All of these are already promised to someone else...” Iwai answered.

“And that customer is Kaneshiro, right?” Ren replied.

Iwai tried his best to look unfazed when he answered “And what makes you think that?”

Ren shrugged “We’re both debtors to Kaneshiro and you said that there is no other way than to give him what he wants. Since you just declined our money, it must be the guns that you’re paying with then..”

Iwai looked annoyed about his slip-up when he said “What’s it to you?”

This time it was Haru who leaned over the counter and said “What would you say if we told you that we plan on taking out Kaneshiro?”

Iwai raised an eyebrow “I’d say that you kids lost your minds. That place is a damn fortress.”

Ryuji slammed his fist onto the counter “Oh yeah? Must be nice for you to just sit here and collect your weapons until you can get out whoever you have sitting in there, but we’re on a time-limit and there’s no way that we can come up with that much money.” he growled.

Iwai glared at the blonde boy “You think that I’m just sitting here, waiting for guns to fall into my hands?”

Ryuji stood his ground “You seem to have enough time to take walks and blow up their houses.”

Iwais stare started to waver before he broke off the eye-contact with Ryuji entirely. “It was one time out of desperation.” he leaned against the wall “So what are you kids trying to pull off?”

Ren and Ryuji shared a relieved nod before Ren took over “We don’t know exactly yet, but things might get messy. We’ll need firepower.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Iwais mouth when he said “And with firepower, you mean…”

A grin spread on Harus face when she said “Everything.”

“So you’re planning on going in, guns blazing?” Iwai asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ren shrugged “Maybe, maybe not. We got our tacticians staking out the bank at this very moment.”

“Tacticians? And who would that be? Another 10 year-old?”

Ryuji smirked “Nope. A 17 year-old hacker and a slightly older Shogi-prodigy.”

Iwai sneered before saying “After being sown together by a little kid, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Ren sighed “Look, we don’t know what’s your story and if you don’t want to have a part in all of this, then so be it, but you seem to know your way around weapons and judging from what I saw in your living room, you also have quite the tools, so could we at least pay you to do some modifications on our stuff?”

Iwai shook his head “Look, if I would see any chance for you to succeed, I’d be glad to help you out, but if you're really planning on storming the bank, then I know that you are running towards your and your imprisoned friends death.”

“But how can you be sure about that?” Haru asked.

“Because I’ve been working in this place for long enough.” Iwais voice was harsh.

The three teenagers stared at him wide-eyed until Ryuji eventually called out “Wait, you’re one of THEM?!”

Iwai sighed “It’s been some time, but I used to be one of Kaneshiros men. They have never completely forgiven me for leaving. I wasn’t lying when I said that Kaneshiro ties up loose ends. He tried to have me assassinated for years. Recently, they changed their tactics to blackmail.”

“Who did they kidnap?” Haru asked.

“My son.” Iwai answered.

“Shit...” Ryuji muttered.

“So they kidnapped your son to make you cooperate?” Ren summarized.

Iwai nodded. “I always tried to keep him out of this… They must have spied on us beforehand or they could have never made the connection between me and him. They couldn't have known what he looked like beforehand."

“You’re not that far away from their territory...” Ren remarked.

“I know that, but I’m already Wanted in many other places for the things that I have done under Kaneshiros command. Besides, not a lot of people know of this, so I hope that you weren’t followed when you decided to waltz in here.” Iwai replied.

Haru seemed reluctant for a moment before speaking up “So that means that you could give us insight of the organization...”

Iwai sighed “You’re still holding on to your plan, even after the things I told you?”

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “Look, you said so yourself, Kaneshiro ties up loose ends. Assuming that you do what he wants and deliver all the weapons to him… then what? You get your son back, but Kaneshiro will always know what to do, to keep you on the tight leash.”

“As soon as Kaorus out, I’m gonna send him away to some place safe. I’ll have to keep working for Kaneshiro, but at least my son is in a better place and doesn't get sucked into this mess.”

“You’re a good father...” Haru was obviously touched.

“Who would we have to take out to destroy Kaneshiros organization?” Ren asked, out of the blue.

Iwai looked confused “What?”

“You heard me. You’re ready to forfeit your life for the well-being of your son. But what if we took out your problem at its root – Kaneshiro?” Ren said. When Iwai still seemed reluctant, he continued “You will never be free, if you just do what you’re told. Wanting to free your son is noble, but there will never be a guarantee that Kaneshiros men won’t hunt him down.”. He gave the man an intense stare “You don’t have to come with us. If we fail and die, none of this will be on you and you can still pay off your weapon-debt to Kaneshiro and proceed with your plan. All we ask of you is some weapon modifications and heavy artillery.”

The man seemed reluctant when he asked “Have you ever handled a stationary machine gun?”

All three of them shook their heads.

Iwai sighed “Then you leave me no choice but to come with you.”. The three Phantom Thieves shared a surprised look before Iwai continued “But I’m not gonna work with amateurs. I’ve had my fair share of mass-shootings, sieges and robberies, so if things get dangerous and you want to leave the place alive, I’m in charge.”

“Sounds reasonable.” Ren replied. “We, on our end, will do our utmost to avoid said mass-shootings.”

Iwai held out his hand “It’s a deal then.”

Ren took it “It is.” he looked at the other two Phantom Thieves “This isn’t a jailbreak-mission anymore. We’re going to war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting serious and both the warrior- and the tactician-section are working under high pressure to figure everything out:) Hifumi and Futaba as the navigators/tacticians seem like they would make a pretty good team. Also, it's about time that Mishima gets some appreciation from Futaba too;)
> 
> This chapter came out a little shorter compared to the others, but overall we're getting closer to the big day ;)


	24. While We're Still Alive

As the last day before the dead-line slowly came to an end, an eerie atmosphere settled on the house. They had spent the days before getting ready, making sure the equipment was in good shape and letting everyone in on the final plan. But now, so close to the deadline, they found that they had prepared everything that needed preparing. They knew the plan in and out. Now all there was left to do was wait for the time to pass.

In the living room, Hifumi was to be found in her usual spot in front of her shogi board, but over the last few days the figures hadn’t only fought fictional shogi-war, but also their tactics against Kaneshiro. Seated in front of her was Mishima, who eyed the board nervously. Futaba had holed herself up in the cellar, claiming to do some last adjustments and improvements, but Ren suspected that she just wanted to flee from the tension that seemed to emanate from everyone. Haru had retreated to taking care of her plants to calm her nerves. Yusuke seemed to be in his own world as he sat on the lawn, sketching something before occasionally staring off into the distance. Shinya, both nervous and excited about getting to go on a mission this time, was out in the front-yard doing some target-practice with the slingshot. Sojiro had hidden in the kitchen, preparing god knew what. Ryuji was doing push-ups in the backyard and Ann was stress-eating. And in the middle of it all was Ren. When the atmosphere in the living room got too crushing, he decided to go upstairs to his room and to go over his metal-briefcase for the fifth time. What they were about to do was crazy, but there was no choice. Futaba had shown him some of the footage of Makotos cell. She seemed alright, but he could only guess how pissed she must be in there with nothing to do. At least she had what he assumed to be Iwais son as a companion to talk to. He was sorry, that they had left her out there for so long, but they had to scout out the routines, go over tactics with all the third-parties and most of all, prepare themselves for what was about to come. None of them had ever been in a situation like this. None of them ever had to deal with the fact that they might not make it out of there alive. After everything that Iwai had told them over the days, none of the men that they were about to face should be trifled with. They were going up against people that had no problem with taking other peoples lives. And they were just a group of teenagers. He sighed as he snapped his briefcase shut again.

Makoto… if he could have done it by himself, he would have taken this mission on his own as to not endanger anyone else. But he knew that he needed every help he could get to get her out. Hell, he had even needed help to finally get him back to his old self, that was able to come up with a plan to begin with. The voice in his head, that kept telling him to just go and rip all those bastards throats out had always been there over the last two weeks. Sometimes it made him lose sleep and sometimes it made him grab a stone and smash a window of some abandoned house, when walked past one. But at least he had been able to keep it in check in front of the others. Only Ryuji would throw him an occasional look whenever he ground his teeth too hard while talking strategy with Hifumi. But now, on the last evening, he found it to be frighteningly quiet. As if it was preparing for war too, channeling all the rage to then let out tomorrow. He was almost scared to find out what that could look like. He sighed. He never realized how much he needed Makoto in so many different ways. Not only was he missing his second-in-command, but also his confidant, his partner and his support. What would he have given to be able to sit with her and talk about the things that awaited them tomorrow. He wondered if he would ever be able to watch her again while she was lost in thought before eventually smiling when she figured something out. He wondered if he would ever be able to make her blush and smile at the same time, whenever he said something that flustered her. He only partly noticed the door behind him opening.

“Everyone is really on edge...” Morgana muttered as he watched their leader.

“I can’t say that I can blame them. I think I might be the most nervous.” Ren answered, filing through his case again.

“You have to stay strong. They are looking to you as their leader.” Morgana said.

“Maybe they shouldn’t. After all, I’m not better than them. If this has proven anything, it’s that I’m exactly as unstable as all of them...” Ren replied.

“Being a leader doesn’t mean that you can’t have feelings.”

“I know, but still I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. When Ann was in Kamoshidas castle, Ryuji almost had an aneurysm but I wasn’t worried, because I knew that she was going to be alright. Makoto worried when I let Yusuke go. I wasn’t, because I knew that he was going to be okay.” he sighed “Makoto is the most capable person I know. I shouldn’t have lost it like I did.”

Morgana shook his head “What’s important is that you bounced back.”

“I would have never been able to do it on my own.” Ren said.

Morgana smiled “And you don’t have to. No matter what, you’ll never be alone with us around.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Wow, what’s gotten into you?” he smirked. It wasn’t like the kid to talk like this.

“Nothing!” Morgana was quick to exclaim “Maybe… that’s just my way of coping with all the stress right now!”

Ren closed his briefcase again before turning serious “Morgana… I don’t know what will happen there. It could very well be that we won’t come back. Are you sure that you want to come with us?”

“I won’t be left behind while you guys are off playing heroes!” Morgana protested.

“This isn’t a game. Where not instigating an intervention for a greedy artist this time! We’re going up against the mafia.” Ren argued.

“I know! But who’s going to patch you up if you get shot?” Morgana replied. “You had me sitting on the sidelines for far too long now!” Morgana jumped off his bed, taking on a heroic pose “It’s my time to shine!”

Ren shook his head. He still doubted that the kid understood the weight of his decision. “I guess if I say no, you just go and ask Futaba where the best hiding spot on the car would be...”

“I already know.”

“Just… keep your head down, okay?” Ren muttered. It came to no surprise that the cocky little kid that he had come across almost 3 years ago was the first to volunteer to go on a suicide-mission. He just hoped that he was as good a field-medic than he was a medic at home.

Their dinner was quiet. Everyone seemed trapped in their own heads for the time being. After the table was cleared, Ren called everyone together to go over the plan one last time. They all gathered around the table as Hifumi and Yusuke spread an enlarged copy of the floor-plan. Hifumi and Futaba placed a few of her Shogi pieces all around the map, based on the guards assumed locations.

As Ren looked into the faces of his friends, his heart got heavy. The thought of losing any one of them tomorrow made him sick. He took a deep breath before speaking up. “Tomorrow’s the day. I know that we’ve been through this a thousand times already. But let’s do it one more time.”. He wasn’t surprised that noone complained. “Tomorrow at 10, Futaba, Ann, Haru, Hifumi, Ryuji, Yusuke, Morgana and I will take the car and pick up Iwai. Everyone except for Hifumi, Futaba and Iwai will approach the bank on foot. We need to look like we are about to pay our debts and then be off again. Our guns will either be transported in the metal briefcases or will be brought in through Iwai later on.” Ren moved some of the pieces off the map. “At exactly twelve o’clock, Chihaya, Sojiro and Shinya will be awaiting her debt-collectors in the abandoned town. There should be three of them in the car. Sojiro and Shinya will ambush them and take them out before setting off a fake emergency call.” He turned to Sojiro and Shinya “Make it big, they need to send as many people as possible.”. The two nodded. “Hide the car and the unconscious bodies and then head straight back home. Mishima will hold the fort while you’re gone. A few men of the neighbors village have agreed to stand guard with you while you’re on your own.”. Ren took a deep breath “At the same time, Eiko and her companions will set off numerous emergency calls in New Shinjuku, drawing even more of them away for at least a short while.” they all looked at the map “While all of this happens, we are walking to the bank. The ideal case would be that the last cars head off right before we enter the building.” He moved the 6 figures back onto the floor-plan. “We don’t reveal our true intentions until we have assessed our situation. Based on Futabas and Hifumis observations, there are three guards in the lobby at all times, but we can’t be sure that they won’t increase the number since they’re probably waiting for us.”. Ren moved the pieces into the drawn lobby “Once we counted all the guards, we make it quick. They can’t make a move or we’re dead. Ann, Yusuke and I will each have a tranquilizer gun in our briefcases. Once the guards in the lobby are out, Haru and Ryuji go and guard the northern window, where Iwai will be waiting with the heavy artillery and the tools to bust through the iron bars. Once he’s inside, Yususke triggers the emergency shutdown in the control room. Futaba will make sure to cut the siren.”.

Yusuke nodded while moving his figurine into another room on the map.

“Once we’re locked in, we can go about, overwhelm all the other guards and free Makoto and Iwais son from this room here.” he pointed to a room marked with a big red X. “When we have them back, we’ll go and flush Kaneshiro out of that safe of his.”. He moved some more figurines before making a pause to gather himself for what he was about to say next. “We haven’t talked about this yet and I don’t know whether you figured it out by now… but if we let Kaneshiro live, his ego will never be able to forgive us. We will be forever on the run for he won’t stop sending his goons after us. Chances are, if we eliminate the leader and his higher-ups, that the others or at least a significant amount will lose faith and run.” he looked into the troubled faces of his friends “I will shoot Kaneshiro, so you don’t have to carry that burden.” Everyone stared at him with wide eyes “I can’t guarantee though, that you won’t have to use your weapons to kill. I don’t want to make it a massacre, but if it’s a question of either you or them, I say blow their fucking brains out.”. He tilted the figure that had been placed on the maps vault. “Chances are high that by the time we’re done, there’s already back-up waiting for us at the front, but when the door opens, we will already be waiting at the northern window for the shutters to lift. If they should attempt surrounding the building, Hifumi will clear us a path and we hopefully won’t be detected while we make our way to the car. Futaba and Hifumi stay with the car at all times. Hifumi, you only start shooting if it’s necessary during our escape as to not reveal your location beforehand.”

As he looked into the round, everyone nodded. He sighed. What he was about to say wouldn’t go well “There’s one more thing.” he focused on Futaba and Hifumi “I talked to the others and we agreed. If things go to hell in there and there’s no chance of us getting out alive, I will give a signal for you to abandon your posts and flee. Take the car, drive back to LeBlanc2, pick up the others and drive as far away from this place as you can.”

“WHAT?!” Futaba exclaimed.

“If there’s no chance for us to get out alive, there’s no point in waiting for us. If we don’t make it, then we at least want the rest of you to survive this.” Ren said, avoiding Futabas eyes that were now filling up with tears. “We agreed that the decision for giving the signal must be unanimous.”

“Then it’s not unanimous! I’ll never agree to it!” Futaba yelled.

“Futaba...” Ann gently muttered, close to tears as well.

“You don’t get a vote.” Ren said with a heart heavy. “So, please! I know it’s hard, but you have to promise me - no Us - that if we say so, you will run and stay alive.”

Futaba continued to glare at him while her body was shaking with sobs. A painful silence spread in the room.

“I promise.” Hifumis voice was nothing but a whisper.

Futaba whirled around to direct her anger and desperation at Hifumi “You traitor!”

Ren took a deep breath before nodding towards Hifumi “Thank you.”

“Then she can go, but I won’t!” Futaba shouted.

“Futaba, please!” Sojiro begged, but he couldn’t hide that asking this of her was hard.

Ren looked at Hifumi again “Even if you have to knock her out, please get her to safety.”

Hifumi looked shocked but nodded nonetheless “I will.”

Ren looked into the round before saying “Then we’re done here. We’ll synchronize our watches one last time when we leave tomorrow morning. As soon as we’re off, we won’t be able to communicate with Sojiro and Shinya anymore, so we just have to pray that everything goes by as planned.”

“What about Eiko? What if she turns coat?” Yusuke asked.

“She knows the plan. All we can do is trust her.” Ren replied. They had met up with her a few days prior, as agreed. She seemed committed enough to stick to the plan. At least that’s what he hoped.

Out of nowhere, Yusuke started chuckling “There are so many uncontrollable variables. Makoto would truly hate this.”

Ren couldn’t help but smile at the thought “Yeah… we don’t have to tell her.”

Ren ordered everyone to bed early, yet noone really felt in the mood for sleeping. Ryuji was in the lucky position of having an excuse for not going to sleep yet, since he had been fast enough to declare first watch. But as he was sitting there in the roof lookout, his legs dangling off the edge, he realized that it didn’t make a difference whether you were tossing and turning in bed or sitting on the roof on your own, staring into the darkness. It was equally quiet and you were equally alone with your thoughts. Of course the whole thing about the signal was purely hypothetical and a worst-case-scenario, but Ryuji couldn’t help but shudder when Ren had announced it to the others. The thought of them getting shot one after the other made him sick. The thought of Her dying in front is eyes made him break out in a cold sweat. They had never lived a particularly safe life, but they have never been in a situation quite as dangerous as this either. His head snapped around when he heard the ladder creak.

It was no surprise to see Anns head rise from the hatch before eventually revealing her full body, dressed in a fitted t-shirt and sweatpants. Her hair was freely flowing down her shoulders. He didn’t know why, but seeing Ann at her messiest gave him a warm feeling. It reminded him of all the times that they used to sneak out at nights to climb across the rooftops. She had never cared climbing out her window in pajamas. While Ryuji was lost in thought, she had walked up to him and sat down.

“You should go get some sleep...” Ryuji started.

“I know… I think none of us are actually asleep though.” she said, letting her gaze wander over the dark front-yard. “And don’t tell me that you would be asleep right now. You were ready to fight Mishima for that first watch...” she added, a small smirk on her face.

He sighed “You got me...”. He stared off into the distance “I know that it was the right thing and shit… but I really feel for Futaba. If it was me, I wouldn’t leave either.”

“Yeah...” Ann remembered Ren approaching all of them yesterday, wanting to talk about what to do if there was no way out. “Hey…. We’ll be okay… right?”

Looking into Anns troubled turquoise eyes made him gulp. He forced himself to nod “Of course we will!” he tried to sound enthusiastic. “Just because we made a back-up strategy doesn’t mean that we’ll need it!” the more he talked, the more obvious it became that he was trying to assure himself as much as her.

Ann managed a weak smile “I guess you’re right.”she said. “Just.. promise me that you won’t do anything reckless, okay?”

Ryuji gave her a confused look.

“I’m afraid that Ren goes off and does something impulsive when it comes to Makoto. I… just want you to be safe...” she chewed her lip “And… if anything should happen to me-”

Hearing her talk about dying made him even more scared “Stop talking like that! I won’t let that happen!” he almost yelled.

Ann slapped him. It wasn’t hard. She didn’t want to hurt him, but rather get his thoughts back together “NO! That’s exactly what I mean! I don’t want you to put yourself in harms way! And especially not because of me!”. Saying it like that sounded extremely self-centered, but Ann had known him for far too long. The thought of him getting hurt or – even worse – killed because he wanted to protect her was one of her biggest fears.

Ryuji dumbfoundedly touched his cheek. He would have argued, but the intense stare in Anns eyes wouldn’t have allowed for any argument anyway. They continued staring off into the distance together.

“Thank you...” Ann suddenly said.

“For what?” Ryuji was confused.

“For always looking out for me and… for everything I guess…” Ann said.

“Look, you have to stop saying good-bye. You’ll get plenty opportunities to nag and be all up in my business again, okay?” Ryuji tried to lighten the mood, but it was lost on Ann. “You know what? I’m not going to go along with this! I’m not going to get all sentimental and tell you how much I care. Because. We. Won’t. Die.” he accentuated.

Ann threw him a sideways glance before saying “I hope you’re right.”. She got back to her feet and walked to the armchair that was standing a few steps behind Ryuji. If he wasn’t going to say anything, she wouldn’t pour her heart out either. Even though she wanted to. Because she knew that she would never get over it, if he died tomorrow without knowing how she really felt. She dropped down on the chair and curled up. Even if it was no use talking anymore, she still didn’t want to go downstairs again.

Ryuji turned his head to look at her “You sure you don’t want to go to bed?”

Ann shook her head “This kind of reminds me of the time when we were on our own... We took turns in guarding and sleeping...” she reminisced.

“How could I forget.. that place was a dump...” Ryuji replied, remembering the run-down shack with more holes than roof. But it had been their first place of rest after finding out that they were orphans and all alone in the world. It had been a musty armchair like this that had served as their bed, for whomever wasn’t on watch. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched her curled up, her arms wrapped around herself. He sighed when he tossed the jacket that he had brought over her before sliding back until he was sitting with his back against the chair. “Just like old times, huh?” he muttered.

“Mhm..” Ann mumbled. Her eyes were already closed when she slid her arm out from underneath his jacket to place it on Ryujis shoulder, letting her hand dangle in the air.

Ryuji smiled as he carefully raised his hand to lock his fingers with hers. He couldn’t remember how this gesture had established itself. Maybe it had only been meant as an unconscious sign of reassurance, that as long as their fingers were connected, they weren’t in danger. But to Ryuji, it had always given him the feeling that he wasn’t alone. He had never liked to admit it, but his father leaving him and his mother behind had scarred him. Not because he was particularly fond of his father, no, thinking about it, he was an asshole, but him just up and walking, leaving his mom and him behind to manage on their own, had created some serious rifts in his trust in people. Back then, with his mothers death so fresh on his mind, feeling Anns fingers intertwined with his had been able to calm him down again. He got comfortable leaning against the chair, his legs stretched out, as he let his gaze wander across the perimeter while everything he felt was Anns fingers inbetween his.

In her room, Haru was going through her equipment one last time. She would have to leave her weapons in Iwais hands until later on in the plan. She normally avoided handing her weapons to others. It had almost ended in a bloodbath when Ann wanted to try out her axe and Yusuke once almost blew up LeBlanc when she left her grenade launcher in his hands for a few minutes. Since those incidents, it had been something of a silent agreement that Harus stuff was Harus stuff and it was better for everyone to not touch it. But she figured that Iwai was probably the best person to leave her equipment to. She went over her ammunition belt one last time, only while other belts were studded with shotgun-shells or other smaller bullets, hers was lined with grenades. She carefully placed everything in a shock-absorbing case when the door behind her opened.

“Is it a bad time?” Yusuke asked in a calm voice.

Haru turned around and smiled “Not at all. I think I have been checking on my weapons for the tenth time today...”

Yusuke nodded. He walked towards the dresser beside the windows and leaned against it. “I think I have counted my bullets multiple times a day since last week.”

Haru smiled “I guess grenades are a little easier to count.”

Yusuke chuckled before staring off into the distance. “I think we have never been so well prepared for a completely unpredictable mission like this.” he started.

“Hm… I guess you’re right...” Haru answered “Yet the amount of information that we were able to gather through either Futabas technological skills or by asking the right people sure was impressive. I even dare to say that we couldn’t have prepared better. Of course that doesn’t mean that we know the enemies every move...”

The artist still seemed lost in thought when he answered “Are you scared, Haru?”

Haru took a step back. That question came out of nowhere. “Well… I don’t want to die.”

“Me neither." the artist pondered "There are so many things that I still want to see and I refuse to let my life end in a tacky bank.”. He sounded angry. “Can I ask you a very critical question, without you thinking anything less of me?” he suddenly asked.

The girl nodded.

Yusuke took a deep breath “If any of us shouldn’t make it… Do you think that you could bring yourself to forget the reason why we had to fight this battle in the first place?” when he noticed Harus wide eyes, he decided to elaborate “Now, please don’t misunderstand, after my encounter with Madarame I am in no position to point out the impulsiveness in others, but Makoto being abducted came from disregarding orders and trying to take matters into her own hands.” he sighed “I’m aware that we have to save her, but I can’t help but wonder at what cost that could come. I have been thinking over these past two weeks and I came to the realization that if-” he gulped while trying to find the right words “any of you should die, I wouldn’t be able to remain in this group any longer, because I would never be able to see Makoto as anything else but the reason why one of us isn’t with us anymore.”

Haru sat down on her bed while processing his words.

“You think that I am despicable, don’t you?” Yusuke asked.

Haru shook her head “No… I think that you have put far more thought in this possibility beforehand than anyone else has.”. She folded her hands in her lap “I understand your reasoning. But in a situation like this, we shouldn’t start pointing fingers at each other and looking for the one to blame. To be honest though… I share your worry. The thought of losing one of us tomorrow is terrifying. But I know that if things went south, the person who would despise herself the most would be Makoto. She is her own harshest critic and I am sure that in those two weeks she spent at the bank, she has wrecked her brain over how lightheaded her maneuver was.” she sighed “So no, I don’t think any less of you. It’s only human to think like this. And to answer your question… I don’t know what I would feel. And I hope that we won’t have to find out.”

There was a moment of silence before Yusuke started chuckling again “As someone who has been called alien and strange a lot, being called human is kind of refreshing.”. His gaze was still fixed on the opposite wall of the room.

“Huh?” Haru stared at him “That’s all you took from my answer?”

Yusuke shook his head with a faint smile “Not at all. You gave an honest and well-thought counter-argument that considers the feelings of all sides. Exactly as I expected and hoped.”. When Haru just looked confused, he added “Thank you. I think I will be able to rest a little bit better tonight, now that I got to get this off my chest.”

The girl nodded “I’m glad to hear that.”

Yusuke pushed himself off the dresser and started walking towards the door again when he said “I know that we all know how dangerous a situation we will get ourselves into tomorrow and that there is no need to state the obvious, but please take care of yourself.”

“You too, Yusuke.” Haru said. He was almost out the door when she called after him “Hey… Yusuke?” a light smile flashed across her face when he turned around to look at her “Could I… maybe get another hug?”

Yusuke couldn’t say that he expected a request like this. Their one-time hug was something that he had considered more of an awkward encounter – solely because of his inexperience of course. But Haru must have taken his surprised silence for an agreement, for she crossed the room to put her arms around him. It still felt new to him, but wrapping his arms around her came a bit more natural the second time around and he found easing into it a little less strange. Time seemed to get lost in embraces like this for he had no clue how long they were standing like this when the door opened to reveal Hifumi.

“Oh.. I’m sorry! I was intruding..” she was about to back out again when Haru took a step back and smiled.

“No, it’s okay. This is your room too.” the girl smiled.

Yusuke nodded “I was about to take my leave anyway.” he made slight bow to both of them “Good night.”

Ren was about to get ready for bed when he heard the door burst open behind him. For a brief second, he felt reminded of Makotos surprise visit, wearing Panda-pajamas and rambling about cars like a maniac. It was adorable. But the realization that she wasn't even in the building followed very short after.

He only managed to turn around when Futaba was already standing in front of him, hammering against his chest with her fists. She didn’t hit hard, it was the emotional component that hurt much more.

“How could you do this to me?! You’re my key item, remember?” she cried, accentuating every word with a punch.

Ren grabbed her by the shoulders “Futaba, calm down. Please.” When the girl managed to look him in the eyes again, he continued “It’s just a plan for when everything goes wrong! Do you think I like the idea of giving the command to leave all of us to die?!”

The orange-haired girls eyes grew wide. Apparently she hadn’t thought about his side. She wrapped her arms around his waist and crushed him into a hug. “You can’t die, you hear me!” she tried to make it an order while still sniveling into his shirt.

“Believe me, I’ll try my best.” Ren answered. He just couldn’t get it over his heart to promise her something that he wasn’t sure he could keep. Even if in that particular case, he wouldn’t even be there to get a taste of her wrath.

“And you better get Makoto out of there!” Futaba added.

“That’s the whole reason behind this audacious plan...”

Futaba took a step back before nodding “And I will do what I can from the sidelines.”. It started to sound like she was giving a pep-talk to herself.

“I know you will.” Ren replied. “You already did an amazing job with staking out the place. We would have never been able to prepare this thoroughly without it.”

Futaba chuckled “It wasn’t just me though. I provided the data, but it was Hifumi who put it together into a big picture. Inari helped too, I guess.”. She shuffled her feet “I guess I shouldn’t have yelled at her...”

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you, under the circumstances. Although she was on board with knocking you out pretty fast...” Ren smirked before grimacing when Futaba punched him in the stomach.

“Because you ordered it! What was she about to say to the leaders orders?!” Futaba exclaimed.

“You shouldn’t blindly follow everything I say.” Ren remarked before realizing his mistake “Except for when it comes to my plan for you saving yourself. Then you shouldn’t question me.”

Futaba looked at him with a challenging smirk.

Ren rolled his eyes “Did you set me up?”

“Nope, you dug that hole yourself.” Futaba snickered “And that makes it even better.”

Ren messed with her hair before turning serious again “I mean it, if I tell you, you leave. Got it?”

Futaba sighed “This again?”. She reluctantly nodded “Fine, I got it.” she started walking backwards towards the door “But… you won’t die.” she pointed finger guns at him before leaving the room and walking towards hers. Talking to him now had managed to put her mind at ease a bit more, but she was still worried. If he really gave the signal and Hifumi had to knock her out, she would wake up with the knowledge that all of them were probably dead. She quickly shook her head to get the bad thoughts out. When she entered her room, she found that Anns bed was empty. Futaba didn’t need to think hard about where the blonde girl could be. While years ago, having a room to herself was something that she couldn’t imagine living without, the prospect of being alone – especially tonight – felt crushing for some reason. She sighed when she grabbed her favorite pillow and marched towards the opposite door. She knocked twice before entering, only to find Hifumi and Haru getting ready for bed.

Seeing Haru, the one that she so often referred to as Mom because of her angelic kindness and infinite ideas for cooking vegetables so that noone ever could complain about not enough variety made her eyes tear up again when she thought of the possibility that by tomorrow evening, that warm smile could very well be dead and gone. She almost ran across the room to crush her into a hug.

“Futaba-chan, what’s wrong?”

Futaba tried her best not to let her voice drift into that nasal sobbing when she answered “It’s nothing… I just felt like doing that.” she tried to cover up her outburst. She didn’t even need to see her face to know that Haru was smiling that motherly smile of hers while she gently patted Futabas back. Futaba inhaled one last deep breath before releasing her. She turned to Hifumi. “Sorry for yelling at you earlier… You’re not a traitor.”

Hifumi, who was already sitting on her mattress on the floor, looked surprised “I understand your reaction.” she made a short pause before adding “Please know that I didn’t agree without hesitation.”

Futaba nodded “Noted.”

“And I would certainly prefer not having to knock you unconscious, if the situation should occur.” Hifumi said.

Futaba chuckled “Can’t make any promises there...”

This time, it was Hifumis turn to nod “Very well.”

Futaba let her gaze wander between the two girls before asking “Hey… can I sleep here tonight? I… don’t want to be alone right now...”

Haru smiled. Futaba actively looking for company and claiming that she didn’t want to sleep alone was something that didn’t happen a lot. “Of course you can.” she smiled.

Futaba grinned before throwing herself and her pillow onto Makotos side of the double-bed. She couldn’t quite name it, but the brunettes smell was still lingering in the sheets after two weeks. As Futaba curled up into Makotos blanket, her favorite pillow clutched to her stomach, she hoped that by tomorrow night, Makoto would be able to sleep in this spot again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter foreshadowing? There is a lot of talk about death. Can you guess where this is going? ;)
> 
> So now we know the plan but next chapter, it's time for the execution! I'm already excited. 
> 
> Also, a quick explanation for Yusukes behavior: Of all the Phantom Thieves, I feel like Yusuke has the least of that "We're gonna save XY, no matter what"-mentality (maybe I'm doing him injustice there). I also think that asking the questions Yusuke asked is an interesting view, since all of them are about to risk their lives after all. He doesn't want to blame Makoto, but there is something of an inner conflict about how he would be able to cope with losing one of the other Thieves in the process of getting another one out. 
> 
> Well, anyway, things will happen on saturday.


	25. The Bankruptcy of Kaneshiro

After a gloomy evening, the morning didn’t turn out to be much different. No jokes were made at the breakfast table, no lighthearted conversation was held as everyone got ready for the mission and no sarcastic remark was uttered from Sojiro, that they shouldn’t get their boots dirty and mess up the truck. The entirety of the Phantom Thieves minus Makoto gathered beside the car. It was an awkward moment, where noone really knew what to say or do.

“This is it...” Ren eventually said.

“You better get back, you hear me?” Sojiro tried to warn them, but failed miserably. Even he was scared.

“Yeah! We’ll do what we can to support you on our end, but you better not mess up!” Shinya said.

Ren nodded “Understood.” He looked into the determined eyes of the people that he called his family. He had to swallow before saying “No matter what happens… I want you to know that I love all of you so freaking much.”

Ryuji was about to yell at Ren to stop talking like that when Ann elbowed him in the ribs, slightly shaking her head. Hearing everyone say all these cheesy things as if they had already accepted the fact that one of them would die, freaked him out so much that all he wanted to do was scream at everyone. Ann talking like their time would come to an end soon actually had left him sleepless, even when it had been his turn to sleep in the armchair. Ren starting to talk like this too scared him beyond belief.

In the meantime, Futaba went in to give Sojiro a tight hug. The old man hugged her back without saying anything. He had grudgingly come to accept that Futaba had grown up and started to make her own decisions, although he wished that she hadn’t realized it right before attempting to take down the mafia. Knowing that she wasn’t going to get into the line of fire was reassuring enough for him. Hifumi being by her side added some more reassurance.

“Okay...” Ren reluctantly said. Was he leading all of them to their deaths? He took a deep breath to drive his fears away. He couldn’t falter now. He needed to lead the way. “Let’s synchronize our watches one last time.”

A silent nod was the last thing that the Phantom Thieves exchanged before they parted ways.

Picking Iwai and his arsenal up went by without delay and soon they found themselves at the fork in the path, that marked the infiltration-teams exit from the car.

Looking at Futaba almost tore Rens heart apart, when she charged at him to crush him into another one of her hugs.

“You better make it out.” she mumbled against his chest.

Ren nodded before giving her head one last pat. He looked into the group “Everyone has their ear-piece?”. When the rest nodded, he carefully broke free of Futabas grasp. When he looked at the orange-haired girl that he considered his sister, he said “Watch over us, Oracle.”, before he shifted his gaze to Hifumi “And you watch over her, Umbra.”

Their walk through the town was a quiet one. Noone really seemed to pay them a lot of attention, as they casually walked along the streets, each a metal briefcase in hand. Maybe it was a common sight to the people living there. They were already walking up the winding road that Ren had so recklessly driven two weeks before when their ear-pieces crackled to life.

“We’re in position. The place looks quiet so far, no signs of tightened security.” Hifumis voice could be heard.

“Gunner covered us in dirt though...” Futaba added. They had decided to give Iwai a temporary code-name.

“I just covered the car to blend in better with the surroundings. You’re only wearing camouflage cloaks.” Iwais voice rasped.

“I feel so professional.” Futaba chuckled.

“If only you’d behave the part too.” Ren joked.

“Ugh, just keep walking.” Futaba sighed.

The huge bank building was already in sight when Futaba chimed in again. “I just intercepted some radio communications. They dispatched 5 vehicles to Boss and Generals location. They’re talking about a shadow-attack.”

Yusuke chuckled “Very effective.”

“They’re only communicating with some place in town, so the bank should have no idea about this.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way.” Ren said. The closer they got to the bank, the more nervous he got. While the last weeks, he had been haunted by his inner demon that kept telling him to scream in rage and rip things apart, today, he found himself rather calm. He almost felt alone.

They had almost reached the huge stairs and the first set of guards, when Futabas voice was in their ears again “Oooh, this is getting good. Radios are running hot down there with emergency calls from New Shinjuku. That should get loads of units off our backs.”

Hifumi added “We can see you now. Good luck in there.”

Ren took a last deep breath before walking up the stairs.

“Stop right there.” one of the guards called out, approaching them with his partner. “What’s your business here?”

Ren tried to look relaxed when he answered “We have an appointment with Kaneshiro.” he held up the metal briefcase as a demonstration “We got his money.”

The two guards shared a look before the other one said “Put the cases down and spread your arms and legs.”

They did as they were told, silently enduring the guards patting them down one after the other, while praying that they later wouldn’t want to look inside the briefcases. When the guards finished checking Yusuke and Ann – the latter under the iron observation of Ryuji, who was shooting daggers out of his eyes at the guard, only while receiving equally angry looks from Ann, that could only be interpreted as her way of telling him to keep it together – they motioned them to pick up their briefcases and waved them through towards the entrance.

“I see you’re in. Causing distraction to lure the outer guards away now.” Futaba announced in their ears.

Yusuke coughed, the sign for Futaba to proceed.

As the Phantom Thieves stepped into the huge lobby, they immediately took notes of the locations of the guards. Some of them already had their eyes on them, while the others were focused on something else. They were unable to tell if their enemies noticed it too, but the tension that they felt was almost unbearable, as they slowly walked into the middle of the lobby, trying to act like they were taking in the building while wondering where to go.

“Looks like it’s just the three of them in the lobby.” Hifumi said. “Positions as anticipated. Oracle will distract the guard in the control room. Take them out as planned in 5…. 4…. 3…. 2….1…. Go.”

In nothing more than milliseconds, Yusuke, Ren and Ann produced their tranquilizer guns out of their briefcases and pointed them at their assigned targets. With an almost undetectable sound, three tranquilizer darts were set off and sailed towards the three guards, who were too late to notice what was about to hit them. As the their targets slowly started to go down, Yusuke had already made his way upstairs and into the control room. Futaba had transmitted something onto his surveillance screens, on which the guard was still focused on now. It was an easy feat to knock him out by pulling a metal clipboard over the back of his head.

“I’m in position.” Yusuke stated.

“Good. Noir and Skull, get in position. Gunner is on his way now.” Hifumi coordinated “Joker, Panther, Morgana, tie up the guards. Keep it down, as to not attract the outside guards."

Under Futabas surveillance, Ryuji and Haru hurried down the northern hallway to the appointed window at the end of it. Iwai was already waiting on the other side when the two opened the window.

“I’d take a step back, if I were you.” Iwai warned before busting out a huge metal-saw. Harus eyes grew wide. “This will be noisy.”

“Prepare for company, there’s no way that I could cover that up..” Futaba warned.

She wasn’t lying. Not soon after Iwai started putting the motorized saw down on the iron bars, guards started showing up, looking less than amused with what they spotted. Lucky enough for Haru and Ryuji, the two guards that had spotted them weren’t the shoot-first types, for they simply approached with suspicious looks on their faces, leaving the two enough time to charge at them. They each grabbed the outwards facing wrist of their targets to whirl them around and into the each other, causing their bodies and most importantly their heads to collide with a bone-chilling sound, knocking them out cold.

“Oracle, any more coming our way?” Ryuji asked.

“You’re looking good so far. They tried to call for backup, but I intercepted it.” she sounded proud.

“Good job, Oracle.” Haru smiled before turning back to Iwai, who was almost done sawing his way in. Haru and Ryuji got ready to receive the bags full of weaponry when their earpieces suddenly crackled to life.

“Uuuh…. Guys..?” they heard Morganas scared voice before they heard grunting and the bustling of fabric followed up by heavy breathing.

Haru and Ryuji exchanged a horrified look before Ryuji barked into his ear-piece “Guys, what’s going on out there?!”.

Moments of torturing radio silence passed by before Ren spoke up “The guards from outside came back. We didn’t have any tranquilizer-darts anymore.”

Both Ryuji and Haru exhaled “Is everyone okay?” Haru asked.

“Yeah, we’re good.” Ann answered. “They only saw Morgana, so Ren and I were able to hit them from behind.”

“I think noone reacted, but keep an eye out in the lobby.” Futaba said.

“Glad to hear it, now can we focus on the plan again?” Iwai called out while pulling and throwing out the iron bars that he had just sawed off.

With combined effort, Haru and Ryuji dragged in the duffle bags and metal-cases that held all of their bigger weapons, before Iwai himself climbed in.

“I’m in.” Iwai announced to the outside “Ready for lockdown.”

“Cutting the siren…. Now.” Futaba answered “Hit it, Fox!”

“Cutting the siren will only cause nearby units and guards stationed in window-less rooms to not notice. If anyone is standing by the windows, they will see the shutters go down, so stay alert and get back to the others as fast as you can.” Hifumi ordered.

In the lobby, the remaining Phantom Thieves watched the metal shutters go down in front of the main-entrance and the high windows under the loud creaking and screeching of metal-on-metal. The mechanism obviously didn’t get maintenance.

“Didn’t think that those would be so loud...” Ren grudgingly yelled while covering his ears.

“We won’t be able to take them by surprise like this...” Ann replied, clutching her ears too.

“Guys… here they come!” Morgana called out while pointing at the top of the stairs, where two guards had appeared. At the sight of the intruders, they raised their machine-guns.

Ann scurried back to pick up the two guns that laid by the corpses of the guards that they had met outside before. “Joker!” she called out, tossing him one.

“Get down!” Ren ordered before diving behind one of the benches. Only milliseconds later, he heard bullets flying.

“Skull, Noir, Gunner, we got company from upstairs, be careful!” Ann shouted into her ear-piece while covering her head.

Ren started to wonder how long these wooden benches would be able to provide them with cover when suddenly the bullet-hail stopped. He remained behind his cover as he checked on the other two. When he saw that they were okay and equally surprised, he carefully stuck his head out. Their attackers where now both laying at the bottom of the stairs, a puddle of blood underneath them. At the top of the staircase stood Yusuke with a gun, staring down at the two corpses.

When the artist noticed his friends crawling out from behind their covers he asked “Is everyone alright?”

The three managed to nod. “You better get down here, I’m sure that by now everyone knows that something’s up...” Ren said.

As Yusuke reconvened with the others downstairs, Haru, Ryuji and Iwai emerged from the northern corridor. They dropped their luggage in the middle of the lobby and began handing out everyones equipment.

“It’s only a matter of time until the next ones come.” Ren started as he loaded his gun “There’s no way that they didn’t hear us. Oracle, what do you see on the cameras?”

“It’s hard to tell, everyone is on the move.” Futaba said “But they’re all running to the lobby.”

“How many?” Ren asked.

“I’m counting 15 to 20.” Hifumi took over.

“Shit!” Ryuji cursed “This is bad...”

Iwai walked over to a big dufflebag “That’s it, I’m taking over now.” he pointed at everyone except Morgana “All of you, we’re making a barrier between those pillars.” he pointed at the two pillars at the end of the main aisle, leading to the main-entrance. “Barricade the doors to buy us some time and then get me those desks from behind the counters and move some benches.”. As they scurried away, he turned to Morgana “Let’s hope that you’re as good at assisting as at patching up.”. He grabbed the bag and moved everything to the assigned place, facing the two staircases and all the doors leading further into the building. Iwai zipped open the bag and handed Morgana several boxes filled with bullet-belts and a tripod, before he pulled out the machine-gun. “Set up the tripod here” the man ordered while he was checking on the gun.

Morgana nodded while fumbling with the new items in his hands. Ryuji and Ren had already carried over a desk when the kid managed to assemble the tripod. It didn’t take long until Kaneshiros guards started hammering against the closed doors in a rhythm that could have very well been everyones racing pulse. While Iwai was setting up the machine-gun, ordering and preparing Morgana for his task of holding the belts and making sure that there was never a moment the gun ran empty, the others moved and tilted furniture to create an almost hip-high barricade.

“They’re almost breaching on the west upstairs corridor!” Futaba called out.

“Everyone, get some cover!” Iwai roared before looking at Morgana “You keep your head down, got it?”

Morgana swallowed and nodded, clutching the bullet-belts with sweaty hands. He hadn’t known what exactly he was getting into, but he definitely hadn’t guessed this.

It didn’t take long for the glass of the upstairs security-office to burst when Kaneshiros men opened fire. While Iwai opened counter-fire and therefore forced the enemies to find cover, Haru launched a grenade into the upstairs office before pressing herself against the pillar again. With a deafening Boom, the shooting stopped and the lobby fell quiet. For a short moment, the only thing that could be heard was the sizzling and sparking of a few cables. It was a short chance to breathe before the next hordes started to burst through the other doors, immediately opening fire and drowning the room in an almost static noise again, creating an eerie atmosphere where everything that counted was staying alive. There wasn’t a lot that they could do, except for Ann with her submachine-gun and Yusuke with his rifle. Occasionally, Haru lobbed a grenade up to the upstairs balconies, but the real reason why all of them stayed alive was because of Iwai, who relentlessly bombarded Kaneshiros men with rounds that Morgang kept feeding the machine-gun while cowering behind the barricade, taking up as little space as possible. It must have been minutes, but it felt like hours had passed when Iwai stopped shooting and looked around the lobby. The whole room smelled of blood and death. One after the other, the Phantom Thieves dared to peek around their cover, only to find corpse over corpse and far too much blood.

Ryuji was the first to find his voice again. “Shit….” it escaped him.

Yusuke let out a forced chuckle “This… was not how it was supposed to go...”

Anns hands were shaking when she slowly slid down along the pillar. Her eyes stared dead ahead.

Haru took a deep breath. She knew that they had done what they had to and yet still, the fact that they had just murdered over a dozen men wasn’t something easily digested. She looked at Ren, who had been leaning against the pillar beside her. He looked mortified. “What do we do now, Joker?”

Ren snapped out of his trance. He hadn’t dared to turn around yet, but he didn’t need to, to know that he had just murdered a bunch of people. He wouldn’t have gone as far as calling them innocent, but they were in no position to kill them. And he had dragged everyone into it too. He had forced Haru to blow another person up with a grenade. He had allowed it to happen, that Morgana became the assistant of the man that had just saved their lives, but also took many others in return. He swallowed before looking at the others. He couldn’t break down now. Makoto was still somewhere in there and if he failed to find her, then all of this would have been for nothing. He found himself wishing for his rage to return, so he wouldn’t feel so damn shitty right now. But his head remained silent. He forced himself to pull it together again “Oracle, how many guards are left?”

“Hm… none that I can see in the hallways...” Futaba answered.

“Are they all hiding in the vault, perhaps?” Yusuke asked.

“I don’t know what happened, but I can’t access the second-tier cameras anymore… I have no visuals on Makoto or the vault.”

“Maybe I broke something when I shot a grenade into the security office?” Haru wondered.

“It’s possible. All I can say is that I can’t see anyone in the hallways anymore.” Futaba said.

“That means that we have taken out all the enemies in here” Yusuke said “We should be able to take a few moments to breathe and recollect ourselves...”

“This is messed up… Let’s get Queen and get out of here….” Ryuji muttered while helping Ann back to her feet.

“And you’re sure that they are in that room?” Iwai asked.

Ren nodded “They have been in the same room for three days in a row… If they were rotating them, Umbra and Oracle would have noticed.”

Iwai nodded “Okay, let’s go and get them then.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, an all too familiar and alarming sound emanated from the metal shutters as the mechanism jumped back to life again and prepared itself for lifting the barrier that they had thought would keep them safe during their stay.

“Oracle, what’s happening?!” Ren called out.

“I don’t know!” they heard furious typing “There must be another control to the shutters. They shouldn't start opening on their own!”

“Fuck!”Ryuji cursed when he saw the shutters slowly rising, creating a small crack above the marble floor.

“Three cars approaching. They’re taking position at the front.” Hifumis voice sounded panicked.

“How did they find out?!” Morgana shrieked.

An amused chuckle could be heard from the speakers in the ceiling. “You thought you had it all figured out… You seemed to have forgotten the good old remote control and landline.” Kaneshiro sounded amused.

“Oracle, can’t you do something?” Ann shrieked.

“I can’t! I already couldn’t access the shutters from the outside, remember? If he has a remote control, there’s nothing I can do!” Futaba sounded stressed.

“And what an interesting ally you made.” Kaneshiros voice continued “If you only knew, that he used to be one of my closest companions.”

“We know!” Ren called out. “He still was more inclined to join our cause before enslaving himself to you though!”

“A decision that you will regret.” Kaneshiro answered “You know me, Munehisa. You know what I do to people that cross me.” a dramatic pause passed “I kill their families.”

“If you let one of those filthy animals of yours lay a finger on him, I will skin you alive.” Iwai growled.

“I doubt that you will make it that far.” Kaneshiro said before the speakers went quiet again.

“Um… guys?” Ryuji called out, pointing at the steadily growing opening as the shutters rose and rose. A soft Clang rang out as a grenade rolled in and came to a halt right on front of Iwais feet.

The man scoffed “So that’s how you want to play, huh, Junya...” he muttered. “Then let’s play.”. He made a sidestep and kicked the grenade back outside in a flat curve. Nervous shuffling and excited shouts could be heard before the grenade went off and sent debris flying at the metal shutters that kept revealing the two parties to each other. “Change sides!” Iwai called out before grabbing Morgana by the shirt and lifting him over the barrier to put him down on the other side. The kid was so perplexed that he didn’t even get to protest when Iwai started shoving ammunition-belts and other equipment into Morganas hands to set up on the other side of the barrier.

The bottom of the shutter had already reached their hips when the first shots rang out and hit the makeshift barricade that Iwai had been quick enough to jump to get to safety. Haru and Yusuke had split up and were standing each behind one of the pillars while Ann and Ryuji were pressed against the walls on the sides of the main-entrance, shooting out blindly on occasions.

Ryuji looked at Ren “Go find Queen! We’ll hold them off!”

Ren stared at his best friend. He couldn’t just leave them alone. What if they died?

“Joker, GO!” Ann screamed at him.

“We got this! Go find my son!” Iwai said while rearranging the stationary machine-gun.

Ren nodded before running off and up the stairs.

“The hallways are clear!” Futaba said as he was sprinting down the corridor like he had so often imagined and dreamed of. He wanted nothing more than to bust through that door and finally look into her face again. He didn’t even need to ask Hifumi where to go, he had memorized the floor-plan over and over over the last days. He used the momentum that he had gained with his sprint to break through the door, that reluctantly gave way with a loud Crack before entirely collapsing inward, sending him to the floor alongside it.

When Ren recovered from the embarrassment and the impact, he looked around the room, only to find a teenage boy staring at him with wide eyes. Ren awkwardly climbed back to his feet before clearing his throat. “You must be Kaoru.”

The stranger nodded.

“Where’s Makoto?”

“They took her down to Kaneshiros vault this morning….” Kaoru said. “What’s going on here?”

“Shit...” Ren cursed. “The path is clear, your father and my friends are in the lobby holding off the reinforcements.”

“What about you?” Kaoru asked.

“I’ll go and get Makoto.”

“But-” Kaoru didn’t get to continue for Ren was already out the door again.

Downstairs, the rest of the Phantom Thieves and Iwai bombarded the reinforcements with bullets and grenades.

“Reloading!” Iwai called out, signaling the others to take over firing while he and Morgana got a new belt on the way. As Morgana arranged the belts, he heard a soft Thump from Harus grenade launcher, as she aimed outside. “Done, taking over again!” Iwai barked as he snapped the lid shut and pulled the trigger, while Morgana kept feeding the gun its bullets.

The counter-fire from outside suddenly stopped when once more, Kaneshiros chuckling could be heard from the speakers. “Why don’t we catch a breath for a moment, Mune? After all, you’ll be reunited with your son after such a long time.”

The Phantom Thieves shared a suspicious look when Iwai immediately let go of the machine-gun and whirled around to look at the top of the stairs, where Kaoru was standing.

“Kaoru...” Iwai said, and after hearing him barking orders all this time, it felt strange to hear his voice this soft.

The boy was about to speak up when Kaneshiro laughed a menacing laugh “Except for he isn’t your son, isn’t that right, Mune?”

On the top of the stairs, Kaorus face turned confused. “Dad…?” he asked, unsure.

Kaneshiro cackled “You thought I’d just forget?”

“Iwai...” Haru muttered when she noticed the veins on the mens neck popping out.

“What you have to know, Kaoru, is that Munehisa here isn’t your real father.” Kaneshiro continued, his voice crackling through the speakers with no way of being stopped.

“Junya!” Iwai warned.

“I am.”. It was only two words, that managed to shut the whole room up.

Kaoru stared at Iwai in horro “I don’t understand...” his voice quivered.

“You see… There was this girl I knocked up. I wanted her to get rid of the child, but that bitch refused and ran off. I thought that she had been mauled by shadows until that one day, when my men finally got a hold of her.”

“Shut up, Junya! He doesn’t need to hear this!” Iwai yelled.

“Mune is right, I’ll spare you the details. The only thing important was, that by the time they found her, she had already given birth to you.” Kaneshiro continued. “She had given you to someone that she trusted. And that man is the one that you kept calling Dad for your entire life. Heart-warming, isn't it? But do you want to know, why Munehisa Iwai knew about this whole affair first-hand?” A maniacal laugh escaped him “Because he used to be one of my closest advisors! I know that he always tried to tell you that he wasn’t a part of us, when you started to grow older. He even tried to cut ties completely with us, but that’s not how you treat family, is it, Munehisa?”

Iwais fists were clenched and his knuckles were white, he didn’t dare to look his son in the eyes when he muttered “I’m sorry, Kaoru.”

Upstairs, Kaoru shook his head “I don’t understand, why are you telling me this now?”

“Because Iwai here tried so hard to be something that he’s not. He wanted to show you that he’s a good person, without ties to a human-trafficing gang. But he’s not. You must despise us after all we did to you, but you should know that your father is no different from us, and especially not from me.” Kaneshiro said.

A shocked silence spread in the room, as the Phantom Thieves exchanged uncertain looks. Getting tangled up in a complicated family-story had not been included in their plan.

Kaoru broke the silence when he snorted “Are you kidding me? After what you just told me about my mom, he’s way better than you. He might have done bad things, but he cared for me and he wanted to leave it all behind because he wanted me to have a better future. How is he like you, you heartless bastard?”

Iwai stared at his son, wide-eyed “Kaoru...”

“We might not be bound by blood, but who cares? You treated me like I was your real son, what more could any kid wish for?” Kaoru looked at Iwai.

“I wanted you to think better of me than just a mafia thug...” Iwai muttered. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way..”

“It’s okay…. Dad.” Kaoru said as he walked down the stairs.

“Got nothing to say to that, huh, Kaneshiro?” Ryuji grinned, covering up the fact that this story had plucked his heart-strings more than he would have wanted.

“How heartwarming.” Kaneshiros answered. “Now that you two are reunited again, it almost pains me to give the killing-order.”

Kaoru had reached the others, smiling when his father gave him a pat on the shoulder. Iwais son reached down into the bag to take out a pistol.

“Since we’re family, Kaoru, I’ll give you one last chance. If you decided to stay with me-” Kaneshiros voice was stopped mid-sentence when Kaoru fired at the speakers in the ceiling.

“Nice shot.” Iwai noted.

Kaoru grinned “Thanks. Learned it from my Dad.”

Their moment was interrupted when Morgana called out “This is cute and all, but by shooting Kaneshiros voice, you might have ended our break!!”

“They called reinforcements!” Hifumi alarmed “Be careful, it looks like they brought the heavy artillery!”

As Ryuji turned around to look outside, he noticed a stationary machine-gun mounted on top of a pick-up truck. In front of the car kneed one of Kaneshiros mercenaries with a bazooka. “Get down!” Ryuji called out and leaped towards Ann to get her out of the shot-line, right in time before a missile seared past them. As he was cowering over Ann, pressing her head against his chest to shield her, his own eyes squeezed shut, the missile crashed into the wall at the other end of the lobby and exploded with a deafening noise. His ears were ringing when he slowly dared to open his eyes again to assess the situation. As he turned his head, he saw that Iwai had popped on his ear-protectors in time and was already answering their new enemies with another salve of bullets, probably keeping them from entering the building. Ryuji knew that it should have been loud, but all he could hear was a constant ringing in his ears. As he looked down, he looked into Anns shocked face. Her mouth was moving, but there were no words coming out. He gave her a confused look, which made her even more anxious, for she was now gripping him by the front of his shirt and shaking him, while her eyes were filled with fear.

“---ji!” Ann sounded panicked “Talk to me!!” everything still sounded strange, but at least Ryuji managed to comprehend the words now.

“I--- I’m okay.” he brought out, still confused.

Visible relief spread on Anns face as she loosened her grip on his shirt. She looked past him and to the others, who all still looked a bit dazed but were already busy with firing back and keeping their enemies at bay. The blonde girl looked back at Ryuji “Come on, looks like the others could use our help again.”. She carefully pushed his chest.

Ryuji still looked dazed when he got back to his feet again. He picked up his shotgun, that he had dropped in the heat of the moment before looking at Ann “Let’s do it, Panther. Joker is counting on us.”

Ren sprinted through the halls and down the stairs until he was on the lowest floor of the cellar. He had almost reached the corridor leading to the vault when Kaneshiros voice crackled to life again “You seem to know your way around this place.”

“I’m doing my homework.” Ren replied, not in the mood for jokes.

“You came all this way to safe your friend.” Kaneshiro started “She must be something special, if you risk your other friends life in return. That Bang you just heard, was the sound of a bazooka fired into the lobby.”. There was an agonizing silence until he continued “All of them are still alive, if you must know. But what makes you so sure that your friend is?”

Ren slowed down his run “Stop playing mind-games, fat-ass.” he replied, feeling incredibly stupid to yell at the empty air. “You said that you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“And you said that you would get me my money. Yet here you are, blowing the entire place up and shooting my men left and right.” Kaneshiro replied. “You were the first to break our arrangement. I don’t see any reason why I should keep upholding my end of the deal.”.

“Wait-” was all Ren could shout when a shot rang out through the speakers, causing Ren to topple to the floor. His heart felt like exploding, when all he could see was Makoto laying on the floor, bleeding out with a hole in her head. He clutched his head before screaming. In his brain, a movie rolled of everytime she had looked at him with that soft smile of hers. It was all his fault. He should have stopped her. He should have watched out for her. He should have taken her out on a date. He should have told her that he loved her. There were so many things that he should have done, but most of all, he shouldn’t have let her die. This was all his fault. They had put so much thought into their entire plan and still it was all for nothing. And if he didn’t put an end to this now, all his other friends would die too. His hands were shaking as he slowly pushed himself back to his feet again. “I’ll kill you, Kaneshiro!” he screamed before picking up the pace and running the last corridors to the vault. As he turned the last corner, he came across a guard, guarding the computer terminal. He didn’t hesitate when he pulled his gun and put a bullet between the mans eyes withouth thinking twice. Before the body sank to the floor, Ren grabbed him and slammed the dying mans thumb onto the scanner. After a short time of processing, the gears in the vaults doors started moving and the vault slowly unlocked. Ren wiped a single tear away from his cheek while reloading his gun. _This is for you, Makoto._ he thought to himself. He didn’t even care if he died in this vault now, as long as he was able to secure the others survival. He pushed the vault door open with his foot before raising his gun and entering Kaneshiros vault.

However, he almost dropped his gun when he saw who was standing inside.

Kaneshiro was leaning against a huge pile of money, clearly unimpressed by the fact that Ren so easily gained access to his vault. What really made Ren speechless though, was the man standing beside him, holding a very much alive Makoto at gunpoint. He suddenly felt incredibly dumb for simply assuming that just because he heard a shot, it must have been aimed at Makoto.

He gave Kaneshiro an annoyed look “You had your fun. Let her go.”

Kaneshiro smirked “You are disrespecting me so I had to prove that I still have the upper hand. It’s a tough world outside, if you aren’t the one who eats people, you’ll be the one getting eaten.”

Makoto spoke up “The only reason why the world is like this, is because of people like you.”

“All those people that you’re blackmailing, they wouldn’t even know about your existence if you just let them be.” Ren spat.

Kaneshiro took a bundle of bills “Agreed, the loans that I gave out to the poor towns-people are nothing but a small side-business, but how else can you earn peoples respect if not enslaving and threatening them from time to time?”

“You are a disgusting human being.” Makoto spat.

Kaneshiro turned to her “You can count yourself lucky that I fed you for two weeks, because you would have made some high bidder a very happy man.”

“I would have ripped his throat out, as much as I would yours if you wouldn’t hold me at gunpoint at all times, you coward.”

Kaneshiro chose to ignore Makoto and focused on Ren “You seem to run a pretty tough militia up there. I have to admit that they are holding up really well for the fact that they are getting bombarded and weaker by the second. We could join forces, you know? I’m sure the Crow would be impressed by your skills.”

“Sorry, but that’s exactly the opposite of what we stand for.” Ren replied. “We came here to end your reign of terror and blackmail once and for all, not to become your allies.”

“But think of all the things you could have.”

“All I can see is money, and who needs that?” Ren asked.

“Oh, not all of this is mine. While I provide protection for New Shinjuku, what idiot would I be to neglect my own protection.”

“A pretty huge one, it seems, when you look at what’s happening in the lobby...” Ren replied.

“You think taking me out will return the world to peace?” Kaneshiro laughed “Trust me, I’m not your biggest problem.”

“At the moment, I don’t see anyone bigger.” Ren replied. “Pun intended, by the way.”

Kaneshiro glared at him “Killing me will only cause you more problems. The Crow wouldn’t be happy to learn that he has lost another source of income and trust me, if that guy comes after you, you’ll wish that you were already dead.”

Across the room, Ren and Makotos eyes met. They were obviously intrigued by the same thing.

“You really are a coward if you’re already bargaining for your life. Who is that Crow you keep talking about?” Ren asked.

Kaneshiro smirked “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.” he toyed with another bundle of bills again before saying “We keep talking and talking without learning anything. At this point, you’re only prolonging your death.”. He tossed the money aside and snapped his fingers, summoning two more guards that stepped out from behind a row of storage racks. “I’m getting bored.” he pointed his fat finger at Ren “Get rid of him.”

Ren caught Makotos shocked look as she started to thrash in her kidnappers grasp. It felt like time slowed down when he suddenly saw an opening. As Makoto pulled down, she revealed her captors chest and head. Ren didn’t hesitate when he drew his gun and put a bullet into his chest, immediately sending the burly man falling back and letting go of Makoto, who stared at him wide-eyed. He could have lost himself in her eyes, but as quick as she was looking at him, she was already moving on, charging at one of the new guards, punching him square in the face. Ren saw his chance, and took out the second guard with another shot in the head while Makoto was struggling on the floor with the other man, clearly having the upper hand since the man didn’t seem to anticipate the sheer force that Makoto could channel in her fists. Kaneshiro was backing away, something resembling fear showing in his face. A hint of insanity sparkled in his eyes when he grabbed the gun from the dead guard. His hand was shaking, it was obvious that he wasn’t used to holding one. It made no difference, when he pointed it at-

“NO!” Ren screamed, but his voice was drowned by the gunshot that Kaneshiro set off towards Makoto, who was just about to get up after having beaten the man underneath her unconscious, her back turned to Kaneshiro. She didn’t scream when she was hit, but Ren could see the pain and surprise in her eyes when she let out an almost inaudible gasp.

Ren couldn’t see where she was hit. He wasn’t able to see anything when a wall of flames roared up in front of his eyes and the only thing he could think about was breaking bones. Ryuji had helped him push down this uncontrollable anger and rage two weeks ago, but as he saw Makotos face, still grimacing in pain, tears streaming down her face, it came back double. He still held his gun in his hand, but suddenly the thought of shooting Kaneshiro was something that seemed too merciful. He let his gun clatter to the floor before sprinting at Kaneshiro, roaring with anger.

The fat man looked scared at the sight of Ren charging up to him, for he started scrambling backwards, the gun now pointed at Ren. He pulled the trigger, but he missed. Ren would have laughed if every fiber in his body hadn’t been already occupied with thinking about inflicting pain. He was almost surprised by his abilities when he found himself flying at Kaneshiros throat, slamming him to the ground. An incredible satisfaction spread in him when Kaneshiro seemed to struggle for air after crashing to the floor back-first. Ren let his anger flow and he noticed how much he had still held back in the front-yard with Ryuji, even when he had thought back then that he was letting out all he got. His fists connecting and breaking through the bones in Kaneshiros face, the blood that started from running from Kaneshiros mouth and nose, that then slowly started to cover Rens fists, which then spread it on Kaneshiros entire face, everything that he would have normally thought would repel him, now made him want more. He wanted to beat Kaneshiros face in until noone would be able to recognize his corpse. Ren didn’t register it in his ears, but he was screaming when the creature inside of him took over after preparing since yesterday. He didn’t know how long he had spent beating down on Kaneshiros face and slamming his head against the floor, when he felt a hand carefully grabbing his shoulder.

“REN!” she must have tried to get through to him for some time now, for she was shouting at the top of her lungs.

Ren blinked a few times and sat back to look at the disfigured face of Kaneshiro, who didn’t show any signs of breathing any longer. He raised his hands and stared at his blood-covered skin, disbelieving, that he was capable of the things that he was just seeing in front of his eyes. It felt like he only just returned to his body, after handing the controls to something that started to scare him. He flinched when Makotos soft hand wrapped around his wrist, steadying his shaking hand. Ren nodded before slowly getting back to his feet. It took him a few seconds to process everything. “Makoto...” he muttered, before it hit him “Wait! Are you okay?!”

It was still obvious that Makoto was in pain, but she tried hard not to show “He hit me in the shoulder, I don’t think it’s serious.”

Ren was still perplexed by all of it, but all he could think of was how relieved he was to see her again. He swallowed before saying “We should get out of here...”

Makoto nodded.

Ren sorted his thoughts before talking into his ear-piece “It’s done. We got Queen back. How are things on your end?”

“BAD!” Everyone yelled in unison while ducking for cover.

“How much ammo do these assholes have?!” Ryuji called out.

“Guys, I managed to cut their communication, if you manage to take these guys out, you should be able to get out!” Futaba said.

“Easier said than done! They have a stationary too!” Iwai said.

“We’ll never be able to take that out from head-on!” Ann said while pressing herself against the wall.

“But if we ease up here, they will storm the building.” Yusuke added.

Everyone heard an audible breath in their ears before Hifumi said “I got this.”

“Wait, what?!” Ann asked, confused.

“Uh…. Umbra just went solo and ran off into the woods...” Futaba sounded perplexed.

“WHAT?!” this time it was Yusuke yelling.

“Oracle, do you still see her?” Makoto called out. She had been handed an ear-piece from Ren.

“She’s getting down into the bushes…. She’s aiming… “

Futaba didn’t need to announce the next step for the monotonous rattling of the enemies machine-gun suddenly stopped, giving the Phantom Thieves the opportunity to cast a look out the door.

“Damn...” Ryuji muttered as one after the other of Kaneshiros henchmen dropped like flies, causing the other men to focus on the woods to their right. “It’s now or never!” he yelled at the others before throwing a grenade outside, immediately followed by one from Harus grenade launcher.

“How’s your status?” Ren called out.

“We got this under control!” Haru answered.

“Okay, we’ll wrap things up down here and meet you outside!” Makoto said.

Ryuji let out a laugh “You hear that?! We’re getting out of here!”

Makoto and Ren were standing in the vaults door, looking at all the corpses that they had left behind. Ren gave Makoto a sideways look “You wanna do the honors?”

Makoto took a deep breath and nodded “With pleasure.”

Ren dug out the lighter of his pocket and handed it to her “All yours. Light it up, Queen.”

Makoto graciously took it and cast a look at the dancing flame before tossing it towards the stack of money. She looked at Ren, whose eyes were fixed on Kaneshiros corpse and the face he had beaten to a pulp. He looked horrified, as if the deeds he had just done were done by someone else. She carefully placed her hand on his arm, ignoring the throbbing pain in her shoulder and the blood slowly dripping down her back. “Ren… Let’s go.” she quietly said before leading him away.

In the meantime, it felt like the others stepped foot outside for the first time in weeks when the Phantom Thieves walked out of the bank to look at the bloodbath that they had caused. None of them could hide their horror and disgust over what they had just done. Eventually, they all found together on the battlefield. Haru put an arm around Ann while holding Morganas hand with the other. Yusuke put one hand on Harus shoulder and Ryuji intertwined his finger with Anns as all five of them stood united in the mess they made.

“We… had to do this...right?” Ann said, her eyes wandering over all the dead bodies, pierced by bullets.

“It was either us or them.” Yusuke said.

“We did what we had to.” Haru nodded.

“Yeah…” Ryuji agreed before looking at each of his team-members “Better them than us.”

Iwai and Kaoru packed up inside before joining the others.

“It’s never a pretty sight to behold the aftermath...” Iwai said as he saw the Phantom Thieves standing and staring together.

All of them were ripped out of their trance when the car approached and Futaba jumped out. She ignored the blood pooling at all their feet, as she ran up to them “You did it!! You all made it out alive!” she exclaimed.

“Now all we have to do is wait for Ren and Makoto and then finally get out of this place.” Ryuji said.

“Then let’s get out of here.” Ren announced as he and Makoto stepped out of the bank.

The rest of the Phantom Thieves turned around to face the top of the stairs with a relieved smile but their faces immediately changed when their eyes fell upon Ren. Haru let out a gasp, covering her mouth in shock. The rest stared at him with a mixture of fear and horror. Ren could see the tears starting to pool in Futabas eyes even from all the distance they were standing at.

He gave them a confused look “What?” he asked with a small smile.

“Ren….” Makotos voice cracked as she too stared at him now. She pointed at his stomach.

Ren knotted his brow “What’s-” he looked down at himself to find a small hole in his shirt on the right side of his gut. How had he not noticed? And how hadn’t he noticed all the blood that had drenched his shirt and already started to drip down his pants? “Oh….” was all he brought out before he toppled to his knees. So Kaneshiro hadn’t missed after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you thought last chapter was a cliffhanger... 
> 
> If this chapter has taught me anything, it's that I'm not that great an action-writer, especially when it comes to shoot-offs like these. I hope I still did okay and was able to convey the atmosphere that I intended to. Let me know what you think and if you can guess what Netlix-series I got a bunch of ideas from for this one;)
> 
> Also: Sorry, not sorry fot the ending. I feel like most of my chapters close themselves, but since this has already been such a ride, why not pull the good-old "getting shot in the last scene"-move? ;D I hope you don't hate me too much and join me again on tuesday, where we'll see how this goes.
> 
> And another also: Thank you sooo much for over 100 Kudos!!


	26. Bleeding Out

Ren didn‘t remember how he got into the back of the car. He barely registered being carried by Yusuke and Ryuji, but it all seemed so far away. Like he was watching himself from a distant place. The panicked voices of his friends merged into one until it was nothing more than a monotonous swoosh. The only reminder of him still being very much alive and in his own body was when Ann put what felt like her entire weight on his stomach to stop the bleeding. The sky above him started to move when the car rolled into motion. As he cast a look past Ann, he saw Makoto sitting close to him, her back leaned against the drivers cabin. Morgana was busy tucking a bundle of cloth behind her shoulder that she could press on. He wondered who was driving. Probably Haru. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Adrenaline was pretty cool, but once it was gone, it sucked. He wasn’t sure if the bullet hole itself hurt that much, or if it was just the pressure that Ann put on it. So that’s what it was like to be shot. He never had the pleasure before. And now after experiencing it, he felt that he’d been rather fine without this experience. He let his heavy eyelids have their will. Relaxing the eyes couldn’t be a bad thing, right?

Only then he realized that his head was placed in Futabas lap, who now started to continuously slap his face while yelling at him “Stop sleeping! You have to stay awake!”. He would have called her a troll again, if her voice hadn’t been lined with fear.

“Ren, you have to stay awake!” he heard Ann yell, the pressure on his stomach still unrelenting.

He made an effort to open his eyes again, only to stare into Futabas face that was looming above him, staring back at him with blank horror. He blinked a few times before turning his head sideways to look at Makoto, who turned paler and paler. She seemed to be delirious too, for she slowly started to sink to the floor. Morgana and Yusuke were bustling beside her, helping her to lay down, all while the car was shaking and rocking. He heard Morgana barking orders, but he couldn’t decipher them. Makoto… If only she hadn’t gotten hurt too. At least he would be able to die with the knowledge that she was safe. He wondered if his eyes looked as lost as hers did right now.

He was ripped out of his thoughts when Futaba rearranged his head to look back up at her before slapping him once more.

“I wasn’t even sleeping!” he quietly mumbled.

“Ryuji, give me your jacket!” he heard Ann command and for a blissful moment, the pressure on his stomach was gone before returning in equal intensity when Ann pushed down on him with a dry piece of cloth.

He noticed Ryuji perching on the other side of him, looking mortified. Ren had never seen him like this before. It wasn’t like him to be paralyzed by shock. He clumsily reached out to get a grip of Ryujis wrist. “Ryuji...” he started “if… I don’t make… it” it wasn’t even that hard to speak, but apparently talking about your own death gave you a studder “you have to make sure that everyone stays safe. Take care of everyone all right?” he sighed “And for effs sake, tell Ann-”

“Shut up! Stop talking like you won’t make it!” Ryuji almost screamed at him, but for some reason, it didn’t sound as loud as it should have. “You’ll survive! Both of you!”

To his other side, he heard Makoto groaning “I’m sorry Sis… please don’t hate me...”

“Hey! Makoto! You can’t fall asleep, do you hear me?” Morgana called out.

“Hey, Makoto?” Ren wheezed.

“Yes?” the girl weakly replied.

“Could this be considered as matching too?”

She must have really been delirious, for she started to giggle uncontrollably “I guess it does.” she said. There was a short pause before she said “I’m so sorry, Ren… It was all my fault again. If I hadn’t been this stupid, none of this would have happened.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that we got you out.” Ren answered.

“It’s not! I’m so sorry...” she sounded like she was crying, but with Futaba slapping his face over and over, he didn’t get a chance to turn his head to look at her.

“Could you stop talking like you’re dying?!” Ryuji yelled. Ren hadn’t noticed, but apparently now he was the one clamping down on his stomach.

“I.. still hope that you want to go on a date some time?” Makoto asked and under any other circumstance, Ren was sure that you would have been able to hear a needle drop, but now, with both of them on the verge of bleeding out, everyone seemed busy with worrying about their lives.

“Sure do. But maybe without guns. I have a feeling that I don’t want to see one of those for quite some time after this.” he answered. “But… give me some time okay? Right now… my stomach really hurts, and I have a feeling that it’s not just because I have a ton of muscles pushing down on it...”

“I guess I can count myself lucky then with two child hands poking me in the shoulder.” Makoto answered.

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you at all. You must have lost a lot of blood.” Ren wheezed.

“Says the one bleeding all over my beautiful truck.”

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Ryuji muttered.

Ren smiled. If this was his last conversation, so be it. He carefully patted the floor beside him until he finally found Makotos delicate hand. It was unbelievable how a hand that regularly wielded a revolver and tore apart shadows with brass knuckles still managed to somehow feel soft. His heart made a short flutter when Makoto squeezed his hand back. “Makoto… I….” but he didn’t get to finish his sentence. And then, all hell broke loose on the loading space of the truck, but Ren didn’t notice anymore.

“Joker? JOKER?!” Futaba screamed, shaking the boys head to no avail.

“Shit!” Ryuji cursed “Ann! What do we do now?!”

Ann scrambled to Rens neck to check his pulse “He’s still alive, but we don’t have much time!”

“Ren?” Makoto mumbled, herself barely registering anything anymore.

“It’s okay. We’re all going to be okay.” Yusuke told her in a calm voice.

Rens head still in her lap, Futaba rummaged around in her backpack, pulling out the huge walkie-talkie. It crackled when she pushed down a button “Can anyone hear us? Hermes, are you there?” she shouted.

Moments of excruciating silence followed until finally, a static voice replied “Oracle? This is General.”

“Get me Hermes! Quick!”

“Oracle! Is something wrong?” they heard Mishimas familiar voice soon after.

“We’ve got casualties! Please tell me you know where to find a doctor?” Futaba pleaded.

“Whoah, what? What happened? Who’s hurt?” Mishima studdered.

“Just tell us, for fucks sake!” Ryuji yelled.

“All I can think of is this quack who has this little cabin somewhere in the woods in the west...” Mishima answered.

“She’ll have to do! Hermes start running and meet us out on our main-street. We’ll pick you up and you lead us there!” Ann ordered, her concerned look wandering between Ren and the barely conscious Makoto.

Mishima almost puked when Yusuke helped him onto the loading area, which by now was pretty close to swimming in blood. It wasn’t a long drive until they reached a medium-sized house in the middle of the woods. Mishima went on ahead while the others prepared for the transport of their friends. Futaba barged into the house, where she saw Mishima talking to a young woman with short black hair. Her jeans were the kind that were torn on purpose. She wore plateau heels and a white doctors coat. If Mishima hadn’t said that she was a doctor, Futaba would have guessed that she wore the coat ironically. She didn’t look like a doctor at all.

“Oracle, this is Tae Takemi.” Mishima introduced.

The woman nodded before saying “You two look like you’ve seen a ghost. What are these emergencies that this one’s talking about?” she asked.

As soon as she finished her sentence, the door burst open again. Haru and Hifumi were carrying Makoto. Her uninjured arm was draped around Hifumis neck while Haru had her arm hooked around the girls waist. They were followed by Ryuji and Yusuke, who carried an unconscious Ren.

Dr. Takemi seemed speechless for a moment before she went into action “We’ll start with your friend here. From the looks of it, he doesn’t need anesthesia anymore.” she walked ahead into what looked like her examination room. “Put him down here.” she pointed to a table that she immediately cleared with a swipe of her arm. A bunch of books clattered to the floor. “You. Get me those bottles from the cabinet over there. He’s lost far too much blood, it’s a miracle his heart still has something to pump.” she ordered to Yusuke. When he returned she looked at the tall artist “You think you can handle assisting me? I’d ask blondie too, but he looks like he’s about to faint any minute.”

Yusuke nodded “I’ll do what I can.”

“Good, as long as you know how to check for a pulse, you should be fine.” the doctor said before turning to the other room, where the others were waiting. “Try stabilizing your friend. Put her down on the floor and keep pressure on that wound. I’ll get to her once I got your friend back from the half-dead.” she ordered while she started mixing different liquids into a huge bottle.

“What are you doing?” Yusuke asked.

“I’ll give him something to even out the blood he’s lost.”

“But wouldn’t that need a donor?” Yusuke was surprised.

“If this works, No.” the doctor said before clarifying “It’s my own medicine. I didn’t have a lot of guinea pigs to test this on so far. Not every day that two teenagers with bullet holes find their way to my cabin.” she said while skillfully laying a central line before attaching her concoction via a plastic tube. She handed Yusuke the bottle. “Just hold it upside-down.” she said before getting ready for surgery.

Outside, Haru was sitting beside Makoto, holding an almost drenched bundle of cloth to her shoulder. Morgana was sitting next to her, resting his arm for when it was his turn again. Futaba was curled up in one of the chairs, looking pale.

“What if he doesn’t make it?” she muttered.

“You can’t think like that! Ren is strong, he’ll push through this. You heard the doctor! It’s a miracle that he didn’t die on the way here. I’m sure he won’t die now that he’s on the way of getting better.” Morgana said.

“Dr. Takemi might seem peculiar, but she knows her stuff. If there’s someone who can help Joker, it’s her.” Mishima said.

“All we can do is wait...” Hifumi said, her gaze fixed out the window.

Ann had walked into the kitchen to take a breather. Her arms were trembling from exhaustion and they were covered in blood up to her elbow. When she looked down at herself, she noticed the faint trail of blood drops that she left behind. Her pants were drenched up to her knees from kneeling in a pool of Rens blood for the entire drive. She had never seen someone losing so much blood before. She took a deep breath before squatting down beside a bucket of water and slowly started to scrub her arms. The water turning red in an instant. She noticed Ryuji entering in the corner of her eye.

“There you are.” he gently muttered.

“Yeah… just had to get all the blood off...” Ann said while slowly getting back to her feet. The adrenaline must have been wearing off, for she suddenly started shaking all over. She wrapped her arms around herself to steady her shivering body. “How’s it going in there?” she asked.

“I dunno, the Doc sent me outside. Yusuke’s helping her.” Ryuji said. He dipped his hands into the bucket too.

“I can’t believe this happened….” Ann whispered. As she looked down at her hands, she still saw them drenched in their leaders and best friends blood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her body from shaking. She was so focused on her clean yet bloody hands that she didn’t register how Ryuji pulled her into a hug. As her head was resting against his chest, she was finally able to take a deep breath again. “What if I didn’t do enough?” she muttered against his upper arm.

“Hey, you did everything you could.” Ryuji muttered “And you were awesome. Seriously, I was so freaked out, I couldn’t do anything but sit and stare in fear. If you and Morgana hadn’t taken the lead, we would have never gotten them here alive.”

“But what if it still wasn’t enough?” the thought alone brought tears to her eyes. Ryujis body was now slightly shivering too. She realized that he wasn’t hugging her just to calm her down, but because he needed it too. She leaned against him a little more and his grip around her tightened.

“They’ll be alright. They have to.” Ryuji replied. He was trying to convince himself too.

“Hey Ryuji?” she quietly asked, her face buried in the corner that his upper arm and chest formed.

“Mhm?” he muttered.

“Back in the car… what was Ren talking about when he said that you should tell me?”

Ryujis eyes shot open. This wasn’t the right place nor the right time. Two of their best friends were fighting for their lives in the other rooms. On the other hand, all of them almost died today. If that proved anything it, it was that you shouldn’t wait with messages like these because you never knew. But he wasn’t ready. “I dunno.. he lost a lot of blood. Could have been anything really...”

His heart leaped when Ann sighed against his chest “It’s okay… You don’t have to tell me right now.”. She tightened her grasp around his waist when she noticed how fast his heart-rate had just become.

Hours of pacing and nervous sitting passed, while Dr. Takemi fought to patch up Ren again. Somewhere along the way, Yusuke was relieved of his assisting duties and replaced by Hifumi, who probably had one of the steadier pairs of hands available at the moment. When Rens condition was a little more stable, Dr. Takemi hooked up Makoto to one of her blood-replacement concoctions before returning to the OR.

It had been dark for hours when Dr. Takemi walked out of the operation room, calling on Yusuke and Ryuji to carry a still unconscious Ren over to a bedroom. Futaba, who had managed to fall asleep before, volunteered on taking first watch on Ren.

After the table was cleaned once more, the girls helped transporting Makoto. It seemed like Dr. Takemis medicine already worked wonders, since she was awake again with a bit of color returning to her face.

Takemi looked at the wound in Makotos shoulder before saying “I can give you something to numb the area, but I can’t guarantee that it will be painless.”

Makoto nodded. Seeing Ren being carried out alive had given her strength. She took a deep breath as Dr. Takemi prepared a pair of sterile pincers.

Makoto had always thought that was able to handle pain quite well. She had managed to keep standing for some time with a hole in her shoulder after all. But getting shot was nothing against the procedure the undo it. As Takemi assumingly went in to retrieve the bullet, everything was pain before it went dark. She heard Haru nervously calling out to her. As she slumped forward, she anticipated hitting the floor any moment now, but the sensation never came.

_He dreamed about his childhood. About his mother and father and their garden. No cloud was to be seen, as the warm spring sun shone down on them. His mother with that kind smile of hers and his father, standing beside her, watching her and their son with the most proud look on his face._

“ _Ren, dear, you should get going!” his mother said_

“ _But I just came here. It feels like we haven’t been able to do this in ages.”_

“ _But everyone is waiting for you, boy.” his father added._

“ _Can’t I.. stay with you a little longer?”_

_His mother smiled “You know you can’t. Your other family is waiting for you. Don’t you have things to do first before you come visit us the next time?”_

_Ren reluctantly nodded before crushing both his parents into a hug. When he turned his back on them, the sky in front of him was cloudy and grey. He kept walking until he saw nothing more than black in front of his eyes._

When Ren opened his eyes, his body felt like it had been run over by hundreds of trucks. He had no idea where he was, everything he remembered was falling unconscious while holding Makotos hand. Makoto. When he tried to sit up, a sharp pain spread in his gut, making him reconsider. As he looked down at himself, he noticed a thick layer of bandages wrapped around his stomach. He cast a look at the room he was in. He had no idea where he was, but the bed was comfortable and huge. The windows were covered by thick drapes, keeping out the daylight. He saw Haru sitting in a chair beside the door. When she realized that he was awake, she quietly walked over to his side of the bed.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Good… I think?” Ren said. He honestly had no idea.

“I’ll get you something to drink and let the others know that you’re awake.” Haru smiled “Don’t move around too much okay? Mako seems to need a bit more sleep.” she said before leaving the room.

It only then hit Ren that Makoto was actually sleeping beside him in the double bed, covered by a massive amount of blankets. As he looked at her peaceful face, he noticed purple bruises on her neck, probably from when one of the guards held her. That bastard Kaneshiro. He would have liked to kill him all over again. He came so close to telling her how he felt back on the truck. Joking with her while they were both on the verge of death just showed him all over that she was the real deal. At that moment, he had wanted to get it off his chest in case he didn’t make it. But now, it seemed like they were both pulling through. If anything, the only thing that Kaneshiro showed them was that life was short. And it definitely was too short to crush on Makoto Niijima without ever telling her. He couldn’t help but smile when Makotos eyes slowly fluttered open.

As Makoto looked around in confusion, she figured that far too much had happened in the last week to now freak out about laying in the same bed as Ren. Looking into his – living – face was everything she wished for and even though they were sharing a bed, it still felt like there was too much distance between them. She felt the bandages wrapped tightly around her shoulder and her chest. She didn’t dare to move her arm, but instead turned her head towards him. “It’s good to see you.” she smiled.

“Likewise.” Ren smiled “The normal color in your face suits you.”

“Thank you. I prefer your blood inside of your blood vessels too instead of it pooling around all our feet.”

“I don’t know what meds I’m on, but damn it’s hot when you talk like that.” Ren smirked. When Makoto laughed out loud, his heart jumped.

“I must still be pretty out of it for laughing at something this stupid.” she sighed after calming down.

“That hurt… And I have a hole in my stomach.” Ren replied with a smirk. “I’ve heard from many sources that I’m charming. How come it never worked on you?”

Makoto chuckled “I guess you can blame my rather unique upbringing for that. I was raised to find charm irritating.”

“You’re not irritated by charm! You’re flustered by it!” Ren called out. He had no idea what drugs he was on. He would have never thought that he would ever have a conversation like this with her. “You don’t understand why anyone would ever say something nice to you, because you weren’t used to it, so you automatically assume that you’re being set up.”

Makotos chuckle turned softer “I guess you’re right. But you have to admit that you take pleasure in flustering me.”

“Guilty as charged.” Ren grinned. Their eyes met “It’s just too much fun.” he gently muttered.

They both flinched when the door opened, only to reveal the entirety of the Phantom Thieves spilling into the room before a lady in goth-clothing and a lab-coat entered the room.

“Hehe, look who’s up!” Ryuji grinned.

“How are you feeling?” Ann asked.

“Heavily drugged.” Ren answered.

The gothic stranger chuckled lightly “I’m glad to hear that they’re working. I didn’t really get a chance to test them before.”. When everyone shot her a confused look, she raised her shoulders “There always need to be a few guinea pigs.”

Ren smiled “How’s everyone else?”

“Iwai and his son should be home safe. They said that they would walk home on their own when we sort of had our hands full with, ya know, keeping you alive.” Ryuji reported.

“Oh, after both of you were stable, Hifumi drove back home to inform the others. She’ll come back today and bring you some fresh clothes.” Ann said.

Makoto and Ren nodded. A long silence spread across the room.

“So… what’s next?” Morgana eventually asked.

Ren let his head sink into the pillow when he said “Now we lay low. We have no idea how they’ll act. We killed everyone at the bank, so noone should know what we look like. But I’d say we should lay off acting as the Phantom Thieves for a while.”

“That makes sense.” Yusuke nodded.

“We’ll have to watch our backs. If they plan to retaliate, we need to be prepared.” Makoto said.

Ryuji turned to Dr. Takemi “So, Doc… When can we take them home?”

She shook her head “Your friend over there almost died twice yesterday. I’d say it’s safest for both of them to stay under medical surveillance for at least a few days.”

“Honestly, I’m not complaining… As far as I can tell, you’ve done a pretty good job with keeping us alive.” Ren said.

“Oh, you have your friends to thank for that too. As far as I heard, it was a pretty long trip here...” the doctor said. “I’m going to check up on you later.” with that she walked out the door.

Ren grimaced when he tried to push himself into a more upright position before giving up once more. He groaned in annoyance before clumsily stacking up pillows to prop up his head so he could look at his friends. “I don’t remember a lot, but you guys did one hell of a job. I would be dead if not for you, so thank you.”

“Morgana and Ann sure saved the day.” Yusuke said.

“We all helped together.” Ann said “I’m just glad both of you are okay.”

“So Kaneshiro….” Morgana stammered.

Rens stomach was in knots only thinking about his name when the images of his crushed face appeared in front of his face again.

“Kaneshiro is dead.” Makoto took the words out of his mouth.

“And by now, hopefully his corpse, all that money and the entire bank are burned to ashes.” Ren said.

“But what about all the women that they were selling in the town? Do you think that they will just let them go now that their big boss is dead?” Futaba asked.

“I don’t know, but we can’t be the ones to check for now. It’s too dangerous.” Makoto said.

“She’s right. After you risked your lives yesterday, I won’t have you stick your necks out again so soon after. If one of us goes there to check it out, it will be me as soon as I’m out of this bed again.” Ren said.

“So you really just want us to wait and do nothing?” Morgana asked.

“Yes.” Ren and Makoto said in unison before Ren continued “Relax a bit, keep the house in shape, stay safe… Makoto and I will be back again soon and then we can continue thinking. But as long as we are in here, all of you keep it on the down-low. You let Hermes know too, that he won’t be going on his tours until we know the full situation.”

“That could prove interesting, especially after that talk with the journalist he had.” Yusuke said “While Mishima keeps referring to her as the devil, she did say that she would make the Phantom Thieves “the next big thing”.”.

Makoto sighed “This couldn’t have come at a worse time...”

Ren shook his head “It doesn’t matter. We’ll come back from this, but for now… let’s take it slow.” he cast a glance at Makoto before adding “Makoto and I won’t be able to kick ass anytime soon anyway, so it would only be fair for you guys to wait until we’re fully recovered.”. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he heard the others laugh. Even though two of them were recovering from gunshot-wounds, it was still the first time in two weeks that they were all together again and didn’t have to wreck their brains over some plan or a dead-line. When Ren cast a happy look at Makoto, he noticed that she was the only one who wasn’t laughing along with the others. Instead, there were tears pooling in her eyes. Ren slowly reached for her hand under their shared blanket.

“I am so sorry...” Makaoto eventually sobbed “I was so stupid and reckless… All I could think of was that I wanted to prove Eiko wrong. I put all of you in danger for this stupid obsession of mine… I don’t know what I could do to make this right again. You risked your lives for me-”

“Mako-chan...” Haru interrupted and walked up to her side of the bed to take her other hand. “It’s okay.” she turned around to the others before she said “I think all of us have made some rather impulsive decisions before. It’s okay. The most important thing is, that we’re all healthy and that we can go back to how things were before.”

Makoto tried to stifle a sob while nodding. She didn’t deserve their gratitude. She had seen the pile of corpses in front of the bank. She had forced them to become cold-blooded killers and yet still, they forgave her so easily even though the whole reason of what went down yesterday was because she just had to go and do her own thing. She concentrated on Rens hand in hers. His fingers were gently stroking the back of her hand now. Ren… he almost died while trying to get her out… She forced herself to stare at the ceiling to keep the tears from falling.

“Guys.. you should go home and get some rest. We’ll be fine.” Ren said when he noticed how depressed Makoto was.

After some more persuasion, Ren finally managed to get the others out of their room and on their way home. When Yusuke closed the door behind them, Ren turned to Makoto. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not...” she quietly said, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

“Way to show off...” Ren tried to joke but immediately shut up when he saw all the tears that had pooled up in Makotos eyes running down her cheeks now.

“I almost got you killed! 24 hours ago, you were fighting for your life. Why are you not mad at me?” Makoto asked, disbelieving.

Ren looked at her in surprise before he realized that Makoto probably would have expected to be yelled at and lectured, if it was her sister instead of them. He gripped her hand a little tighter before saying “Look, what you did wasn’t smart, but I just experienced first-hand what it feels like to lose control of your better judgment.”

Makoto continued wiping the tears from her eyes while processing his words “Still, I should have known better. You made me the second-in-command and I went and did exactly what I would normally berate the others about.”

Ren shrugged “Maybe you should have known better. But you’re not a robot. You’ve never been one, no matter how hard you tried.”

“So I’m still the same as I was in Jinbocho, making stupid decisions and endangering everyone.” Makoto sniffled.

Ren stared her in the eyes “If you were the same as back then, do you really think that Ann would have gone easy on you, just because you were shot in the shoulder? She was more than ready to jump at your throat because Ryuji got burned. If she would blame you the slightest for what happened yesterday, I believe that you’d know. But I know she doesn’t, because the reason why you did what you did was because you wanted to protect Eiko. You weren’t obsessed with being right or proving your control but you wanted to protect your friend and that’s exactly what we did too. All of us, we did what we had to because we wanted to get you out of there.” Ren gave her a reassuring smile “So no, you’re not at all like you used to be.”

“Eiko...” Makoto muttered before staring at him “What if she’s in even bigger danger now? Tsukasa must know that we had something to do with this!”

Ren shook his head “She knows about Tsukasa. In fact, she even played a part in our plan. We told her that she needed to keep him under control under all circumstances, especially since he knows where we live...”

Makoto relaxed a little bit and nodded.

“And just to be clear, it wasn’t you who got me injured. I could have just shot Kaneshiro, if I hadn’t thought that I needed to beat his brains out.” Ren swallowed “Thanks by the way… for not elaborating to the others about the How of Kaneshiros death.”

The brown-haired girl looked surprised. She herself had been rather shocked to see Ren totally out of control and blind with rage like this. After noticing how confused he had been when she finally managed to break him out of his frenzy, she figured that he hadn’t been entirely aware of what he was doing. She knew that what happened down in the vault wasn’t like him at all. “You seemed like you didn’t want to talk about it.” she said.

“I’m still not sure what happened back there...” Ren scratched his head. Beside him, Makoto slid down into a laying position again, her almost red eyes fixed on him with a worried expression on her face. “It’s honestly nothing more than a blur in my memory.”. It was only partly a lie. Ren really had no idea how he had managed to knock the fat man to the ground so hard that he seemed unable to breathe for a moment. Overall, it seemed like he had hit with a force that he wasn’t aware that he had.

Makoto was about to reply something when the door opened to reveal Dr. Takemi, carrying a metal tray. “Good evening, my little guinea pigs.”. Her smile was somehow nice and scary at the same time. She handed each of them a cup with a few pills before administering intervenous drips for both of them.

“Are we just supposed to blindly trust you or will you tell us what you’re pumping into our bodies?” Ren asked and flinched as Dr. Takemi stuck him with the needle.

Dr. Takemi smiled “Don’t worry, you’re going to love this. It’s a pain-killer that I’ve been developing for some time now. You’re the first ones to try it.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring...” Makoto noted and Ren couldn’t help but grin.

“I’ve been wondering, does one of your concoctions have sudden sarcasm as a side-effect?” he asked before pointing at Makoto “She’s stealing all my jokes.”. At least some things hadn’t changed, when Makotos cheeks turned a deep red.

Dr. Takemi shot Ren a look “Would be the first time I heard of it, but again, you are the first real people that I’ve tried it on.”. She collected the cups again and cast a last look at the wounds of her two patients. She was about to leave when she said “By the way, there is a second room available...”

Under their blanket, Makoto quickly reached for Rens hand again. Maybe the medication really messed her up, normally she would have never dared to do something like this. A small smile escaped her when she felt Rens hand squeezing back.

“I think we’re good.” Ren told Dr. Takemi.

“Whatever you say.” Dr. Takemi shrugged and left the room, but not before turning off the big lights, leaving the room illuminated only by a small lantern beside the door.

Both of them turned their heads to look at each other. They didn’t need to have an awkward conversation about whether it was okay for the other one, if they stayed in the same bed. Their intertwined fingers already said it all.

Even though Ren and Makoto were safe, there still was something of a gloomy atmosphere in LeBlanc2. After an awkwardly quiet evening, everyone retreated to their rooms.

Haru and Hifumi were getting ready for bed when Hifumi suddenly spoke up “How are you holding up?”

Haru looked at her in surprise before she said “I’m feeling a bit better now that we know that Ren and Mako-chan are well.”

Hifumi cast her a doubting look before shaking her head “Please excuse me, I didn’t mean to intrude. Everyone is rather depressed, which is only natural given the occurrences of the last days. I thought that maybe you needed someone to talk to, especially now that Makoto is unavailable...”

Haru took a deep breath before she looked at her room-mate “I appreciate it. To be honest, there’s been quite a few things that still bother me, even though I know that there was no way that we could have changed them.”

Hifumi nodded “I can relate. I keep thinking about what I could have done during our preparations to avoid a situation like the one we encountered…”

Haru walked over and placed a hand on the girls shoulder “You made the game-changing move back there. I doubt that there was anything more that we could have done in advance.”

Hifumi shook her head “It’s nice of you to say that, but I know that in hindsight you always find things that you could have done better. And while you won’t be able to change the things that already happened, you can still learn from them for future scenarios.”

Haru shuddered “Let’s just hope that we won’t have to face a situation like this any time soon...”

“Of course.” Hifumi nodded before she sat down on her mattress.

As Haru was shaking up her pillow, the door opened to reveal Ann and Futaba, already dressed in pajamas and an all too common look of uncertainty in their eyes.

“We can’t sleep...” Futaba sighed as she walked up to Makotos side of the bed and dropped down on it without waiting for a response.

“I have a feeling that I won’t be able to sleep either...” Haru admitted as she sat down.

“Shouldn’t we be dropping like stones after all that happened over the last two days?” Ann sighed and sat down beside Futaba.

“It’s not like I don’t feel tired…” Futaba said “but every time I close my eyes, I hear shots...”

Ann carefully put her hand on Futabas shoulder. She too found herself drenched in Rens blood all over again every time she closed her eyes.

“Now I’m afraid to find out what I would see...” Haru admitted.

“Hey, Hifumi, how are you holding up?” Ann turned around to look at the girl, who was already covered by her blanket “You’ve gotten more involved than planned after all...”

Hifumi sat up and placed her finger on her chin in thought “I might have not entirely grasped the weight of my actions yet.”. If someone would have told her a few weeks ago, that she was about to aid in taking down a crime-ring and shooting people, she would have thought them insane. And still, she couldn’t muster to feel sorry for the people that she had shot.

“I’m a little worried about Morgana… He is still a child, watching so many people die sure can’t be easy on him.” Haru pointed out.

“Yeah… Iwai sure put him to work in there.” Ann said. “We would be dead now if Iwai hadn’t agreed on helping us.”

Everyone nodded in perturbed silence. The girls remained seated and stared into nothing when their door slowly opened again to reveal Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana.

“So you can’t sleep either, huh?” Ryuji asked.

Everyone shook their head.

The blonde boy groaned in annoyance before dropping down onto the small cushioned bench beside the door “This sucks… I keep thinking that we should have stayed with Ren and Makoto. Ya know.. to keep them company...”

Morgana shook his head “After everything they’ve been through, I’m sure that the thing they need the most is rest.”

Yusuke let out a small chuckle “I’m sure that those two don’t have a problem with falling asleep right now..”

Ann wrapped her arms around herself “I still can’t wrap my head around everything that happened yesterday…” she muttered “I mean, I know that we had to do it, but still…. We killed so many people...”

“I’m afraid that the chances of making our operation as non-lethal as possible were rather slim to begin with...” Yusuke uttered, leaning against a wall.

Haru wrapped a thin blanket around a cowering Futabas shoulders before saying “The only thing that matters is that all of us are okay.” she looked into the faces of her team-mates “If it meant keeping all of us safe, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

The others nodded in agreement without hesitation. They continued talking until one after the other couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer. First was Futaba, who fell asleep in the middle of Haru and Makotos bed, wedged inbetween Ann and Haru. At the girls feet was Morgana, curled up into a ball, almost like a cat. Hifumi soon was fast asleep in her own bed. After some time of standing, Yusuke decided to sit down, his back still leaned against the wall. The others weren’t entirely sure at first, but soon it became apparent that the lanky artist had actually managed to fall asleep while sitting. Next was Ann, who slowly but steadily shifted from sitting to laying on the bed. Ryuji had made himself as comfortable as possible on the bench, slowly drifting off to sleep too until only Haru was left awake, watching over her team-mates and their relaxed faces. Them all coming together seemed to be the comfort that everyone had desperately needed to fall asleep. She smiled as she slowly sunk into the mattress. When Haru closed her eyes, she could hear Iwais machine-gun and the terrified gasp that she had made when she looked at Ren, standing at the top of the banks stairs, drenched in his own blood without realizing it. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter to block out everything. To her right, Futaba clung to her arm and with that, Haru somehow managed to find peace as she slowly drifted off to a dreamless, deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you already guessed it: It's time to introduce Dr. Takemi. 
> 
> And for those of you, who thought that last chapter wasn't enough ShuMako: Here, have some more;) And also a bit of RyuAnn (just because I can't resist writing it). 
> 
> This chapter is all about the aftermath and how all of them handle the traumatic events at Kaneshiro. As always, I'd love to hear what you think :)


	27. Visiting Hours

Over the next days, the Phantom Thieves took turns in visiting Ren and Makoto at Takemis clinic. While Makoto had been able to walk the entire time, it took Ren a bit longer to get back to his feet. But a few days after the operation, he was able to walk a few steps with a cane that Takemi had provided him with.

On day 4, a visitor came to see Ren, that the young man felt uneasy seeing again. Since they had visitors throughout all the day, Makoto and Ren had decided to split up. Makoto spent her days in the room across the hallway. But even though they spent most of their days apart, it had become something of their ritual that after Dr. Takemis nightly round, Makoto came back to sleep in his room, their hands locked together the entire night until Dr. Takemi busted them every morning with an amused grin and a shake of the head.

Ren gulped when Sojiro walked through the door of his room. All he did was give Ren a nod when he sat down on the chair near is bed. “How’re you feelin’, kid?” he asked.

“I’m okay.” Ren answered. Before the old man could say something else, Ren interrupted “I know you’re mad. But please know that at no point was Futaba in danger.”

Sojiro shook his head “Futaba wasn’t the one that got shot. You were. Do you really think that I don’t care?”

Ren hesitated. He was aware that Sojiro cared. He cared about all of them, no matter how much he tried not to show it.

“Look, when you came along… I didn’t know what to do with you at first. Futaba had been with me for only a year and she was nothing but a shut-in who fled from every unfamiliar gust of wind. I thought that I’d take you in so you could help me out at the tavern and so I could send you on annoying errands… But after all this time and after all these people that you dragged into my life… You’ve become like my son.”

Ren shook his head “Forgive me for ruining the vibe, but why are you talking like I’m on my death-bed?”

“We’ve always been a family, and you kept expanding it and expanding it.” Sojiro ignored his question and continued to reminisce “Do you know what my favorite memory of LeBlanc is?” he didn’t leave Ren an opportunity to answer “Our first Christmas that we all spent together. Everyone was so focused on coming up with something special to eat that noone remembered to pick up some wood for the fireplace.”

A smile flickered on Rens face “We burned Harus wedding dress...”. He remembered the evening all to well. It was one of those moments where you forgot everything that once troubled you and would trouble you in the future. It was an evening that he wished could have gone on forever. He would have never gotten tired of eating a bunch of different things, trying to sing carols along with Haru, laughing about Morgana trying to trick Ann into standing underneath a mistle-toe with him, watching Ryuji and Yusuke tear through their gifts and looking into Makotos beautiful eyes that had a mysterious sparkle in them when the light of the candle hit them just right.

Sojiro hummed in agreement, apparently remembering that night too. “What I’m trying to say is, that you have become a lot more than I initially intended. You realized that Futaba needed help, not acceptance for her problems. She wanted to get rid of her fears, and all I did was leave her in her room, alone with her thoughts, in the thought that I was doing her something good.”

Ren shook his head “You didn’t want to scare her. You tried to be a good father...”

“But I never knew what to do except for getting her the things she wanted..” Sojiro chuckled “Wakaba would have laughed at me, for not knowing how to behave around a teenage girl.”

“I’m sure Wakaba would have appreciated everything that you did to keep her daughter safe.” Ren said.

“Hmph...” Sojiro huffed “But look at her now… She’s acting like a grown-up, hacking into mafia-networks, sneaking away without my permission...” he chuckled “I’d say she’s starting to become just like her mother.”

Ren smirked “See? You never had any troubles like these with me and others.”

Sojiro leaned back in his chair when he said “All of you were already acting like grown-ups when you moved in. I never felt like I had a saying in anything you did.” he sighed “When Futaba came to live with me… She was like a little kid… But now, with the help from all of you, she’s become this strong young woman that wants to conquer the world… Don’t misunderstand me, I’m worrying about all of you, but it seems like I can’t stop thinking of Futaba as that little girl who doesn’t want to come out of her room for dinner, because there’s a single guest downstairs.”

“She’s come a long way.” Ren agreed.

“Thanks to all of you.” Sojiro said.

“Seriously, am I dying? Why are you getting so sentimental?” Ren asked, a little puzzled.

Sojiro shook his head “I just think it was about time to be said.”. The old man deliberately left out the part where he had been walking in circles in the living room until Hifumi finally drove up to inform all of them that Ren and Makoto were stable for now. The thought that his last words to Ren had been a threat weighed heavy on him. “I know that I’m bad at showing it, but you’ve become like my son. And not because I feel obligated to because your father was a good friend of mine.”

Ren was terribly uncomfortable with this whole situation. Listening to Sojiro talk like this was almost scary. “Thanks.” he said “By the way, I’ve seen you as my father-figure ever since you lectured me about flirting.”

Sojiro chuckled “And it worked, didn’t it?”

“No, it didn’t. I remember getting some very creeped-out looks when I offered to walk her home.”

Sojiro sighed and shook his head “After seeing New Shinjuku, I’m starting to feel like chivalry is dead…”

“Yeah… sorry for making you pretend to be interested in teenage girls…” Ren said.

“It was for the mission. I’m happy that we got Makoto back.”

“I never got to ask, but how did intercepting their money-collectors go?”

Sojiro chuckled “Man, it was just like the old days… except for this time my partner was a little kid.”

“How did Shinya hold up?”

“Like he’s been holding people at gunpoint his entire life...” Sojiro grinned.

“Well, that’s scary...” Ren stated.

“At one point, I think they’ve actually been more scared of him than of me. That lady we met up with though…” Sojiro raised an eyebrow and tapped his finger at his forehead.

Ren smirked “She has predicted my death. What were you expecting?”

“You did almost die though...” Sojiro said.

“Almost, Sojiro. Almost.”

Across the hallway, Makoto was sitting in a chair beside the window, looking out into the woods. Everything here was so quiet. She couldn’t remember ever sleeping in a place this quiet before. Her right arm was in a sling, but otherwise she started to feel better after the initial exhaustion from the last two weeks had been slept off besides Ren. She would have never imagined that sleep could be so much better while holding someones hand. Over all, after everything that happened, she felt like her relationship with Ren had changed. Like all those uncomfortable silences now felt like a waste of their time. There didn’t need to be an awkward silence before someone eventually brought up the guts to ask whether they wanted to sleep in the same bed again. They just did. Her heart didn’t stop for the first seconds anymore, when her hand found his. She wondered if this is what Ann felt like when interacting with Ryuji. These two just seemed so comfortable around each other. She was sure that none of them ever worried about sitting too close or too far away from the other one. Makoto had always envied that a little, until she eventually realized that the things that she envied were things that she could do too, if she just wasn’t such a – as Eiko would call it – stuck-up.

She was ripped out of her thoughts by a soft knock on the door. She was surprised to see Yusuke sticking his head inside. “Am I intruding?” he asked.

Makoto shook her head “Not at all. I feel like I’m spending too much time alone with my thoughts.”

Yusuke nodded before entering. After a few moments of him awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, he decided to lean against a wall.

“How are you feeling?” Makoto decided to break the ice.

“Oh… I think I’m doing alright. Thank you for asking.”. It seemed like he had been taken by surprise by her question, for he sank back into his brooding immediately after.

Makoto was a little confused by Yusukes behavior, but she decided that she wouldn’t push any further. She had returned to looking out the window when Yusuke finally had gathered his thoughts back together and spoke up again “I’m sorry for my strange behavior. I actually came here to apologize to you.”

Makoto looked surprised “Apologize?”

The lanky artist nodded “I wanted to apologize for the inappropriate thoughts that I had about you while you were in captivity.”

Makoto cast him a confused look. She was sure that this highly disturbing insinuation would be resolved any moment now. Or at least she hoped.

“While we hatched our plan to get you out, I kept wondering how I would feel if one of us died in the process. In the end, I even felt like it wasn’t worth risking all our lives to get you out, since you clearly went off the record and did your own thing in a city inhabited by the mafia...” Yusuke said. “It was wrong of me, especially since I was no different when I blindly stepped into Madarames gallery without thinking. Back then, you would have had every right to just let me rot there after how I treated you, but you and Ren kept investigating and plotting to get me out of there without expecting anything in return.”

“I understand.” Makoto said. While it hurt to hear it from one of her friends, she would have also felt lied to if noone would have ever had any thoughts like these. “I have to say that I can’t blame you.”

Yusuke shook his head “But I can. It was wrong and I had no right to think like this. As someone who claims this group is my family, these thoughts were very unfitting.”

Makoto shook her head “Just because we are a family, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t call out if someone makes mistakes.” she looked out the window “To be honest, I don’t know what I would have done, if something had happened to any of you. I keep wondering how I would have kept going and how I would live with the fact that one of you died because of me.”

Yusuke looked lost in thought before he said “I suppose it’s hard to imagine, if it hasn’t happened.”

Makoto nodded.

“Still, I would like to offer you my sincere apology.” Yusuke repeated.

“Apology accepted.” Makoto said “I appreciate you telling me.”. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Has it occurred to you too, that our views seem to clash a lot?” Yusuke suddenly asked.

Makoto looked at him in surprise before saying “You could say that we do tend to doubt each other more than the others.”

“You seem to think that I’m this unworldly airhead, who lives in his own world where everything is art and beauty.”

Makoto smiled “And you seem to think that I’m this cold-hearted marble-statue, who thinks she knows better.” she sighed “Although in my case, you’re probably not the only one who thinks like this.”

Yusuke chuckled “I dare to say that you’re not the only one to think that I’m lost in my own world either.” he crossed his arms “I am well aware of my image. What I actually quite enjoy is that you seem to be the only one who tries to question me. The others appear to have accepted me as this eccentric artist and I can’t say I mind, but it actually feels refreshing to have someone who does take my habits, or as others would call it, “quirks” serious and dares to question them.”

Makoto couldn’t hide a smile “That is a very uncommon compliment. But I appreciate it.”

They were interrupted when the door opened.

Makotos eyes went wide when she processed who was standing in the doorway “Eiko?!”

Yusuke smiled “I’ll leave you two.”

After Yusuke closed the door behind him, Makoto gave Eiko a look-down. She was still wearing hotpants and a tight top, but around her shoulders hung a gun-holster and the usual thigh-high stockings somehow seemed sturdier and more like braces.

Eiko noticed Makotos stares. She grinned before making a twirl “You like the new look?”. When Makoto didn’t answer, she dropped down on her bed. “Oh come on! You’re not the only one who can go post-apocalyptic raider.”

Makoto had to smile when she shook her head “You’re right. It’s just… surprising to see you like this.” she said. “It really suits you.”

“Thanks.” Eiko smiled.

“Eiko… Ren told me that you helped with my rescue...” Makoto started.

Eiko shook her head “Don’t sweat it. I know that you would have done the same.”. She toyed with her ponytail before saying “I’m really sorry about all the things I said to you the last time you came to see me. I should have known that something was off about Tsukasa… I was so blinded by him treating me like a queen, that I didn’t want to believe you, because that would have meant that I needed to go back to just being… me.” she shook her head.

Makoto got up and walked over to the bed to sit down beside her “There’s nothing wrong about being you.”

Eikos shoulders were drooped “Back with all of you guys… You all were your own people. All of them and especially you… You were all so tough and determined and you inspired others to be like you. But I… I never really had the feeling that I was meant to be like that. I always thought that I couldn’t survive on my own. That’s why I went with Kamoshida after my family was killed. And that’s why I went with Ren, after Kamoshida was dethroned. I thought that as long as I stuck with the strongest, I would be safe without having to risk my neck. But you actually tried to make me into a stronger person, who wouldn’t have needed anyones protection. And it scared me, mostly because I thought that as soon as I would become my own person, then noone else would want me around anymore as a suck-up. And a part of me liked being this helpless damsel, because I thought that it would get guys to like me.”. Eiko raised her head to look at Makoto. Her gaze was determined “But not anymore.”

Makoto smiled before squeezing her hand.

“Honestly though, when Ren told me about you getting kidnapped… I first thought that this was some stupid trick of yours...” Eiko said, a small grin on her face before saying “That was so stupid of me… Just how much of a bitch was I?”

Makoto couldn’t help but laugh.

When Eiko noticed Makoto laughing, she grinned too “Anyway… After they gave me proof that Tsukasa really was a part of what you claimed… I started to investigate a bit and I figured out that Tsukasa really had more than one chick who he called his princess. He also had some super-lame excuse when I asked him to call me by my real name… I kept asking around with other girls and I found out that a lot of them were actually held there against their will, but it was either this or being sold off as a slave…”

Makoto placed a finger on her chin when she said “So Kaneshiro either made the girls work in his own businesses or sold them off...”

“Some of them told me some really messed-up stories, like them being taken as a pawn until their parents were able to pay. A few of them got straight-up kidnapped because of their looks. But all of them told me that Tsukasa liked to reel in girls by making them believe that he was into them, so they would work at his bar. They also said that sometimes, one of his girls would disappear for ever. None of them believed that they simply left...”

Makoto covered her mouth “Eiko, I’m so sorry...”

“Don’t be… You tried to warn me, after all..” Eiko said. “Guess I had it coming, for not trusting you… I really am too stupid to be on my own…”

“No, I mean it… I’m really sorry. I had really hoped that Tsukasa would be a good guy, because I wanted you to be happy and with a man that treated you right.” Makoto sighed “I really wish that I wasn’t right about him.”

Eikos eyes went wide and a grin spread on her face “Waaait a minute… Makoto Niijima, THE Makoto Niijima, know-it-all of the Phantom Thieves, would have preferred to be wrong about something?!” she giggled “Did they shoot you in the head?”

Makoto chuckled. She guessed she deserved it. “I guess that you changed me a little too.”

Eiko gave her a sideways hug “Aww, I did?”

Makoto smiled “So, what happened after you learned the truth?”

“Oh, it was soo hard to act like I knew nothing. I still had to pretend that I liked Tsukasa, when all I wanted to do was puke in his face, that’s how disgusted I was...” she shook her head “I had to keep going like this for 9 days! Can you imagine?” she adjusted her ponytail before proudly announcing “But while I was waiting, I got some more girls involved. In the end, there was at least one from every bar who agreed to join.” an uncommonly malicious grin spread on Eikos face “At first, the plan was only to call the securities and back-up at the right time. At least that’s what Ren thought too.” she giggled.

Makoto stared at her in surprise “Eiko, what did you do?”

“Things kinda took a turn when all those girls informed their friends and so on and so on and in the end, it was more like a rebellion than an undercover mission...” Eiko laughed again when she looked into Makotos disbelieving face “You know.. all those combat and shooting lessons actually came in handy when we rounded up all our captors at gun-point… So, anyway, we started tricking all those incoming back-ups and took all their weapons before we rounded them up and locked them up in the bars cellars.”

Makoto couldn’t believe her ears “How did you manage to trick them?!” she asked.

Eiko grinned “Makoto, most of us worked as maids or other things that involved charming men… You do the maths.”

Makoto sighed "Go on..."

“Some of us played helpless and panicked damsels to throw them off-guard and then some others approached from behind and took their weapons…” Eiko shrugged.

“I can’t believe that you did all of this...” Makoto admitted.

“Maybe the Phantom Thieves-treatment just took some time to rub off on me...” Eiko shrugged “When Futaba played me that recording of Tsukasa… It was like something shattered in me.. As if I was finally able to see the reality. And it made me so mad, that I fell for this guy and thought that all these things were normal, when they should have been huge red flags. I wanted to be someones girlfriend so bad, that I didn’t want to hear the truth, even when you came all the way to tell me...”

“So where are Kaneshiros men now?” Makoto asked.

“Still locked up along with all the slavers… We’re actually thinking about what to do with them right now. Some of them seem ready to turn over and work for us… As for Tsukasa… He’s in special lock-down, since he knows the location of LeBlanc2.” Eiko said.

“And what about you? Will you come back to live with us?” Makoto asked.

Eiko shook her head “If it’s one thing that all of you taught me, it’s to take the chances to better the world. A lot of the girls want to stay and keep New Shinjuku going.. Just without the slavery and prostitution… Maybe we’ll make a maid-café but with male maids, who knows?” she giggled. “Just kidding… But honestly, I love the nightlife and the whole vibe of this place. So if we manage to recruit Kaneshiros guards as protection for us… I want to keep this place as is, just under our own terms.”

The grade of maturity in Eiko almost brought a tear to Makotos eyes. “Eiko…” she said “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us. I’m so proud of you.”

Eiko actually spilled a tear “Thanks. Oh, and when we get the place going again, you defs have to come for drinks, okay?” she gave Makoto a tight hug “It doesn’t have to be a double-date or whatever… I’m over that stuff for now.”

Makoto chuckled as she returned her hug “I’ll definitely stop by. And hey, maybe we can do a girls night.”

Eiko giggled “I’d love that. Who would have thought that Makoto Niijima ever proposed something like a “Girls Night”. Back when I met you, you were so scared of casual gatherings of any kind.”

“Like I said, you did teach me a thing or two as well.” Makoto replied.

“But hey...” Eiko said, pulling away from her to look at her “You might be a badass and all… But you’re so obviously into Ren. And he’s into you. He was so transfixed on getting you out of there and now you both got shot? Ann told me all about it - you two almost died?” she shook her head “Don’t you think it’s about time you finally plucked up the courage and confessed to him?“ her voice sounded kind.

Makoto smiled to herself when she imagined how Eiko would react if she only knew that Makoto had already shared a bed with him for the last nights, even if it was just to hold hands. They still both had gunshot wounds, one more incapacitating than the other. They both weren’t able to move around a lot. Eiko would probably drop dead if she knew. She would never be able to not be a romantic at heart. “You have a point.” she simply said, her cheeks flushing at the thought of that wicked smirk on his face that he would only do whenever he was about to say something to take her off-guard. Maybe it really was time to go on that date. Even if both of them were hurt, they would never know when the next opportunity would be to spend time just the two of them. You never really got to be alone in LeBlanc2.

Eiko smiled before getting up “That’s my last advice.” she pointed her finger at Makoto in an admonitory way “Grow a pair.”

Across the hallway, Ren was visited by Ryuji but he wasn’t quite into the conversation yet. Throughout the days, he had found out that the disturbing memories of the showdown in the vault always came back strongest the longer the day got. In the evening, the only thing to get him back down and to sleep was Makotos hand in his.

“Anyway, everything’s going smooth at home, so you don’t even have to worry.” Ryuji concluded.

“Uhuh...” Ren only muttered, his eyes fixed on the window. All these days being trapped in bed had offered him nothing but opportunities to think and to replay the memory of Kaneshiro in his head, as he bashed his fists in his face until it felt like there was nothing keeping it in place anymore.

“Dude, is something wrong?” Ryuji asked.

Ren snapped out of it and shook his head “No… it’s okay… I’ve just been thinking a lot lately...” he looked at Ryuji, who didn’t buy a thing he just tried to dish up and sighed. Maybe he was the only person he could really talk to about this. “Do you remember that night we talked about being blind with rage…?”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow “Sure, you dislocated my jaw and called it the Ryuji-experience.”

Ren sank back into his pillow and stared at the ceiling. “Down in that vault… it happened again. But even worse.”. He couldn’t help but stare at his hands every time he thought about this incident. “I killed Kaneshiro… by beating him to death.” he slowly started “I could have just shot him. I wouldn’t have been injured if I just shot him. He was right in front of me but all I wanted to do was beat the life out of him with my bare hands...”

To Rens surprise, Ryujis face remained expressionless as he just sat there and listened “What happened before that?”

“Kaneshiro just shot Makoto...” Ren replied, reliving the entire moment again. Her shocked, pained and surprised face when the bullet hit her and that bone-chilling, inaudible gasp she made.

“You see the connection?” Ryuji asked. When Ren gave him a confused look, the blonde boy elaborated “It’s Makoto. She’s your weakness.”

“I just told you that I bashed his face in until he was dead, how is that Weak?” Ren asked.

Ryuji shook his head “I mean that blind rage you fall into. She’s the trigger. At first she was kidnapped and that made you mad because you couldn’t help her. But then you watched her getting shot...”

“It was like I wasn’t myself… Like I just woke up from a trance when Makoto called my name… I still can’t believe that I was capable of doing something like this...” Ren muttered before looking at Ryuji “And it scares the shit out of me. I was so incredibly mad…”

Ryuji nodded, leaning back in his chair and propping his legs up on Rens bed “I know the feeling. It’s like you’d rather die and take down everything around you. Everything is just screaming at you to burn it all to the ground until there’s nothing left to destroy.”

Ren smirked “Glad to hear that someone can relate. So let me guess… your trigger is...”

Ryuji groaned “Quit playing dumb, you already know.”. He rubbed the back of his neck “Back then when we walked up to Kamoshidas castle… I don’t wanna imagine what I would have done if I had known that at that very moment, Kamoshida was already making a move on her.” he sighed. “I know that I would have never forgiven myself if I had hurt an innocent person, but when it kicks in, you can't really control it...”

“I already knew that I would kill Kaneshiro and to be honest… I don’t regret it. He was a cruel man who just wanted to threaten people to feel bigger and if I hadn’t, all of our lives would have been at stake. But the way I did it is what perplexes me…” Ren answered. “No offense, but you flying off the handle is… kinda normal. But I always thought that I was the one who thought things through and who keeps a clear head, no matter how tough the situation.”

Ryuji shrugged “Hey, I know that I have a short fuse. Maybe it just takes more to tip you over...”

“Hm…” Ren said, remembering how he had felt a slight murderous intent when he saw Tsukasa hassling Makoto back then at their double-date.

“Hey um… back then on the truck… Did you really mean to put me in command if you two didn’t make it?” Ryuji suddenly asked.

Everything that had happened on the way to Dr. Takemis house was nothing but a blur to Ren, but he still remembered Ryujis worried face. “Yeah.”

Ryuji looked surprised “But why? I’m… I’m not a leader...”

Ren smiled “Because I knew that you’d do everything to keep everyone safe.” he chuckled “You might have the shortest fuse, but you also have the biggest heart and I know that you would put the others safety first.”

Ryuji was baffled before he said “I’m still glad that you two pulled through.”

Ren grinned “Me too.” he pondered his next words before eventually asking “So, how’s everyone doing… mentally, I mean?”

The blonde boy shrugged “We’ll be okay. Even after this whole bank-massacre, the most horrifying thing was still keeping you two alive, so now that we know that you’ll both pull through, everyone’s a little more at peace.”

“I dragged you all into this...” Ren said.

“Both of you have to stop saying that. We chose to come with you because we wanted to save Makoto too. We knew what we were getting into, but we didn’t have a choice.” Ryuji said.

“I know.. It still feels like I’ve contributed nothing for the last two weeks because of that debilitating rage...” Ren rubbed his temple.

“That ain’t true and you know it. You can’t let that one evening tear you down like this… You came back the next day.” Ryuji answered.

Ren shook his head “Those two weeks are still a haze… I don’t know, it’s as if my wits weren’t entirely there…”

“Huh.. guess you aren’t used to being impulsive.” Ryuji smirked “But honestly… I think that this experience kinda changed all of us… Watching you guys almost die sure put things into perspective...”

Ren smirked “Look at you, all wise.”

Ryuji sighed “So what’s your plan?” When he noticed Rens puzzled look, he elaborated “About Makoto, I mean...”

Ren raised an eyebrow “You’re awfully pushy for someone who seems to be in the same dilemma as me...”

“Ann and I are different…” Ryuji squirmed.

“Yeah right.”

“You and Makoto talked about going on a date while you were on the verge of bleeding out. If that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is...”

Ren had to smile. How he would have liked to take her out already, but things get a bit more complicated when you’ve been shot in the gut.

“I’ll just let ya think about it. I should get going anyway.” Ryuji said and got up from the chair. “See ya, man.” he said before giving him a fistbump.

“I’ll walk you to the hallway.” Ren said. He twisted and turned until he was finally sitting at the edge of the bed. Clutching the cane, he was able to get up again, but not without the muscles in his stomach hurting. Ren walked the blonde boy out of his room and it was already enough for him to feel exhausted. After giving Ryuji another fistbump and watching him walk away, he noticed Makoto standing in her door-frame, giving Eiko a long hug. Her hair was messier than usual, since you didn’t get a lot of opportunity to brush your hair when one arm wasn’t allowed to move. Ann had borrowed her a pair of black sweatpants and brought her one of Makotos own T-Shirts. Ren couldn’t help it, even at her messiest, she still managed to look breathtaking. He watched Eiko waving good-bye before she walked away too. He met Makotos gaze across the hallway. His heart felt like it was about to melt when she gave him a smile and like so many times before in the last days, his demons were laid to rest. Maybe Ryuji was right. No, Ren knew that Ryuji was right. She was his weakness, but she was also his strength. The last two weeks had shown how lost he was without her by his side and not only as a leader, but also as a human. He had missed that warm feeling in his chest every morning when he saw her at breakfast. He had missed seeing her lounge in her favorite chair, so deeply focused on the book in her hand that she absentmindedly started to toy with strands of her hair, which she would never do on any other occasions. He had missed looking into her beautiful eyes. He started walking towards her.

Makoto continued to smile when Ren approached her. He heart started fluttering when she saw something resembling a deep determination in his eyes. She was about to say something when he came to a stop directly in front of her, but everything happened too fast for her to grasp when he let his cane clatter to the floor to cup her face with both his hands before gently pressing his lips onto hers. It came as somewhat of a relief, that one of her arms was trapped in a sling because now she only had to worry about where to place one of them. After his stomach and waist-area was a no-go due to his injury, she eventually settled on placing her one free hand on his chest. With his heart beating against her hand, she allowed herself to fall into the kiss and take in the feeling of his soft hands on her face.

It felt like minutes had passed when Ren started to wobble on his feet, causing Makoto to instinctively reach out with both her arms in an attempt to steady him. She grimaced in pain when the slowly healing skin on her shoulder was stretched out again. And while she just wanted to support Ren, she still managed to graze his stomach with her incapacitated arm, causing him to go down on his knees, his face nothing but a grimace of pain while still trying to act nonchalantly.

“I’m so sorry!” Makoto gasped before quickly bending down to pick up his cane for him and offering her functioning hand to help him back up.

“I’m good...” Ren groaned as he climbed back to his feet, clutching the cane. It hadn’t been a good idea to drop it in the first place, but he just couldn’t help it. It just felt like the right moment, even though it was far form perfect, with him getting poked in the gunshot-wound and Makoto almost ripping open her stitches while she tried to help him. When he was standing upright again and looked into her eyes, they both started chuckling.

“Maybe we should try again when we stopped being invalids...” Ren chuckled, leaning heavily on his cane now.

Makoto chuckled too, her cheeks still burning. She nodded “Maybe we should.”. It hadn’t been what she imagined her first kiss to be, but somehow she still thought that it was perfect in its own way. “Shall I help you back to bed?” she asked.

“That sounds so lame, but I might actually take you up on it...” Ren sighed. He reluctantly leaned on Makotos good shoulder and let her help him get back to his room. After she helped him back to bed, Ren looked into her reddish-brown eyes. It was fascinating how they could both look so incredibly kind and so scarily stone-cold when she was angry. “Hey...” he reached out to take her hand. “We’re not awaiting any more visitors today, right?”

Makoto thought hard before shaking her head.

“Why don’t we move up our tradition…?” Ren asked.

The girl smiled and nodded. She walked up to the other side of the bed and got in, only this time she dared to move closer to him. When he reached out to his side, she placed her head on his arm and looked at him. Her heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. She had never been this close to his face before. She wanted nothing more than to run her hands along his cheek, but at the moment she was laying on her left arm and the right one was unable to move. The warmth that emanated from his body made her eyelids heavy. She felt like nothing outside of this room mattered anymore, when she slowly allowed her eyes to fall shut.

Ren couldn’t help but smile when he looked at Makoto, her face relaxed and her eyes closed. All it had taken was for both of them to get shot to finally get them to jump over their shadows. He used his free hand to push a strand of hair out of her face before planting a kiss on the top of her head.

They both fell asleep before Takemis nightly round of drugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of talking in this one, but now we also have an idea of what happened during the Phantom Thieves' aussault on the bank. Eiko going badass seemed like a pretty nice redemption. Also: father-figure Sojiro strikes again and Yusuke turns a weird remark into a deep conversation. 
> 
> I was really into the idea of Ren losing his calm and sorted nature when it comes to Makoto being in danger and I feel like it gave the arc a bit more of a twist. It also makes for some nice and genuine friendship-moments between him and Ryuji, since he's the one who understands his struggle best and also has a lot more experience with being impulsive.
> 
> Also, ladies and gentleman, we have a first kiss. I hope I did all of you ShuMako-fans out there proud. It's the first time I'm writing these two, so please go easy on me ;D


	28. A Date And A Bunch Of Weapons

Another week and a half passed since Makotos and Rens imperfect first kiss. They both made huge steps in their healing process in the meantime. Makoto, now being rid of her sling, was able to moderately exercise her arm again and Ren was building up his core strength. Ever since the first evening that they fell asleep together much close to each other than the nights before, Takemi must have guessed something for since then, she always placed their morning pills in front of Rens door instead of walking in.

Ren couldn’t remember if he had ever slept as well as he had the last one week and a half with Makoto beside him. What had started out as sleeping beside each other while holding hands had now, with their improved conditions turned into far more entangled sleeping positions. Ren woke up in the same position as they had fallen asleep - behind her with his arm wrapped around her stomach. His gaze fell upon her bare shoulders. Her right was still covered up by some square band-aids, but since she was already able to sleep on that side again, it only showed how well everything had healed. He let out a deep breath before pulling her closer to him. He carefully started kissing her left shoulder until she started to stir.

“Good morning.” she said with a small smile when she rolled onto her back.

“Good morning.” Ren smiled back. He leaned over to put a careful kiss on her lips. They had gotten better over the last week.

Makoto almost jumped out of bed when they heard a knock on the door.

“I hope you’re dressed, it’s time for a check-up.” Takemi called from the hallway.

“Uh… Just a minute!!” Makotos face turned pale when she frantically sat up to adjust her tank-top and flatten her hair. When Ren just rolled onto his back, she cast him a questioning look “What about your shirt?”

Ren shrugged “She’s gonna ask me to take it off anyway to look at my gut.”

Makoto blushed “Yeah but… What if she thinks...”

“So what if we did?” Ren asked, but he couldn’t help but blush too. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and put it on before throwing her an “are you satisfied?”-look.

Makoto sat at the edge of the bed before calling out “You can come in!”

The door slowly opened to reveal Dr. Takemi with another metal tray. She cast them an amused look when she noticed Makoto sitting on the far edge of the bed as if she just accidentally happened to be in the same room with Ren. The black-haired boy seemed a bit more relaxed, although his cheeks seemed a little more flushed than usual too. The doctor walked up to Ren first. “You could have just left the shirt off, you know?” she teased, smirking at how red the brown-haired girl got all of a sudden.

The rest of their check-up went without much conversation. Dr. Takemi changed their bandages and band-aids before handing out their daily pill-cocktail, which was getting smaller and smaller by the day. She cast a look at the two before saying “You’ve both recovered at remarkable speed. I’m honestly surprised to say this, but I think I can release you tomorrow. You should let your friends know when they come around today.” she cast them another smirk “Speaking of, you’ve been sleeping in pretty long, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your visitors arrive soon.”

Ren nodded “Thanks for the heads-up, doc.”

When Dr. Takemi closed the door behind her, Ren and Makoto shared a surprised look. “We’re going home tomorrow...” Makoto said, baffled.

“We are...” Ren agreed. It was a strange feeling. The last week and a half had been both painful due to the hole in his gut, but also comfortable, since for the first time in forever, he actually had a room on his own, or at least had a choice on who he wanted to share it with. He wouldn’t be able to share a bed with Makoto, while already sharing his room with Shinya and Morgana. It would be strange for every participant. When he looked at Makoto, he guessed that she thought the same. “Hey..” he started before putting an arm around her “We have one day left. We’ll figure something out when we get back home.”

Makoto nodded before leaning against him. They had already agreed that they would keep their relationship on the down-low for a little longer in front of the others. Especially Makoto wasn’t prepared for the interrogations that would await her from Ann and Haru, but Ren too started to fear the speeches from Sojiro about terribly uncomfortable topics and all the side-nudges that he would get from Ryuji.

Ren pressed a kiss to her cheek before saying “Screw it, let’s go on that date today.”

Makoto stared at him “Today?!” she asked. “But… what are we going to wear? Where are we going to go?”

Ren smirked “I honestly couldn’t care less about what you wear. You’ll look amazing, no matter what. And about the Where… Just let that be my problem.”

Makoto still looked baffled when she stammered “But… aren’t dates supposed to be something fancy? We can’t even leave this place yet and I have nothing but Anns sweatpants and some loose t-shirts to wear and-”

“Makoto.” Ren interrupted. When he had her attention, he continued “You’re overthinking this.”

“I don’t think I am… This will be our first date after all and I would like to carry it out as is the norm.” Makoto tried to explain.

“Beep boop.”

Makoto sighed.

Ren lightly squeezed her right upper arm before saying “Seriously, our first kiss ended in both of us going down in pain… I think we’re past doing everything perfectly according to book.”

Makoto had to admit defeat “What will we do then?”

Ren smiled “I’ll pick you up from your room. You don’t need to know the rest.”

All of todays visitors were ecstatic without reservations about Rens and Makotos imminent return. Ann took the liberty of starting to pack up some of Makotos stuff while Morgana and Futaba already made plans for a huge feast in the evening. Ren was only able to listen to half of it, for his mind was racing to find ideas to make a date at Takemis clinic as romantic as possible before they needed to hide their relationship in front of their team-mates for who knew how long. Claiming that he was tired was a lame excuse, but it was the only way to get those two off his back. He strained his ears to check if he heard the car driving off before jumping out of bed and starting his preparations.

30 minutes later, he knocked on Makotos door. It only took seconds for her to open up.

Ren made a small bow before saying “My lady, I’ve come to pick you up.” he smirked “I’ve even put on my least stained sweatpants for you.”

Makoto needed a few moments to find it amusing. He had noticed that whatever must have caused her sarcastic phase must be wearing off by now. She was still wearing Anns sweatpants, which came as a bit of a letdown to Ren. He had hoped that she’d commit as much to put on the Buchimaru ones. He gave her a winning smile before giving her a bouquet of flowers and herbs, that he picked in Takemis garden.

Makoto couldn’t help but chuckle as she took it. Something was in there, that gave off a horribly medicinal smell, but it was still a sweet gesture. She took the arm he offered and walked along the hallway with him.

Ren had almost led her to the garden when they came across Dr. Takemi. The doctors gaze fell onto Makotos bouquet. She chuckled “While I have nothing against a little high, I’d be careful around those…” she pointed at a peculiar-looking herb “At least if you want to remember the rest of the day.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “Doc, it’s a bouquet, we weren’t planning on smoking it.” he smirked “At least we...-” he stopped when Makoto elbowed his ribs.

Takemi shook her head “Then at least don’t throw it away when you’re done with it. Other medics die trying growing this stuff by themselves and you just pluck it out because it looks pretty...” she sighed before walking off.

Ren looked at Makoto “I’m almost interested now...”. When he caught her unamused stare, he led her out the backdoor and into the garden.

Makotos initial irritation about Rens implication of getting high on their first date was immediately swept away when she spotted the blanket placed in the grass. The garden was quiet except for a few birds that flew from tree to tree above them and a soft breeze made the leaves and the high grass dance around them.

Ren impishly scratched his head “I felt bad raiding Takemis pantry after she’s been feeding us for the last weeks, so I hope simply laying in the grass is alright...”

Makoto smiled “It’s perfect.”

They spent their entire afternoon laying outside, looking up into the blue sky.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a place this quiet.” Makoto said, her head resting on Rens chest.

“Maybe we should injure ourselves more often to come here and relax.” Ren quipped.

“Don’t even say that!” Makoto reprimanded.

“You know I’m kidding.” Ren said. “Even if the peace and quiet is nice and all… I’m still starting to miss sitting together in front of the fireplace in the evening...”

Makoto hummed “And Boss’ stew….”

Ren hummed too at the thought and closed his eyes.

“I’ve been thinking...” Makoto started “Kaneshiro kept talking about a Crow...”

Ren opened one eye and raised an eyebrow at her “Do you really want to talk about this now? On our first date?”

Makoto looked at him and gave him an innocent smile “You did say that we’re past doing everything by the book.”

“I did say that...” Ren grudgingly admitted. “So, the Crow you say...” he sighed.

“Judging from what he said, it sounds like Kaneshiro was nothing but a subordinate to the mysterious Crow...” Makoto continued without hesitation.

“Which makes it even more important to lay low for now. Who knows who’ll come after us because their favorite money-grubber ended up dead...”

“At first we thought that Kaneshiro was only in it because of his own greed, but now, with what he told us, it could actually be that he did what he did because he was working for someone else.” Makoto continued her thoughts. “But it still leaves us with the question, why would someone want all this money? It’s useless.”

Ren yawned. It was actually kind of cute to listen to Makoto wrecking her brain about possible conspiracies and theories, but this was definitely not how he imagined a date to go. “Who knows… maybe someone waits for cash to make a return.. People need a hobby.”

“I don’t disagree, but Kaneshiros dimension of collecting was a little too excessive...”

“It made for a pretty fire though...” Ren replied.

Makoto sighed before looking up at the sky “Crow...” she muttered “What would a person need to be to earn the codename Crow...”

“Black clothes?” Ren asked.

“Take this serious...” Makoto sighed.

“Fine. I guess crows are smart.”

“Exactly!”

“That doesn’t help us at all.” Ren said.

Makoto sighed “You’re right...”

“Maybe we can’t make the right connections because we don’t have the right clues yet?” Ren offered.

Makoto reluctantly nodded against his chest.

“Then let’s just relax, take it slow and maybe the right intel will fall into our hands eventually.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him “Since when are you this laid-back?”

Ren shrugged “To be honest, I feel kind of drained after those two weeks of plotting and worrying… I’m starting to see the charm of not questioning everything.”

“But we don’t even know if the thing with Kaneshiros clan is really over yet.” Makoto argued “We might still-”

“Makoto?” Ren interrupted. When the girl looked at him, he placed a finger on her lips “Shhh…”. He ignored the raised eyebrow he received for that “Let’s just… enjoy the moment for now, okay?”

After a last quiet and peaceful night at the Takemi clinic, the leader and second-in-command were picked up by Sojiro. Dr. Takemi almost looked a little sad to see them go, but she tried her hardest not to show it.

“I’ll give you a few of these, if you should ever be in pain and some more bandages and band-aids. No physical exercise for now.” she told them with a stern face “Going for walks is all you’re allowed to do, understood?”

Ren and Makoto nodded in unison.

Dr. Takemi gave them a small smile. “Please come again, if you need something.” she leaned forward to whisper into Rens ear “And I expect to be invited to the wedding.”

Ren felt the heat creeping up his neck when he nodded.

Sojiro handed the doctor a crate full of vegetables, a few eggs and herbs along with a roll of Yen “Please, it’s the least we can do.”

The Doc chuckled “They have been good little guinea pigs.” she took the crate “Thank you very much.”

Sojiro looked at Ren and Makoto with a warm smile “Let’s get you two home then.”

“Take care.” Dr. Takemi purred.

Sojiro helped Makoto onto the back of the truck. She noticed that the others had put a lot of effort into erasing every trace of the bloodbath that both her and mostly Ren had left behind almost two weeks ago now. She appreciated the gesture. She had no idea how she would have reacted if some of his blood was still sticking to the car.

Ren was already seated in the passenger seat when Sojiro climbed behind the wheel.

“It’s good to have you back kid.” he smiled “Ready to go home?”

Ren nodded with a smile. He was looking forward to seeing everyone again, but on the other hand, he started to have his doubts about keeping him and Makoto a secret for long. Most of his team-mates were far too nosy and far too perceptive to just not realize that their dynamic had somewhat changed. Not to mention how much he would miss just walking up to her and kiss her during the day. Not that there was any serious reason why he couldn’t do it, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to be stared at, as soon as he showed any affection towards Makoto and he knew that Makoto wanted that even less.

All of them were already waiting in front of the house when Sojiro rolled through the gate. Ryuji crushed him into such a hug, that Ren felt the air escaping from his lungs, while Haru, Ann and Futaba were a little more gentle with welcoming back Makoto.

“You look so healthy, Mako-chan.” Haru noticed.

“Yeah, you’re kinda glowing.” Ann agreed, leaving Makoto struggling to hide her blushing cheeks while stammering for an excuse.

“Oh… Dr. Takemi gave us something for our vitality.” she stuttered.

“Easy now, why don’t you let them settle in first.” Sojiro said as he got Takemis box out of the car.

“Oooh, you’re gonna love tonights dinner! Yusuke and Mishima went fishing!” Futaba said.

Makoto couldn’t help but look surprised “Did you just call him Mishima? Not NPC, or Nishima?”

“I haven’t called him that in forever!” Futaba scoffed.

“Since 25 days, to be precise.” Mishima added.

“Careful, obsessing over a number makes you an N again.” Futaba said, causing Mishima to instantly shut up.

Makoto sighed “I’ve really missed a lot.”

Ann put an arm around her shoulder “We’ll fill you back in in no time.” she smiled before leading her inside, followed by the rest of the girls.

Yusuke spoke up “Now that the girls mentioned it, I feel like I can sense a certain glow emanating from you as well.” he formed a frame with his fingers and held it up to Ren. “Those vitalizers of Dr. Takemi must work wonders.”

Ren coughed before he was led inside by Morgana, who was carrying his bag upstairs. As he walked into his room, he noticed that Morganas and Shinyas beds had been stacked into a makeshift bunk-bed. Ren had to smile “So Shinya finally agreed, huh?”

Morgana puffed out his chest “Yup, I convinced him.”

“And did you get the top?” Ren asked.

Morgana ground his teeth “We’re switching...”

“Sounds only fair.” Ren tussled the kids hair before dropping down on his bed.

“I’m glad you’re back, Joker.” Morgana suddenly said.

“We just saw each other yesterday...” Ren smirked.

“Yeah, but it’s different to have you back home with us. I think the others will finally be able to rest a bit too.”

Ren gulped “Was it that bad?”

Morgana shook his head “We got by. After a few days we were able to sleep in our separate rooms again.” the kid shook his head “But enough of that, we can’t dwell on the past.”

Ren cast him a worried look. Morgana had already seen far too much for his age, even before Ren dragged him into an assault on a mafia headquarter. What was even worse was that he didn’t even know what the kid had seen, since he hadn’t been there with him. He knew that he had been in the best hands with the rest of the team, but still, he couldn’t help but fear what the kid had been through and what scars it might leave.

Sojiros voice called out from downstairs “Guys, there’s someone here to see you.”

Morgana and Ren exchanged a surprised look before following Sojiros call. When they arrived, the others had already grouped up in the living room around Iwai and Kaoru, who had come with huge bags and briefcases that they had put down on the ground. When Iwai turned around to see Ren, he chuckled “You look better than the last time I saw you.”

“Not much of a compliment, but thanks.” Ren smirked. “What brings you here?”

“Been long enough already, it’s time to show my gratitude.” Iwai grunted.

“There’s no need for that. If it hadn’t been for you, we would have died for sure.” Haru pointed out, although she couldn’t help the fact that she was intrigued to see what was in those bags.

“And without your help, I would have never been able to get Kaoru out of there, so I’d say we helped each other.” Iwai replied “Still, I’ve been working on some things, that I would like to give into the right hands.” he smirked before nodding to his son. They simultaneously started to unzip and open up the luggage that they had brought. One after the other, the Phantom Thieves eyes grew wide. Iwai started with picking up a light-metal, ergonomic shaped slingshot, that he handed to Morgana “Kiddo, you sure know how to handle an ammunition-belt by now. But I’ve been told that you’re a good hit with one of these too.”

Morganas eyes went wide as he twisted the weapon in his hand.

Kaoru handed Iwai a light-metal baseball-bat wrapped with barbed wire. The man pointed at Ryuji “I’d be careful with your hands on this one. Flip the switch and you can sizzle some shadows.”

“Awesome!!” Ryuji exclaimed, hastily taking his electrocuting bat.

“For you...” Iwai looked at Ann “I got a fiery surprise.” he handed her a sturdy leather whip. “Drenched in petroleum, I’d recommend lighting it up only in big open spaces.”

Ann gaped at her new whip.

Kaoru clicked open one of the briefcases for Iwai. The man turned to Ren after he took out a silver pistol. “This one’s for you. That’s a damn fine gun right there. Modified with high velocity bullets and increased range.” he patted Ren on the shoulder “Take good care of it.”

Ren carefully took the matte-silver gun. It already felt fancy just holding it in his hands.

Iwai gaze shifted to Makoto “We haven’t had the pleasure yet, but I heard that you’re a badass with knuckles.” he gave her a pair of dangerous looking brass knuckles before taking out fingerless gloves with a mechanism on the back of them. “Gives you a bit of an edge.” he smirked, demonstrating how with a certain motion, Blades extended.

Makoto stared at the man that she had never seen before. “Thank you...” she stammered, gratefully taking and examining her new melee weapons.

When Iwai looked at Yusuke, he said “I’ve heard that you’re pretty fond of your katana, so I got a new rifle for you. Comes with special ammunition that can freeze shadows.”

Yusuke bowed “A magnificent weapon.”

Next for Iwais focus was Oracle “For you, eagle eyes...” he took out a big pair of night-vision goggles.

“Woah!” Futaba exclaimed, immediately putting them on. The apparatus took over almost her entire face. “I’m going to see EVERYTHING!” Futaba laughed maniacally. Ren and Makoto exchanged a scared look.

“And last but not least-” Iwai turned to Haru before taking the battleaxe that she had already toyed with a few weeks ago from Kaorus hands. “You are one crazy lady, you know that?” he smirked “I oiled the blade with some hallucinogens, so the shadows will learn how scary you really are.” he handed her the axe “works on humans too.”

Haru cast him a touched smile before admiring the axe in her hands.

In the end, the rest of the Phantom Thieves ended up with a present too. Hifumi got a brand-new sniper rifle, Shinya and Mishima a pistol and Sojiro a shotgun.

Sojiro insisted that the two stay for Rens and Makotos Welcome-Feast before he disappeared into the kitchen with Haru. The others decided to sit down in the living room.

“I just have to ask….” Makoto started “how did you know where to find us?”. Since they were trying to lay low from possible mafia-retaliation, they needed to make sure that they weren’t discovered on a whim.

Ryuji spoke up “We told him.”

Iwai nodded “Your friends took turns in checking up on us from time to time. When I told them that I was preparing something for all of you, they told me where to come.”

“Don’t worry. We weren’t followed on our way.” Kaoru added.

“And needless to say that after tonight, we will never have heard of this place.” Iwai assured.

“Thank you.” Ren said. When he noticed Makotos thoughtful look, he decided to ask in her stead “Since you live closer to the lions den… Have you noticed anything?”

Iwai leaned back on the sofa “It’s been quiet. Kaoru and I took turns in sneaking into the village. I feel like there’s fewer of them.” he let out a bitter snort “Judging from how many people we killed up there, I’m not even surprised...”

Makoto placed her finger on her chin, her usual thinking-pose, before saying “So would you say, that they are regrouping?”

Iwai shook his head “I’d say that they’re losing people by the day.”

“So we might have actually managed to break up a mafia-clan...” Yusuke sounded disbelieving.

“A job well done, I’d say.” Futaba said.

“Based from what I’ve heard from Eiko, they took a lot of Kaneshiros men captive in New Shinjuku too…” Makoto thought out loud.

“I still can’t believe that Eiko started a maid-riot...” Ann said. “She looked so tough, all of a sudden...” she recalled Eikos last visit on the day that the girl also went to see Makoto.

Makoto smiled “She did say that she was inspired by us...”

“She definitely chose a style more “Panther”...” Futaba said.

“I’m not wearing shorts that short...” Ann retorted. She scoffed when none of her team-mates spoke up to agree with her.

Yusuke looked at their two visitors “So what will your next move be? Are you planning on staying in that secluded cabin?”

Kaoru looked at his father before saying “We actually thought about finding a settlement to move to… Dads skills might be helpful to others too. We heard that there’s more and more new smaller settlements and villages popping up. Maybe we’ll find someone who wants to take us in despite our past.”

Ren smiled “There’s actually a pretty small one nearby. I can accompany you there and put in a good word for you.”

“They’re super nice too.” Ann agreed.

“And you’d never go hungry.” Morgana added, thinking about the warm loafs of bread that the others would bring home some times.

“It would also be useful to us, if we have a weapons-expert so close to home.” Hifumi said.

Iwai chuckled “Guess we can give that a try.”

Harus voice called from the kitchen “Dinner is ready!”

Compared to Dr. Takemis rather healthy and raw vegetable-based cuisine, the meal that Sojiro and Haru had cooked up looked like what Ren imagined a rich mans dinner. There were plates of seared fish steaming in the middle of the table with bowls of rice and cooked vegetables lined up alongside it. Simply smelling it made Rens mouth water. Since they had two more chairs squeezed up to the table, they were almost sitting shoulder to shoulder when Sojiro and Haru started to fill everyones plates. It happened unconsciously that Makoto and Ren came to sit beside each other, wedged inbetween Morgana and Futaba. While it was risky, it still seemed like a perfectly innocent occasion to be close to each other under the given circumstances. He covertly let his hand disappear under the table to reach for Makotos while he pretended to listen to Ryuji. A tingle ran down his spine when her fingers laced together with his, her focus on a conversation with Haru.

Haru was beaming when she sat down. She let her gaze wander across the table and at the whole group being reunited again. After receiving of what she considered the most beautiful axe, she felt like this day couldn’t get any better.

“To everyone being back home, where they belong.” Sojiro said with a warm smile when he raised his glass.

“To finally sitting and eating together again.” Ryuji announced.

“To the Phantom Thieves!” chanted Morgana.

The others laughed as they all raised their glasses.

“Guys, you really didn’t have to go all out like this.” Ren said as he longingly looked at his plate.

“Don’t be ridiculous, having our leaders return sure calls for a magnificent feast.” Yusuke said before turning to Haru and Sojiro “You two have outdone yourselves.”

Haru giggled while Sojiro addressed the table “Enough patting each other on the back, it’s time to dig in.”

Noone needed to be told twice and soon the only thing that was left of Harus and Sojiros marvelous feast was the memory of perfectly cooked vegetables and fish that seemed to dissolve on the tongue. Ren fell back in his chair with a sigh “Man, am I glad to be alive….”

“That was a damn strong competition for your curry.” Futaba sighed.

“I don’t want to move...” Ann groaned, holding her full stomach.

“I’m sure that whatever the Doc was feeding you can’t hold up against this, right?” Shinya grinned.

“We shouldn’t talk badly of the woman who saved our lives and kept us fed for almost two weeks.” Makoto was still able to reprimand.

“Yay, Queen’s back! Finally someone who’s going to teach us good behavior.” Futaba smirked.

“Did noone do that while we were gone?” Ren asked.

“Who should have done it? Ryuji?” Morgana grinned.

“Can it, kid. At least I don’t pay loads of money for good-fortune-salt.” Ryuji replied.

“WHAT?! You take that back!” the kid screeched, almost leaping across the table.

Ren smirked at Queen before letting out a satisfied sigh “Ah, good to be home.”

Makoto smiled at him with a raised eyebrow.

The dinner party soon split up into smaller groups that divided themselves among the house.

Kaoru was sitting in the living room with Ann, Mishima, Hifumi and Yusuke when Makoto walked in.

“It’s nice to see you again outside of our prison cell.” Makoto smiled.

Kaoru smiled back “It’s nice to know that I can just walk out and leave whenever I want to.”.

Makoto settled into her favorite chair. “Kaoru… I was standing right beside Kaneshiro when he told you that he was your father… How are things between you and Iw-”

“Kaneshiro isn’t my father. Munehisa Iwai is.” Kaoru sounded determined. “That man… he wanted my mother dead because she wanted to keep me alive. And my dad… my real father.. he risked his life and left everything behind because he wanted to protect me. I thought that I was a burden to him, or that he was angry or disappointed, but he was just trying to keep it all together because he didn’t want me to think anything bad of him..” he scoffed “Everything was just a big misunderstanding… I would have still loved him as my father, even if I had known what he used to do.”

Ann looked empathetic “He just didn’t want you to get tangled up with his problems...”

Kaoru nodded. He looked at the rest of the Phantom Thieves “It’s funny. After all the stories that Makoto told me, I feel like I’ve known all of you before.”

Ann stared at Makoto “You talked about us?”

“I hope it was only good things.” Yusuke said.

Makoto smiled “Kaoru and I have been locked up together for 2 weeks after all. At some point you start to run out of stories about yourself.”

“There really is just so much you can remember about your early childhood.” Kaoru grinned.

“So, what did Makoto say about us?” Ann probed.

“Hm…” Kaoru took a look at the small group “I’d say it’s safe to assume that you are Ann.” when Makoto nodded as reassurance, Kaoru continued “Makoto said that you are the heart of the group, and that you taught her how to be a friend.

Ann stared at Makoto “Aww, Makoto….” she said, visibly touched.

Kaorus eyes wandered to Yusuke “Yusuke, I guess?”. When the artist nodded, he continued “She told me that you have a lot of passion, and that she can relate to that. And like hers, that passion can cause you to become reckless.”

Yusuke chuckled, remembering their conversation at Takemis clinic “Well said.”

Kaoru pointed at Hifumi “You must be the strategist that Makoto wished she could be too.”

Both Hifumi and Makoto blushed in unison at his direct call.

“Hmm… and you’re Mishima.” Kaoru said at last. “The loyal companion who would deserve so much more praise and recognition by the public for everything he does for the Phantom Thieves.”

Mishima blushed while nervously scratching his head “Haha… um… Nah...”

Ann jumped to her feet to crush Makoto into a hug “Aww, you said so many sweet things about us!” she giggled before her voice turned into a whisper “Shall I ask him what you told him about Ren?”.

Makoto tried to hide her reaction when she attempted to play it cool “Strictly professional things.”

Ann giggled into her ear “Uhuh…”

Makoto felt her back tense up, she just hoped that Ann wouldn’t notice. A suspicion befell her, that maybe hiding her affection towards Ren would become harder than she thought, especially since Ann seemed to be already on her tail.

Outside, Iwai was sitting in the backyard with Ryuji and Haru, who threw todays scraps to the chickens.

“Those weapons you gave us are insane!” Ryuji was excited. “I can’t wait to give that bat a swing next time we run into some shadows.” the blonde boy smirked.

Iwais mouth twitched into something of a grin “Glad you enjoyed it. After fighting a war together, I feel like something to commemorate your partners by seems in order.”

“Damn… Now we gotta find you something too.” Ryuji said.

The man waved his comment aside “Don’t bother. If your leader really manages to get us into a settlement, I have a feeling that we’ll keep seeing each other”

Haru smiled “Having a gun expert living at close hand sure is something that we aren’t used to.”

Iwai nodded before a scoff escaped him “To imagine that the kids who followed me after being shot would turn out as a group of mercenaries...”

“Oh...” Haru looked for the right words when she remembered the nights that all of them sat together in one room, giving each other reassurance that manslaughter had been the only thing they could have done to safe their friend “.. we aren’t mercenaries...” she quietly said. “Some of us killed a person for the first time that day...”

Iwai was quiet as he let her words settle. He shook his head “I remember the first man Kaneshiro made me dispose of. Left me sleepless for days.”

Ryuji sighed “Was something like that for us too...”

“We do what we have to to keep our family safe.” Haru stoically repeated what has become something of her mantra.

“And with that, you managed to save mine too.” Iwai said.

Ryuji leaned back in his chair “So… was it really true? Kaneshiro being Kaorus father, I mean...”

Iwai nodded “His mother was… well, I guess you can figure it out…” he scoffed before a fond smile appeared on his face “She might have been Kaneshiros, but she had my head twisted from the moment I saw her… Something about her laugh, that could light up an entire room.”

Ryuji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. He had an idea of what that felt like.

“Us being together was never an option, but when she told me that she was pregnant and that she needed to get out because Junya wanted her to get rid of it… I actually thought that we might get a shot at… being together.. even if it meant raising Kaneshiros kid. But she said that if we ran together, it would make us easier to find. So she went into hiding alone, never stayed at one place for too long, while I tried to sabotage Kaneshiros search from the inside. There was no way of communicating with her, until she stood on my porch one day, holding Kaoru in her arms.” the man gulped “She told me that Kaneshiros men were on her tail and that she needed to protect Kaoru. We.. used to sneak away to a small cabin… That’s where we hid him. That night, we decided to run away and that I would go with them. I told Junya that I was out. I knew that it would paint a target on my back, but I had made enough friends over the last months to maybe call in a few favors to drop some false leads.. But I would have never thought that his men caught up to her this quick. I was only gone for a few hours and then I was on my way back to the cabin when I saw them carry her body through the town.”

Haru had tears in her eyes.

“But why did you decide to settle so close to Kaneshiros headquarters, if he was after you?” Ryuji asked.

Iwai shrugged “Part of me thought that I could keep an eye on Kaneshiro that way and get a jumpstart, if he should ever plan an attack… But maybe I just couldn’t leave this place behind, after all the memories I’ve made with her there. I had to call in a lot of favors and pay off many a man to keep my shack off their radar… Eventually, they stopped looking through that area. Maybe even because of the fact that it was so close.” Iwai sighed “But I also robbed Kaoru of a happy childhood, by locking him away from everything. He only got to meet other kids every now and then, when we were on the road, but we’ve never stayed out long… He could have had a normal childhood, if his mother had given him to someone else… But when I saw him… It was like I was holding a piece of her… Not Kaneshiro, but of the woman I loved. I just couldn’t bare the thought of handing him to someone else.”

Ryujis stomach was heavy as he listened to Iwais story. The man had raised the child of his lovers murderer and was still able to be a better father than his own ever was. His throat felt tight when he reached out to grab the mans shoulders. “You did what you could to protect him. You’re a damn good father.”. The story had already made him emotional in the middle of their stand-off, but hearing the full weight of it managed to feel even worse. It wasn’t just because of Iwai being a real father, but also because of the love he had lost. For once, it didn’t make him want to punch something. He got up from his chair and walked inside.

Haru, quite shook by his story too, looked after Ryuji before turning to their guest “You have to excuse him… Ryuji and I are probably the most damaged by our real fathers, so hearing what a great father you are, without even being Kaorus real father…”

Iwai got up too “It’s okay. A group of teenagers living together… I started to have a suspicion that the old man can’t be everyones father.”

“And yet he still manages to be one for all of us.” Haru said. “In fact, I’d say that Boss has been more of a father for me, than my real one...”

Iwai placed a hand on the girls shoulder “Your real father must be an idiot then, for not seeing what a great daughter he has. I’d adopt you in a heartbeat, but you seem perfectly fine on your own.”

Haru smiled a touched smile before nodding.

Ryuji found Ann in the hallway, when she was on her way back from getting a sweater from her room.

“Ryuji, what’s-” The blonde boy didn’t give her a chance to finish her sentence when he crushed her into a hug. From the way that he clung to her, every muscle in his body tense and his hands clutching her shirt, she didn’t dare to ask further. Instead, she carefully looped her arms around him, gently stroking the back of his neck. She could feel his muscles trembling underneath his skin. He only got like this when he was extremely upset. Like back then when they had told Ren about their parents. Or right after they had walked away far enough from their old settlement after their exilement. She didn’t really think about it when she buried her face against his neck.

There were just too many things going through his head. All of them had known the risk they were taking by attacking Kaneshiro, but somehow it only really hit home with him after Iwai told the story of seeing the dead body of the woman he loved getting carried past him. It could have been one of them. It could have been Her. His grip around her tightened.

Ann lost track of time as they stood in the middle of the hallway, Ryujis embrace only getting tighter. She could only guess that his mind was racing at the moment. She continued to stand there, sunken in his arms. Ever since they came back, they had shared many an embrace in an attempt to calm down, whenever they felt the bullets fly past them again. She was almost reluctant to take a step back when Ryuji gathered himself again and released his grasp on her.

Ryuji looked into Anns turquoise eyes when he tried to come up with an excuse for his sudden outburst. Ren was right. He should tell her. They had survived an entire day of shooting and they had no idea if one of these men would start following them.

“Are you okay?” Ann eventually asked, when Ryuji did nothing but stare at her for minutes.

“Yeah… sorry ‘bout that...” Ryuji nervously rubbed the back of his neck where he could still feel Anns fingers tracing up and down, even though they were long gone by now. Ann furrowed her brow and it almost made him crumble when those intense eyes of hers were focused on him and filled with worry. “We just talked to Iwai outside and it… suddenly really hit, what we actually survived back there with Kaneshiro...”. His stomach was in knots “Ann… I…”

The blonde girl didn’t know why, but her knees felt wobbly. Something about the way he stood there and desperately tried to grasp for words sparked the hope in her that he might actually open up about his feelings. Maybe even about his feelings about her. She wanted to grab and shake the truth out of him. Instead, she asked “You what?”

“Um...” It would have been easy to say it. There were only two words missing. He could have even used _like_ , instead of _love_ , if he felt like a coward. But somehow his tongue felt like a block of cement, no matter how hard he wanted to say it. He swallowed “I’m… sorry for not saying anything in return, that night before we went to rescue Makoto...”

Ann couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. She still smiled at him. Denying everything that somehow came close to a good-bye before dangerous situations had always been his coping-mechanism, as if him giving in to saying something meaningful or acknowledging would actually make the problem real.

Ryuji shook his head “So… thanks. For putting up with me and having my back and all...” he lamely said while cursing himself internally. For someone who was known as the big-mouth, he sure managed to make an idiot out of himself when it really counted.

Ann smiled. It might not be much and she would have hoped for so much more, but he still made it somehow cute. Ryuji, flustered and stammering, actually made the butterflies in her stomach go crazy, even if she hated to admit it. “Come on, let’s go back downstairs again.”. She took his hand to steer him towards the staircase. Even though he was quick to follow, she still waited for a few more steps before she decided to let go of his hand again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, everyones elements come into play, although I kinda had to take a step back from Nuclear and Curse skills. Running around with radioactive knuckles can't be healthy for you and your team...
> 
> For some reason, I feel that there would be some sweet father-daughter-dynamic with Iwai and Haru, with both of them being somewhat weapon-enthusiasts. I just imagine that Iwai would find it funny to see a girl like Haru using a grenade launcher and an axe as her weapons of choice... I added a bit of drama into Iwais backstory, I hope it wasn't too much. 
> 
> We have arrived at a somewhat calmer part of the story again, but it won't be long, until the Phantom Thieves are fully rested again and the next arc awaits;) As always, I love to know what you think of the story.


	29. Of Stalkers And Blackmailed Maids

A flash of lightning struck somewhere nearby, immediately followed by booming thunder. Heavy rain was crashing against the windows and the wooden boards of the barred off living room as the group sat huddled together in front of the fireplace.

“Damn storm… it’s freezing in here...” Ryuji cursed, pulling his bomber jacket shut over his already thick hoodie.

“We definitely need to make some adjustments for the winter if we’re about stay here...” Haru said, shivering.

“Almost every window having cracks and holes surely isn’t helping either...” Yusuke noted while rubbing his hands together to create some warmth.

“It’s far too cold for summer.” Ann complained, huddled under a blanket with Futaba.

“I’m gonna sleep here tonight…” Futaba said through clattering teeth. “I’m sure there’s a pond in our room already...”

“You’re not the only one with that problem!” Shinya exclaimed, stretching out his arms to have his hands closer to the fire “Our beds stand directly underneath a window...”

“We get it, the house needs some work.” Ren summarized.

“I’ll go check upstairs and see if I can find something to improvise...” Makoto said, zipping close the extra jacket that she had put on.

“It’s super dark, do you have a lantern with you?” Ann called after her. She cast the others a questioning look when there was no response.

“I’ll go and make sure.” Ren volunteered, slowly climbing back to his feet. Over the last week, that they had been back home, he realized that when it came to “leader-like” activities, noone really questioned why he and Makoto did things together. Some particular tasks the others were even happy to hand over to them, so the two had managed to get some time alone for a few times now, although the constant fear of someone barging in – boundaries were things that tended to be ignored in LeBlanc2 – had turned out to be more a turn-off than -on. He found Makoto standing in her room, adjusting some boards to cover the leaky parts of the windows. In her hand, she held a candle. “Didn’t the Doc say that we shouldn’t be working?” he asked.

Makoto turned around to give him a small smile “I know… but since so many people already announced that they would be sleeping downstairs, I thought that maybe I could do something so our room could still stay inhabited...”

Ren smirked when he approached her. “You heard Shinya. Morgana and him will stay downstairs for sure…”

“Meaning?” Makoto asked with a knowing grin.

“Well, you can’t argue that it’s cold, but maybe – just maybe – it wouldn’t be as cold when, say, you would share a bed with me?” Ren declaimed.

“Hmm…” Makoto smiled and put her finger on her chin, pretending that she needed to think about his proposition “You do have a point...”

“It would only be practical.” Ren murmured when their toes were almost touching.

Makoto didn’t get a chance to reply something when he leaned forward to kiss her. She carefully looped her free arm around his waist, still mindful of his scar. Her heart fluttered when he gave her that kind and still somehow cocky look. She gently stroked his back before taking a step back again “I have to say that it does sound tempting, but what would I tell Haru and Hifumi, if they ask where I’ve been the whole night?”

Ren smiled as he gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face “They wouldn’t notice, if they were already asleep...”

Makoto seemed to actually give it a thought when a gust of wind blew down one of the boards and snuffed out the candle in Makotos hand, leaving the two of them in almost darkness.

“This is both eerie and romantic..” Ren admitted as he tried to make out some shapes in the almost pitch-black room. His hand wandered towards Makotos back only to be swatted away by her.

“Focus.” she reprimanded before picking up the board again and placing it in front of the window, managing to make the room even darker. “There should be some matches or a lighter somewhere around here...” she said before carefully feeling her way across the room.

“You’re definitely not a romantic...” Ren sighed before following her.

Makoto winced “I’m sorry…” she turned around to look at him, even though it was impossible in the dark anyway. “It’s just this weird feeling that we’re being followed at all times...” she sighed. She wished that she could just be okay with the fact of telling everyone that Ren and her were… romantically involved… with each other, but she already struggled for the right words in her own head, so what was she about to say when Ann or Haru grilled her about it. She had gotten so lost in her own head again that she didn’t notice Ren walking up behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach, his chin placed on her shoulder.

He gently muttered into her ear “It’s okay… I get it.” he kissed her cheek “I just really miss falling asleep with you in my arm.”

Makoto sighed and slightly leaned against his chest “Me too...” she whispered back.

“So what do you say? Shall we leave the candle blown out for a little longer? Noone’s going to volunteer looking for us if it means leaving the living room, so we should be good for a while.” he proposed, his smirk maybe not visible, but clearly audible.

Makoto smiled and turned around in his arms to hug him. “I have to admit that it sounds tempting...”

“Right?” Ren muttered before kissing her forehead.

“Although I still feel like we’re being watched… even now.” Makoto said, turning her head towards the direction she believed the door was at only to stare into more darkness.

“That’s a little paranoid, don’t you think?” Ren asked.

Makoto nodded and returned to leaning her head against his chest “You’re right…” she admitted.

Ren carefully stroked her back and moved his head forward until his lips met hers again. He pulled her closer against his chest and she slowly started to relax in his arms. Her hand wandered up his chest to rest on his cheek and at some point, it finally started to feel like everything around them didn’t matter anymore.

That was, at least, until both their ears noticed the floor creaking.

“You heard that too, right?” Makoto asked, ignoring the possible embarrassment of getting caught red-handed by their team-mates, when she remained clinging to Rens neck.

“It surely must have been the wind...” Ren tried to reason, but he too couldn’t deny the fact that this was starting to get scary. He tightened his grip on Makoto as he slowly turned around to look at the door-frame.

Lightning struck nearby, briefly illuminating the dark room. Makoto had been right, there really was standing something in the door-frame, but where its eyes should have been, a huge black contraption with various lenses sat. Makoto shrieked and sunk to the ground, clutching Rens thigh, her whole body shivering as she loudly started to pray to every god that she could think of. Within milliseconds, the room was dark again.

Ren sighed. “I assume the goggles are working?”

Futabas voice was neutral “Yup.”

“Well shit...” was all he could muster, feeling terribly violated in his privacy. He carefully took Makotos arm to pull her back to her feet.

“You scared the hell out of me!” Makotos voice was shaky as she was patting down her bedside cabinet for a lighter. When she finally managed to reignite the candle, she stared at Futaba, who took off her night-vision goggles to look at them. “Were you following us?!”

“You were gone for so long, I wanted to check on you!” Futaba protested.

“By stalking us in the dark?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah… Sorry...” Futaba winced. There was an awkward silence as they kept staring at each other before Futaba spoke up again “Sooo...” her finger kept pointing at Ren and Makoto, as if it didn’t need any more words. A sudden snicker escaped her before she started shouting at the top of her lungs “Oh, AAAAAAAAAAAAAnn!!”.

“Futaba, I swear-” Ren growled, lunging across the room but the girl was faster when she turned on her heels and sprinted down the hallway.

“No no no no….” Makoto pleaded as she sprinted after both of them. Futaba blurting it out to everyone was somewhat the least desirable way of breaking it to the group.

Both Ren and Futaba almost tumbled down the stairs during their wild chase. Ren was about to reach out and grab her by the hood, but she was one step too far ahead, for she reached the living room uncaught, shortly followed by Ren and Makoto who barged in after her. As all three of them stood in the middle of the room, panting and all eyes on them, Futaba started wheezing “Ren and Makoto-” she didn’t get to proceed when Makoto stepped up to clamp a hand over her mouth.

“-barricaded some windows.” Ren tried to sound casual while desperately trying to catch his breath.

“Right!” Makoto exclaimed, far too loud for the occasion.

Ryuji furrowed his brow in confusion “Oookay?”

“No need to hurry like that...” Sojiro scratched his head.

“Well, we- OW!” Makoto exclaimed, quickly drawing back her hand after feeling Futabas teeth on her skin, giving the girl the chance to take a deep breath.

“REN AND MAKOTO KISSED!” she blurted out while she got the chance.

“Did you just BITE me?!” Makoto asked, shocked.

Ren cast his little sister an annoyed look “You stalked us with your night-vision goggles, you little creep.”

“You were gone for so long!!” Futaba exclaimed, as if it was obvious that someone would come looking for them with night-vision gear if they stayed upstairs for too long.

“And you couldn’t just call for us?” Ren argued.

Any possible answer from Futaba was drowned by Ryuji almost yelling “I told you! I told all of you that they were acting different!” he pointed at Shinya “You owe me 5 Yen.”

The boy pouted “Fine… you win.”

“So are the upstairs windows barricaded or not?” Yusuke interjected only to be ignored by everyone as a chaotic chattering ensued.

“Aww, I’m so happy for you two!” Ann exclaimed before hugging both of them.

“….Thanks...” Makoto managed to say, terribly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

When Ann released them, Makoto felt Harus hand squeezing her arm “Mako-chan, why didn’t you tell us?”

“Oh… uh… we just… didn’t want to make a big deal out of it...” Makoto was reaching for straws. To her left, Ren was approached by Sojiro.

“Congrats, kid. You made a good catch.” the old man smiled.

Ren raised an eyebrow “It’s extremely creepy when you say that...”

Sojiro huffed “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re both like my own children.”

Ren winced “Even worse.”

Sojiro sighed and walked off, shaking his head. When Ren cast a look into the round, he saw how all eyes were on them. It looked like they were waiting for something. The leader sighed “Fine. Now you know it. Makoto and I are a couple. Nothing will be different. There’s no need for you to make a big deal out of it. Actually, there’s no need for you to make any deal out of it. It’s… our thing.” he announced, already knowing that this was the weirdest speech he ever gave, even before finishing his sentence. He demonstratively put his arm around Makoto while the room was still covered in awkward silence.

“Sorry for biting you, Makoto.” Futaba meekly said after a while.

Makoto sighed. She checked her hand to find the bite-marks gone.

Ren pointed at Futaba “And no night-vision gear in the house from now on.”

“Fiiiine….” Futaba reluctantly agreed.

Half of the Phantom Thieves actually slept downstairs that night, lined up as close as possible to the fireplace. Birds were singing at the first light and the new day started much more promising – and warmer – than the last.

“My shoulders are stiff...” Morgana sighed while hunching over his bowl.

Futaba rubbed her arm “I think I blocked a nerve or something...”

“Let’s just hope that everything dries up by tonight...” Ann sighed, absentmindedly stirring her tea.

Makoto on the other hand looked refreshed and wide-awake. Their unintentional outing yesterday turned out to have at least one up-side. Since Shinya and Morgana volunteered to sleep downstairs because of their soaking wet mattresses, Ren and her didn’t even have to make it a secret that she spent the night at his room. There almost was hum on her lips as she sat beside Ren, her hands wrapped around her cup of tea.

“Soo.. what’s on todays list?” Ren asked into the round to take the attention off of both him and Makotos obviously much better mood.

“Maybe blow-drying the entire house?” Futaba proposed.

“Shinya, Mishima and I are going to look and listen around a bit...” Morgana said.

“Okay, just be careful.. If anything seems fishy, get out of there, understood?” Ren made clear. His gaze wandered towards Ryuji. “What about you?”

Ryuji scratched his head “I got something to do on the outside too...” he looked at Ann “Can you come with me?”

Ann looked surprised. Why was he asking her like that? Did he look nervous? Or even uncomfortable? “Uh… sure.” she replied.

Ryuji nodded “Good… good...”. He sighed internally. This was already awkward. He ignored the whole table looking confused.

“So… where are we going?” Ann asked as she followed Ryuji down the country-road.

“It’s… kinda hard to explain. You’ll see when we get there.” Ryuji answered.

Ann raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask any further. Why was he acting so weird? And why was her stomach acting up so much because of it? It was nothing new that only the two of them went on missions together. She stole a glance at him. There was a phase when Ann believed that he only was nice to her because he had to, since their parents used to spend a lot of time together, but what started out as being forced to play with the neighbors kid while your parents were chatting soon turned into meeting up without parents. He was actually one of the few that didn’t shun or stare at her because of her hair. She never really felt like she had a classic crush on him. There just had always been something of a connection, that gave her the feeling that he was… meant to be in her life. Of course thoughts like that didn’t really come up when you were a kid but as they grew older and ended up in the scavengers, Ann regularly caught herself looking at Ryuji sleeping when it was her turn to guard the camp on expeditions, smiling and thinking that she would be fine, as long as she was with him. It did take a bit of time until the butterflies set in. When you grow up together as close as they had, you didn’t really have a lot of reservations when it came to body-contact. The things that really started to fluster her from time to time where occasional looks that she would catch him throw at her with an expression in his eyes that was more than the simple gaping at her for whatever reason. An expression that made her heart giddy and want to grab him by the shirt and crash her lips against his.

As Ryuji walked one step ahead of her, he knew that she was already suspicious since the moment they left home. He figured that he was to blame for that, since he was asking in such a weird way. But was there really a normal way to tell your partner that you were about to meet up with your teacher again, who had worked as a maid for the last years? Probably. And maybe Kawakami wouldn’t even bring up her current job anyway. But Ryuji was sure that Ann would want to know how he had managed to come across Kawakami in a place like this. And he had no idea what he would tell her then. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of hiring a maid with Ren and Mishima. Especially since absolutely nothing happened. He didn’t have to justify anything in front of Ann, but for some unexplainable reason, he didn’t want her to know. Maybe after all the confusing thoughts and feelings, he just didn’t want to be called a pervert again, should Ann take it the wrong way.

He only was in this situation because during Ren and Makotos recovery, he and Mishima had checked up on Kawakami once, wanting to make sure that Kaneshiros downfall hadn’t had any bad impact on her. She had told them that she was fine, but since her money-supply had run dry when a rebellion took place in New Shinjuku, she was about to be in trouble the next time she had to meet up with the parents of her former student. She really didn’t have to say anything more to convince Ryuji that he would be there to talk – or “talk”, if necessary – some sense into these people. Since Kawakami still seemed to be under the impression that she shouldn’t be a teacher, Ryuji had decided to ask Ann to come. Maybe hearing the opinion of a second student would give Kawakami some confidence back. Ryuji cursed himself for deliberately steering him into a possible wildfire afterwards, if Ann decided to ask questions.

“I can’t believe that Makoto and Ren were able to keep it a secret for a whole week.” Ann suddenly spoke up behind him.

“Especially with Futaba stalking around with night-vision...” Ryuji added and turned his head to look at her. She was stretching her arms and back while walking, causing her already cropped shirt to reveal even more skin. He quickly averted his gaze again when he felt a flush creeping up his neck. He nervously started to whistle a tune while rubbing the back of his neck.

“I don’t even know why they would want to keep it a secret… Are we that annoying?” Ann asked.

Ryuji shrugged “I dunno… maybe they just didn’t want all of us to be up in their business or something...”

“Hmm…” Ann pondered “What would you do?”

Ryuji almost forgot to walk when his eyes grew wide “Huh?”

“Like.. if you were in a relationship. Would you tell us?”

Ryuji continued rubbing the back of his neck. This day was getting weirder and weirder. “I dunno...” his voice got high “How should I know?! It’s not like I have someone!”

“Okay, then would you tell us if you had a crush on someone?” Ann continued.

Ryuji felt the urge to run. He had forgotten how highly uncomfortable one-on-one-missions with Ann could get if she decided to bust out the hard questions. This was her asking if her butt was flat, after one of the girls back in their settlement had called her something, all over again.

While Ryuji was feverishly looking for an answer, Ann decided to close in on what she really wanted to know “Would you tell me, if you liked someone?”

It took a lot of restraint to not start straight-up sprinting off without ever returning. What was one to say to that? He gulped “Sure.”

The fact that he broke out in a cold sweat while saying it and how his response almost came through gritted teeth, Ann figured that there was more that he didn’t want out in the world. But Ryuji had never lied to her. So maybe there really wasn’t anybody that he liked that way. Maybe she was reading too much into all of this.

Ryuji sighed internally. No matter what he would have said, nothing would have sounded right. Just like back then, when a 14 year-old Ryuji was left sputtering for the right things to say about her body. If he had said something funny, she would have been mad. If he had said what he really thought, everything would get weird. The only reason why he still hadn’t been able to get it off his chest was that he was afraid that everything would change, and not just the things that he would like to. Would he really be able to fight alongside Ann against all these monstrous shadows, if she was his girlfriend? Because all these weeks ago, on their last night before their attack on Kaneshiros bank, when she had told him that he shouldn’t endanger himself, especially not to save her, she hadn’t been wrong. He did have a tendency to throw common sense over board when he thought her to be in danger. But he knew that he would never be able not to do it. And he feared that it would only get worse, if he actually knew that she felt the same way about him. And if she didn’t return his feelings, then everything would be weird as hell anyway.

“Seriously, where are we going? I would have put on different shoes if you told me that we’re going for a hike.” Ann complained.

“Stop whining, we’re almost there.” Ryuji replied.

As they reached the crossing, it seemed like they were the first to arrive.

“Seriously? That’s it?” Ann asked with a raised eyebrow when she took a look around. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Just wait for it.” Ryuji sighed, once again questioning his taste in girls.

“This is the reason why I would have never been a good guard post...” Ann sighed, leaning against a lamppost.

“No shit..."

“As if you wouldn’t react the same, if only I knew what we were waiting for.” Ann replied.

Ryuji couldn’t even say that he disagreed. “It… can’t be much longer.”

Ann took a look at the crossing and the lamppost she was leaning against. The metal post branched out at a 90 degree angle, where the traffic lights used to hang. She smirked. “Think you can still get me up there?”. Challenging each other to get to different spots had been one of their favorite pastimes when they were younger and there was nothing else to do.

As Ryuji looked up at the horizontal beam above them, he followed her train of thought. “Course.” he bragged.

Ann jabbed him in the ribs “Haven’t seen you work out recently.” she smirked.

“You’re one to talk.” he snorted.

“Hey, I stretch!” Ann retorted. “You’re the muscle, not me.”

“How are you going to keep hanging up there then?” Ryuji taunted.

“Bet I’ll last longer than you!”

Ryuji smirked “Bring it.”

Ann held his gaze while she did a few stretches. With her being agile and Ryuji being strong, even at a considerably young age, they soon realized the potential of working together. What started with just giving each other boosts up soon ended in acrobatic tricks and stunts, allowing them to go even higher places and opening up an entire new world of their settlement.When she was ready, she gave the blonde boy a nod. Ryuji placed his hands on her hips to give her additional upwards momentum when she pushed herself off the ground with full force. While mid-air, Ryuji slightly bent his knees to grab her feet from below to then push her up until both of them were in a standing position with Ann standing on Ryujis completely extended hands. When she was younger, she had found some pictures of cheerleaders doing this trick. It had taken some time to convince Ryuji to learn something this "girly" with her, but even after not doing it for a while now, their moves still seemed to hit. Although she noticed that she had to do much more stabilizing than usual. “You’re wobbling.” she teased.

“And you used to be lighter.” Ryuji grunted from underneath her.

“Asshole.” Ann gasped before reaching above her head to grab the pole.

Ryuji shook his head with a smirk when he climbed the lamppost to then shimmy along the horizontal part until he came to hang beside Ann. “You good?” he teased when he already saw sweat on her forehead and her face in a grimace.

“Yup.” Ann said through clenched teeth, trying to ignore her hurting hands.

“Ya know… dropping from a height like this would hurt, so just tell me a bit in advance so I can get down to catch you...”

“I’m sooo fine.” Ann replied.

“Come on, we both know-”

A third voice cut through their competitive bantering “What are you two doing?”

When Ann looked down, she saw an all too familiar face with dark chin-long hair and dark eyes. “Miss Kawakami?!” she gaped. The sight of her old teacher set her back to childhood, when a question like that usually meant that you did something wrong. For nothing more than a second, she didn’t concentrate on hanging onto the post, causing her hurting hands to slip off the metal. You didn’t need to be a genius to know that upon hitting the pavement from this height, at least one bone would break. She braced herself for impact when she felt a yank on her right arm. When she dared to open her eyes, she found herself dangling in the air, Ryujis left hand clamped around her wrist while holding onto the post singlehandedly.

“You okay?” he asked, although now it was his turn to say it through gritted teeth, but who could blame him.

Ann only managed to nod with wide eyes. Ryuji returned her nod and carefully let go of her wrist to let her drop down the last distance. When Anns feet hit the ground with a soft _Thump_ , she rubbed her hurting hands together while gaping at Ms. Kawakami.

“Hey Teach.” Ryuji said while climbing down the post.

Ann stared at him “Wait, what’s going on here?”

“We’re here to help her.” Ryuji shrugged. It didn’t take long until he could see the questions burning behind Anns eyes.

Kawakami stood beside them, her eyebrows still raised at what she had just witnessed. She eventually sighed “I already told Sakamoto, there’s nothing you can do. I made a mistake and I have to own up for it. Now with my old job gone, I just have to find something new.”

Ann cast Ryuji a questioning look.

“But you didn’t do anything wrong!” Ryuji stubbornly declared.

“I did. I shouldn’t have taken up so much of Takases time, when he also had to provide for his family. I should have been stricter. I should have told him to get going to work after classes, instead of staying late and tutoring him.”

Ann furrowed her brow “Can someone tell me what’s going on here?”

Ryuji turned to the blonde girl “Kawakami thinks that she’s a bad teacher.”

The girl whirled around to look at the woman “But you’re a great teacher!”

Kawakami sighed “Thank you, Takamaki, but Sakamoto failed to explain the real problem.”

“That’s horrible.” Ann said after listening to Kawakamis story.

“Yeah, but none of this is your fault.” Ryuji said “Takase asked for your help. You never forced him to stay.”

“And still, I went against what his parents wanted. He died because he still had to get his work done to support his family. Quit teaching was probably for the best.” Kawakami replied.

“But...” Ryuji sputtered before letting out an annoyed groan “Urgh, Ann, help me out here...”

Ann sighed “I… understand that you feel guilty, but in the end it was Takases decision. You are a great teacher and you gave all of us the feeling that we could actually achieve something. I’m sure that’s why he wanted to be tutored by you.” she placed a hand on the womans shoulder “You really shouldn’t stop teaching because of this incident.”

Kawakami sighed “It’s not just my decision...”. When she caught the two blonde teenagers questioning looks she added “The Takases said that if they hear that I’m teaching again, they would tell everyone how I was responsible for their sons death. After getting to know these two, I have no doubt that they will actually follow through with this. Besides, since it’s money they are after, I wouldn’t be able to pay them enough with my teaching job.”

“Then what have you been doing until now?” Ann asked.

Kawakami cast a confused look at Ryuji “You haven’t told her?”

Ann raised an eyebrow at Ryuji but before he could say something, they heard a voice ringing out from behind them “I hope that these aren’t students of yours.”

Kawakami put on a nervous smile when she answered “They used to be, but that was veeery long ago...”.

When Ann and Ryuji turned around, they found themselves standing in front of a middle-aged couple. It was already visible on their faces that they were far from amused. Ryuji could tell in an instant that he wouldn’t like them.

“I hope you got the money.” the woman directed at Kawakami.

“Yes! It was close because there have been some issues with my job, but I managed to scrape everything together.” Kawakami announced in nervous friendliness. She held up a stuffed bag as evidence.

“We don’t care how you get it, as long as you pay up in time.” the man grunted.

His wife added “Although we will need a little more from the next time on.”

Kawakamis eyes went wide “Even more? But… you already increased the amount a few months ago...”

The men shrugged “Because we’ve come upon some very hard times of grieving. I’m sure that you understand, that one can not so easily forget how his son died in a field, torn apart by shadows.”

Kawakami turned pale “Y- Yes… I understand.”

Ann threw her former teacher a concerned look. When Kawakami wanted to take a step forward to deliver the bag, the blonde girl blocked her with her arm. She tried to keep her voice calm when she addressed the two “What happened to your son was an accident. No matter how much money you demand… It won’t bring back your son.” she swallowed down the heavy feeling that spread in her heart “Nothing will.”

The woman cast Ann a look “Excuse me, but how we grieve the loss of our adoptive-son and how we handle his murderer is our own business. The way I see it, we could have just gone to the settlements authorities and have her executed. Us asking her to pay off her debts seems very merciful.”

“You’re not “asking”. You’re blackmailing.” Ryuji growled.

“Look kids, you shouldn’t get involved in things that don’t concern you.” the man replied.

Ryujis eyes narrowed and he fell into a defensive stance “It does concern us, when assholes like you harass honest people that only wanted to help.”

Ann looked at Ryuji. She knew that witnessing injustice like that set him off easily, but in this case, she wasn’t sure if sheer bluntness and aggression was the right way to handle this. “Skull, calm down.” she quietly said, so only Kawakami and he were able to hear it, before she focused on the angry parents again. “Ms. Kawakami is a great teacher. She saw potential in Takase and that’s why she agreed to tutor him when he asked her to.”

“Potential… what good did him his potential when he was mauled by those creatures?” the woman shrieked.

“We didn’t need him to become smart! We just needed him to do his job and get us a surplus of food that we could then sell to the highest bidder!" the man added.

Ann suddenly felt angry. “So that’s all you cared about, even when he was alive? Money?” she asked, not wanting to believe that people like this existed. But she already knew. They had seen so many and she still kept wondering why people were so obsessed with money when it got you nothing but useless luxuries. But it seemed like that’s just how humans were. Just like Kamoshida had been allowed to do as he pleases with all those teenagers that he locked up and harassed. As long as the money came in, noone came looking. He even got celebrated by these kids parents. She didn’t notice how her hand started to tremble with anger. “You… are the worst!” she almost yelled.

Ryuji stared at her with wide eyes. Noone ever wanted to be on the receiving end when Ann had an anger-flare. She was much better at keeping herself in check and not just straight up punch people in the face, yet somehow it managed to be even more fear-inducing when she shot you a death-glare. Ryuji almost pitied the Takases for they had just unleashed a firestorm. Almost.

“You greedy monsters. You only think about yourselves, don’t you?” Ann seethed “You drove the person away who could have given him the chance at a better life and with that also denied dozens of other kids an education because you threatened her and she needed to take on another job so she could pay for god knows what you use that money for.”.

The two gaped at the blonde girl as if she was spitting fire.

“This ends now.” Ann said, her voice dark. “She will work as a teacher again and you will NEVER lose a bad word about her. And she won’t pay you another Yen.”

As Ann continued glaring at the couple, the woman started to grab her husband by the arm in fear. The man only managed to nod meekly.

Ann took an intimidating step towards them “Leave before I change my mind. And if you ever try to mess with her again, we'll be back!”

The couple almost ran off. When they had disappeared into the woods, Ryuji exhaled a short whistle before saying “Damn… I forgot how scary you can get.”. Why was his heart beating so fast because of this?

Ann took a deep breath before turning around to look at Kawakami, who looked about as shocked as the Takases. “Are you okay?” Ann carefully asked when it didn’t look like Kawakami would react anytime soon.

The woman nodded “I… just didn’t expect this from you...” she stammered.

Ann shrugged with a small smile “It’s been a long time…” she cast a quick glance at Ryuji “Maybe… I picked it up from someone else...” she said with a small smile.

“So these guys shouldn’t give you any more trouble. What will ya do now?” Ryuji asked.

Kawakami smiled “Well… since you said all those nice things and you took such a stand for me and to get me working again… I guess I should go back to teaching. I’ll find a good balance, but you were right… Some kids might have no chance at getting an education if I’m not there.”

“That sounds great.” Ann said with a smile. “So where will you start?”

Kawakami ran a hand through her dark hair while thinking “I’m thinking that maybe I should go back to the settlements that I used to visit, since I should hopefully still have one foot in the door there...”

“That’s a long way...” Ryuji noted.

“It’s not like I have anything to do here...” Kawakami replied. “I should be fine as long as I stick to the roads.”

Ann didn’t take long to make a decision “I’ll come with you.”. When she noticed Ryujis surprised stare she added “I wanted to visit Shiho anyway, so I could accompany you to our old settlement?”

Kawakami looked equally surprised but started to nod in the end. They decided to get going the next day. Ryuji and Ann walked Kawakami to one of the abandoned shacks near their home to rest up for their trip tomorrow. As their teacher placed her bag on the run-down bed, she looked around the cabin with something like relief on her face.

“How does it feel to be free?” Ruyji asked.

The woman smiled “Surreal.” her eyes wandered between the two blondes “Who would have thought that two of my students would come to my rescue one day? In a place like this nonetheless.”

Ann smiled back “You did a lot for us too. It was only right to return the favor.”

“Oh, you have no idea how much you just did… I can’t believe that I will never have to work as a maid again.”

You could have heard a needle drop until Ann eventually spoke up “A what?!”

Ryujis face froze. He had almost made it out without mentioning anything about maids.

Kawakami looked surprised “I did wonder why Sakamoto hadn’t told you...”

“Why would I tell her that?” Ryuji asked in his defense.

“I don’t know… I just always had the impression that you two shared everything...”

“But not something like This!”

Ann raised her hands to calm the other two down again. She looked at Ryuji “Did she work for Kaneshiro?”

Ryuji nodded “In a way.”

Ann nodded before turning to her teacher “I am so sorry, that you had to go through all this and that we couldn’t help you earlier with the Takases.”

Kawakami shook her head “I wouldn’t have anticipated anyone to help me, so thank you.”

Ann smiled “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Every step that they took farther away from the house, Ryuji felt the tension grow and the questions bubbling inside of Ann. While his number one discomfort was still being asked how he had gotten to meet Maid-Kawakami, her fast decision of wandering all the way back to their old settlement had somewhat taken him by surprise. He knew that Ann had promised to visit Shiho once and he knew that she had no intentions of ever returning there for good, yet something always gnawed at him whenever their old home came up.

Anns voice was soft when she spoke up after a longer silence “I’m just going to say Hi to Shiho, you know? I’ll be back.”

“You’ve never been in there since back then, what if they give you trouble?”

“They’ve already given me trouble by calling me a traitor or one of Kamoshidas whores.” Ann replied “What else are they going to do? They won’t lock me up.”

“I’ll come with you. I’ll wait somewhere in the woods until you’re done.” Ryuji said.

“You really don’t have to do that.” Ann replied, although she was touched.

“I know. But I’ll do it anyway. Besides, you’d have to walk back home on your own after dropping Kawakami off.” he scratched the back of his neck “Could get boring...”

Ann smiled “Yeah... Let’s just not hang from any lampposts, okay?”

Ryuji smirked “Hell no.. I think I pulled something when I single-handedly held both of us.”

“Show-off...” Ann scoffed. “But thanks… It was a pretty cool move.”

They continued walking in silence until Ann eventually spoke up with a tease in her voice “Soooo… how did you run across Kawakami again?”

Ryuji felt the urge to run again before deciding that it would have been no use anyway. She knew where he lived.

“You ordered a maid, didn’t you?” she took the answer out of his mouth.

“It wasn’t just me! First of all, it was Mishimas idea!” Ryuji exclaimed “And Ren was there too!”. When he looked at Ann, he was unable to read her face. He was almost preparing for an angry reply about what a pervert and jerk he was or for her to be hurt or disappointed, when a light giggle cut through his fears. He couldn’t help but look confused when that light giggle turned into a full-throated laughter. “What’s so funny?” he asked, distraught.

Ann had to hold her stomach from laughter. She wiped away a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye before taking a deep breath “The fact that...” she couldn’t stop giggling “you went there to gape at some cute girl in a short dress… And then it was our teacher!!” she started laughing at the top of her lungs again.

“Oh, haha, very funny.” Ryuji retorted, still perplexed by her reaction.

“It is!” Ann kept on laughing and holding her stomach. “Oh, I would have loved to see your face!”

“You’re enjoying this, huh?”

“Probably more than you did.” Ann giggled.

Ryuji couldn’t help but give in to the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Sometimes he did know why he liked her so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more ship-fluff combined with the classic Futaba-stalking moment in the dark;) Also, Kawakamis story comes to a conclusion. If you feel like the whole thing with the Takases felt a bit rushed an clunky: I feel it too, but I couldn't think of a way to make it better... 
> 
> Maybe you can already guess, where the next chapter will take us. I'll give you a little teaser: Ann will find herself a nemesis.


	30. A Trip Down Memory Lane

Upon presenting their plan of accompanying Kawakami, Ren had agreed to drive them, so they would get there faster. The truth was, that he could use some change of scenery and hanging out in the woods with Ryuji sounded safe enough. They dropped off Kawakami at one of the neighboring settlements before continuing to Ryujis and Anns old hometown.

It was a strange feeling to stand in front of the exact gates again, that she had turned her back on only a few hours after learning that her mother and father had died. She had so many fond memories about this place, yet somehow they had managed to become tainted in the matter of seconds. She remembered working nights with her parents, helping them with stitching and sowing so they would be able to get all the orders done in time. She remembered practicing hand-to-hand combat with Ryuji in some side-alley. She remembered Shiho and her sitting in her room and chatting and laughing. A fond smile played on Anns lips before her heavy heart weighed down the corners of her mouth again. She had spent so many years and gathered so many memories in this place, yet the most prominent memory that came to mind was how Ryuji and her stood in front of the council when they learned that their parents had died. It had felt like the rug was pulled from underneath her. With one single sentence, she had been forced to grow up and accept the bitter truth that shadows weren’t the only monsters roaming this planet.

Ann took a deep breath before approaching the gates. Having a unique hair-color and being so easily recognizable was both a curse and a blessing. It didn’t take long until someone opened the gate for her. Walking through the streets that used to feel so familiar was painful. She could hear occasional whispers as she slowly made her way. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this alone while walking through these streets. She ended up standing in the street that she had used to live in. Everything looked a bit older, but somehow still the same. When she turned around, she found the old Sakamoto residence still looking slightly chaotic as ever. She looked down the street and remembered all these times that her and Ryuji played catch when they were young while their parents were sitting and chatting together on the Takamakis porch. Everything had been so easy back then…

She dragged her eyes away from the two houses before walking back to the city-center and to the small market-stands. The person she was looking for was standing behind one of the vegetable-stands, her black hair was swept up into a ponytail and her bangs hung into her eyes.

“This place sure brings up memories...” Ann said as she approached Shiho.

Shihos head snapped around before her eyes went wide and a smile spread on her lips “No way! Ann!” she rushed up to her to crush her into a hug. “I can’t believe you really came!”

“I thought that I finally had to take you up on that visit.” Ann smiled.

Shiho seemed to be unable to stop smiling when she said “Come on then! I know just the place where we can sit down.”

After the black-haired girl was able to quit her shift early, she dragged Ann through the streets but Shiho didn’t need to show Ann the way to their favorite place to sit. At the northern border of the settlement stood an old abandoned clock-tower. The stone-stairs were still intact so they were able to climb up all the way to the roof. As they walked side-by-side, Ann noticed how much better Shiho was doing now with her leg. While she always used to have a small limp, there seemed to be a new spring in her step as she was walking upstairs with ease. As they sat down on the slanted roof, Ann took a deep breath before looking down at the place that she had used to call home. “You look great, Shiho!” she eventually said with a smile.

“You too, Ann!” Shiho smiled back at her. “I’m so happy to see you. But how do you feel coming back here?”

“It feels strange...” Ann admitted. “Before I came to see you, I took a look at my house… There’s just so many things that happened in that street. I feel like at first I couldn’t bare to think of it, but now, the more time passes, the more I am able to think of the good times again before the pain comes back.”. She shook her head “But enough about me! Tell me how you are doing! You look amazing!” she said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

Shiho smiled “I’m doing great. I have been doing a lot of exercises with my leg, that someone showed me and it’s going really well. It was hard in the beginning, because I hadn’t exercised it right for such a long time, but now it’s going really good.”

Ann couldn't stop her eyes from stinging, when she thought about how she had left one of her best friends alone. Shiho had taken her life into her own hands and had become so strong and everything that Ann did was coming for a visit for a measly few hours to congratulate her on her hours and hours of fighting that she had gotten through, first at Kamoshidas and then back at home too. “I’m so proud of you!” a short sob escaped her “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to support you.”

“Ann...” Shihos smile was patient when she gave her a sideways-hug “If you hadn’t freed me from Kamoshidas palace, I would have never even got to try it.” she said while rubbing Anns shoulder “You were so fierce and strong back then, and that gave me the inspiration to work on myself. In a way, I did all of this so I could be more like you, the person I so admired.”

“What are you even saying…?” Ann asked, confused.

“I didn’t go with Kamoshida because you left, I went with him because I didn’t see another option for myself. I felt like I couldn’t be of any use to anyone, so I thought that going with Kamoshida might be the only thing that I could do right. I knew that something was shady about him, but I just didn’t know what else to do… I just felt so useless to my family and to everyone else too.” Shiho said, her gaze hovering over the city. “When you rescued us from Kamoshida.. You risked your own life just to get me and the others out of there. You have lost so much and have been wronged so many times, yet still you went out of your way to rescue a bunch of strangers and me. Your heroism inspired me to try harder and to not just accept my injury without ever trying to make it better.” Shiho smiled “The reason why I’m able to walk like this today is because of you. Because I wanted to proof to you that it was worth saving me.”

“Shiho...” Ann sobbed. She couldn’t believe what her best friend was saying and she didn’t understand it either, but she chose to just say nothing. “It was always worth saving you. In a way, you saved me too when you talked me up in school this one time.” she laughed while still sobbing.

“Someone had to tell you about that horrible drawing of yours...” Shiho giggled.

“I missed this..” Ann whispered, returning Shihos hug.

“Me too. You should come by more often.” Shiho replied before releasing her again “By the way… Word has been around town that a group called the Phantom Thieves eradicated a mafia clan.” Shiho eyed her knowingly “You don’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Ann rolled her eyes, wiping away her last tears. It was no use lying to her. She must have already guessed, if she asked this pointedly.

“I knew that you would join a group of heroes one day.” Shiho giggled. “I know that you dreamed about being this tough villainesse, but I always knew that your kind heart would succeed.”

“I didn’t like the villains because they were evil!” Ann protested “I just liked how committed and passionate they were in all those comics that we used to read.”

“And because of the cool outfits.” Shiho added.

“Yeah… that too...” Ann admitted with a grin.

“You know, I think we have someone new in town who would be your perfect antagonist...” Shiho giggled.

“What?” Ann laughed.

“There’s a girl that recently moved here. She’s part of the scavengers now, but I can tell you that you won’t like her...” Shiho explained.

“Now I really want to meet her...” Ann giggled.

“I suppose you can.” Shiho answered while getting up.

Walking into the base of operations of the settlements scavenging division was a trip down memory lane, only this time it wasn’t Ryuji who walked besides her, but Shiho. The crew had apparently just returned from an expedition, for they were now spreading all their loot on the big table in the middle. It wasn’t hard to figure out who Shiho meant. Among them stood a slim girl with straight brown hair. She wore a fitted shirt and fitted pants.

“Good job Mika-chan. You’re getting better and better.” one of the higher-ups addressed the girl.

“Thank you so much, senpai! I will keep up the hard work.” the girl replied in a sweet voice.

Ann was about to whisper something to Shiho when one of the others recognized her. “Look who’s here! If that isn’t Panther.” the middle-aged man walked up to her to greet her with the groups traditional handshake. “You’ve grown...”

“Hehe.. thanks.” Ann chuckled. “I’m just here for a quick visit though.”

“Oh, you have to meet our newest hope. Hey, Mika, come over here!” he waved the girl over to them. “Mika, this is Takamaki, although you probably heard of her as Panther.” he introduced them.

The girl, who must have been about the same age as Ann and Shiho, gushed “You’re Panther?!” she let out an excited squeal. “I’ve heard so much about you! You’re such an icon!”

The man grinned “Seems you two are hitting it off already. Well, it was nice seeing you again, Panther.” he said before taking his leave.

“It’s great to meet you, Mika.” Ann replied with a smile, unable to not feel incredibly proud about the celebrity-like status that she seemed to hold in her home-town.

“I know it’s a lot, but could you give me some tips? I want to be just like you!” Mika bubbled.

Ann giggled “Awww, that’s so sweet. Sure, what do you want to know?”

“First, how much do you work out outside of regular trainings? Do you lift weights? Strengthen your core? Run? I heard you were able to do the most amazing stunts!” the words came pouring out like a waterfall.

Anns hands still hurt from yesterdays stupid contest, that she had brought on herself. If it wasn’t for Ryuji being so damn strong (and so damn smug about it), she wouldn’t even be able to be here today, but probably at Takemis clinic. Claiming that she stretched had already been an overstatement yesterday. “Um… I didn’t really work out much… I kinda just.. did it and it worked! Most of the time at least.” Ann giggled.

Mika looked a little confused before she fired another salve of questions at her “Okay, what about nutrition? I have changed my diet to strictly vegetables and fruits and occasionally nuts, when they’re available. How did you managed to keep your shape like that?”

Ann nervously rubbed the back of her neck “Well… I just ate what I wanted… Shiho and I would always share something at the sweets-stand and recently my main source of nutrition is curry.”

“Then what about shooting? How did you find your ideal firearm?” Mika almost sounded desperate.

“I just took the first one laying around and learned using it...” Ann answered.

Mikas kind and ecstatic face turned into a frown “Just tell me that you don’t want to share your secrets with me.” she spat. “It doesn’t matter.. I’m gonna be better than you anyway.”

“That’s… that’s not what I’m doing.. I swear that-” Ann tried to explain.

Mikas almost yelled to make sure that everyone heard her “Ann-chan… I only wanted to get your advice because I admired you so much… There’s no need to be so rude.”

Ann gaped at the girl who pulled off a flawless sad face.

“Calm down ladies.. Panther, no need to get jealous of her.” the man who had introduced them to each other told her.

“That’s not what happened!” Ann protested.

“It’s okay, Mika. Maybe having Takamaki as a role-model isn’t something that you would want anyway. Wouldn’t want you to become a traitor, would we?” he said, leading Mika away.

“You are right. Thank you for looking out for me. All of you are sooo nice.” Mikas anger and sadness had vanished again.

Ann fumed when Shiho dragged her out into the streets again. “I told you that you wouldn’t like her...” she said.

“I can’t believe she played me like this!” Ann exclaimed.

“You did behave like an airhead in there though…” Shiho had to admit.

Ann sighed before rubbing her temple “Did I? Ugh, I can’t believe I gave her so much to target!”

“Let’s just forget it. Come on, let’s go eat some sweets. They came up with some new recipes. You’re going to love them.” Shiho tried to cheer her up.

“I can’t go eat sweets now! That would be exactly what she thinks of me!” Ann replied.

“But… you do want sweets…right?” Shiho looked confused.

“Yeah, but she’s right! There are so many people who had to work much harder to get to the point where I am. If I go and eat everything I want now, I’d just be laughing in their faces.” Ann said. “Mika is dead-set on getting better than me. Well I’m not going to give her the satisfaction. I’m going to get stronger too.”

Shiho raised an eyebrow at her “So… definitely no sweets?”

Ann chewed her lip before letting out an annoyed grunt “Fine, but only because I haven’t eaten any in years.”

Half an hour later, the two girls left the settlement to walk towards the nearest tree-line, where Ryuji and Ren were waiting.

“Okay, I only ate half of my usual portion. That counts as commitment, right?” Ann asked.

“I guess..” Shiho said with raised shoulders.

“Good, next is work-out. She asked me so many things! Why would I even go running if I already ran around the entire day?” Ann asked, incredulous.

Shiho cast her a sideways glance “You’re doing it again...”

“Right! Sorry!” Ann quickly exclaimed.

“So, how did it go?” Ren asked as the two girls approached them.

“There’s no time for that! Ryuji, you have to coach me!” Ann interrupted “Mika said that she was strengthening her core… I’m going to start with that!”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow before turning to Shiho “Hey Shiho.”

“Hello Ryuji.” Shiho smiled back.

“So… what’s her problem?” the blonde boy asked, pointing his thumb at Ann.

“She has started a rivalry with the new girl of the scavengers….” Shiho tried to explain.

“Oh, you mean the really slim one? We saw her entering the settlement. She’s hot, but also cute at the same time...” Ryuji grinned.

“Ugh, for real?! Out of all the girls you could find hot?!” Ann screeched while doing a row of push-ups.

“I can’t help it! She looked so…” Ryuji continued, ignorant to the raised eyebrows that both Shiho and Ren threw him.

“Ugh, shut it!” Ann groaned. Having Ryuji find Mika hot drove her more mad than she would have liked. “Will you help me out or what?”

Ryuji sighed “You’re so effing annoying, you know that?”.

Ann cast him a sour look as she climbed back to her feet. She put on the sweetest smile that she could muster. If he liked cute Mika so much, than maybe her techniques would work on him too. “Pleeeease??” she batted her lashes a few times “You’re sooo much stronger and more athletic than me. I’m just asking because I admire you soooo much!”. She kept up her forced fake-smile, even though all of her three friends now threw her irritated looks.

Ryuji looked disgusted when he said “What the eff…? Are you having a stroke?”. When Anns face dropped, he sighed “Stop acting like you’re some school girl… It’s beneath you.”

Ann hissed “Well, apparently that’s the girl you find cute then, because that’s exactly the person that the both sooo cute and hot Mika is.”. She turned around “I’m going for a run.”.

Ryuji was dumbfounded before he let out an annoyed grunt “Wait!” he called out before jogging after her.

Ren and Shiho exchanged a confused look. As if on cue, they both let out a sigh.

Shiho chuckled “So you must be Ryujis Shiho then.”

Ren grinned “Maybe I am...”. He looked after the two blonde heads before turning to Shiho again “Have they always been this obvious?”

Shiho nodded “It really surprises me that they still haven’t figured it out...”

“Hey, what the eff… At least wait up for me when I agree to come running with you.” Ryuji sounded annoyed when he easily managed to catch up with Ann, who was already panting.

“It’s not like you have to!” Ann wanted to make it sound angry, but she only managed to wheeze.

“I know that! But here I am, so what’s the problem?” Ryuji sounded annoyed.

“It’s nothing.” Ann waved it off.

“Bullshit, just spit it out already.” Ryuji argued, still having no problem with his breath.

Ann sneered at him “Maybe I’m just disappointed in your taste for girls.”

Ryuji was so baffled that he forgot to run. When he managed to catch up with her again he said “What?! That’s your problem?”

“Of course it is! I always thought that you actually had some standards but apparently you really are that shallow, if a girl needs to look both and cute and hot from god knows how many miles away for you to lose it.”

“Wait, are you jealous?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

This time it was Anns turn to forget about running “Of… of course I’m not! Why would I be jealous of that poor soul that you decide to leer after?”

Ryuji turned around “Ya know, just because I find someone hot or cute doesn’t automatically mean that I’m in love with them!”

Ann frowned at him. “Then why did you say all these things about Mika?” she asked.

“I dunno… Probably the same reason why I said Eiko was cute… Sometimes I just say things like that.” Ryuji shrugged. “Did it upset you that much back then with Eiko?”

Ann furrowed her brow “You didn’t say Eiko was both hot and cute. That’s something you never called anyone else before...”.

“Just because I don’t say it, doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking it about other people.” Ryuji replied.

They jogged back to Ren and Shiho in silence while Ann was wrecking her brain about Ryujis words. Maybe the reason why it upset her so much was because she only heard how Ryuji called other girls cute and/or hot.

Shiho and Ren were sitting beneath a tree, chatting, when the two blondes returned, Ann gasping for air while Ryuji only worked up a bit of sweat.

“How was your work-out?” Shiho asked.

“I hate it… I don’t ever want to go running again just for the work-out...” Ann gasped.

“You call that running?” Ryuji asked, smirking when Ann jabbed him in the arm. Their “argument” was already forgotten.

When Ann caught her breath again, she looked at the other three “You know what else I have to do to get stronger?” she asked. When everyone shot her questioning looks she clarified “I’m getting far too worked up by words. Mika made everyone think that I was the jerk and I couldn’t even answer anything because I was so baffled. So all of you will be my training partners. Go ahead, call me what you want or try to throw me off-guard so I can train not letting comments get under my skin!” she announced.

“This won’t help...” Ren pointed out.

“Just do it!” Ann said, planting her feet firmly into the ground as if she was waiting for physical attacks.

“You’re an airhead.” Shiho made the first move.

“Yeah, yeah… you already said that. What else?” Ann waved her comment aside.

“That was an annoying answer...” Ren commented.

“Anything else?” Ann smiled before saying “Come on guys, you can do better than that! Ryuji, you’re good at insulting people. Give it all you got!” she pointed at the blonde guy.

Ryuji was hesitant for a few moments before crossing his arms in front of his chest. He figured that now was as good a time as any. If she didn’t feel the same, he could still say that this was just part of the challenge. “I love you.” he stated. He sounded almost challenging. Beside him, he could see Shiho gripping Rens arm in shock.

Ann couldn’t hide her surprise before she realized that he must have only said it to mess with her. She snorted “Yeah, right.”

“How is that “handling” when you just wave everything aside?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

Shiho approached Ann and put a hand on her arm “Ann… this isn’t you.”

“But Mika is so determined! She has to work hard for everything that I was… just able to do.. It shouldn’t be this easy for me, should it? It makes me so mad about myself!” Ann replied.

“What are you even talking about? We trained a lot in our off-time.” Ryuji threw in. “Don’t you remember the time where we were up all night practicing picking locks?”

“I know that I didn’t do nothing, but still. Mika is so fierce and deceitful, she really is...”

Shiho smiled a knowing smile “A villain.”

Anns eyes went wide as she stared at her best friend “Shiho you’re right! That’s why I’m so fascinated by her! She’s so determined to be the best at what she does and she wouldn't stop at anything, to achieve it!”

Shiho had a patient smile on her lips when she said “But Ann… you’re not a villain. You’re kind. You care about others.”

Ren nodded “Would you even be with us if you didn’t care about people?”

Ann pondered their words before saying “I.. guess you’re right… I wouldn’t be able to feel proud of myself if I had to sacrifice other people to get there...”. She looked thoughtful before she snapped her fingers “I got it! I just need the determination of a villain, but in terms of helping people!”

Ren raised an eyebrow “So… like a hero?”

“Huh...” Ann muttered “I guess that makes sense!” A proud grin spread on her face.

“For real?” Ryuji sighed and shook his head.

They spent some more time sitting together and chatting until Ann escorted Shiho back to the settlement. As they walked towards Shihos house, they came across Mika again.

“Hey Mika.” Ann greeted her with a smile.

“Oh, you’re still here? Are you back for round 2?” Mika asked with a mean grin.

“No.” Ann stated “I just wanted to tell you that it was a really evil move of you to let me be the bad guy.” she giggled.

Mika looked irritated “So you’re really just a stupid child… I will wipe your name from the entire town.”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” Ann waved her comments aside like she had practiced “After all… you wiping my name from the memory of this town would mean that you did a far more valuable job to help the people here. And isn’t that what it’s all about, really?” she smiled.

Mika looked at her with squinted eyes.

“By all means, go ahead then. But maybe the reason why people still remember me is because I didn’t push others under the bus in order for me to succeed.”

Mika hissed “You’re such a goody-two-shoes… Being nice to people gets you nowhere.”

Ann smiled “You know… I used to admire villains because they were so headstrong and fierce.. but honestly, you’re just bitter. Maybe I didn’t have to put such a strict regimen on myself to achieve my goals because I had friends that made my training not feel like a work-out.” she extended her hand “So how about this: I leave this place in your hands and I will go and follow my own path.”

Mika glared at her “I don’t need your pity! I’m going to become the most famous scavenger of this settlement on my own power.”

Ann nodded “I know you will.”

Mika let out an unnerved grunt “Urgh, I can’t believe you...”. She stomped away.

Ann and Shiho exchanged a look before they both started laughing. Ann accompanied Shiho to her house before saying good-bye with a long hug.

“Take care, Ann! And come by again, if you have the time.” Shiho smiled.

“Yeah, I will. Although Mika might take it personal, now that I left the town in her hands.” Ann giggled.

“I have a feeling that she would take everything personal...” Shiho replied. “Ann?”

“Hm?”

“Ryuji told you that he loved you today...” Shiho started.

“Yeah… but he was just trying to throw me off….” Ann blocked off. He had just told her yesterday that he didn’t have a crush on anyone. Telling someone you love them is a few steps higher than a mere crush.

Shiho gave her an almost pitying look before turning to her door.

“That Mika sure got your blood boiling, huh?” Ryuji asked on their way home when Ann told him about both their encounters. They had both sat down in the loading area while Ren was up front, driving.

“I was both annoyed and fascinated by her...” Ann said.

“Huh… from what you’re saying she’s a real bitch though...” Ryuji replied and it was the happiest that he could make Ann.

“I always thought that I would like to be this ruthless… But now that I think about it, it sounds pretty lame.” Ann said. “But it got me thinking… Mika said that being nice to people gets you nowhere. I don’t know what happened to her to make her think like that, but maybe if I hadn’t had anyone by my side, I would have become the same...”

Ryuji looked at the trees passing by before saying “Guess I would have been someone entirely different too.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “So, how was it in there? Did everything look the same?”

Ann shrugged “Sort of… But it just doesn’t have the same feeling like it used to...”

“Guess our home is somewhere else now.”

A small smile tugged at Anns lips when she said “Yeah.”. She would always treasure her childhood memories in their home-settlement, but now, there was nothing that could hold her there, not even Shiho. “Hey, that reminds me… Back then, when we practiced lock-picking all night… You never learned to pick locks. Why did you stay at my place the entire time?”

Ann thought that she saw a faint blush on Ryujis cheek when he answered “Yeah.. well… I needed you to learn it for us, so I had to make sure that you do…” he was desperately grasping for straws.

Ann smiled, amused by his misery “You told me you loved me today...”

Ryujis face turned a bright red “You asked for it!”

“I asked you to insult me!” Ann replied with a grin. She looked at the boy who deliberately stared off into the other direction and remembered all the things that they had done together. How the first time that Ryujis hair turned blonde had been a payback-prank from her after he had sheared her a one-sided undercut with a razorblade. While Ryuji had been the talk of the town with his blonde mop of messy hair, Anns new look was waved off as just a new hair-do. While the boy had been furious at first, he soon couldn’t hide that he actually liked it. They had been through so much shit and through so many good times together and she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She smiled and shook her head “Whatever. I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of things from Anns confidant in this one and even Shiho makes a return. Also: We all know that that wasn't a platonic "I love you" ;D. For all of those who don't care about the RyuAnn-stuff: don't worry, I got it out of my system for now. 
> 
> We're at our 30 chapter anniversary (not really a thing, but still, it's a lot of chapters)! As always, I love to hear your thoughts about this giant of a project, that I still enjoy writing so much;)


	31. Making Headlines

They continued living off the radar for another week, in which Makoto and Ren – with clearance from Dr. Takemi – started working out again to regain their strength. Since Ren had the more incapacitating injury, his new workout turned out to be an actual regimen that Ryuji supervised like a drill-sergeant.

“...29….30. Good, quick break and then another set.” Ryuji counted Rens sit-ups while lounging in the garden-chair.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.” Ren let out an exhausted sigh as he laid flat on the lawn. “How about you show me how it’s done and join me?”

“You heard the Doc, she put me in charge of watching over you. Can’t do that when I’m busy with working out myself.” Ryuji grinned.

“How convenient for you.” Ren replied. “Is it just me who gets the rough treatment or does Makoto get her fair share too?”

“You’re really throwing your girlfriend under the bus?” Ryuji grinned “She’s not doing sit-ups, if that’s what you’re asking. She’d beat you at that for sure.”

“I was shot. In the stomach.” Ren replied. He knew that it was just Ryujis way of motivating him and none of this was more than trash-talk.

“And I broke my leg once.” Ryuji replied “That excuse just gets lame at some point.”

“I think there’s a difference between me getting shot a few weeks ago and you breaking a leg a few years back.”

“And I think your break is over. Come on. Another 30.” Ryuji grinned.

“God, why are you enjoying this so much?” Ren grunted as he collected himself again and got into position.

“You want me to get Futaba?”

“Please don’t...” Ren grunted, his ears still ringing when the thought of yesterday and how Futaba had yelled in his ear to cheer him on crossed his mind again.

“Overall, you’ve done 10 more than 2 days ago.” Ryuji said when Ren was done and laying half-dead on the lawn.

“And still I feel like I’m dying.” Ren gasped.

“Again?” Ryuji grinned.

“I haven’t been that aware of it when I really was about to...” Ren replied. All he could remember was that his eyelids had felt so incredibly heavy and that he had just wanted to go to sleep.

The back-door opened to reveal Makoto, Shinya and Morgana, all of them wearing athletic wear.

“How was your run?” Ren asked.

“It was good.” Makoto panted “But I think we lost Ann on the way.”

Morgana shook his head “At least she tried..”

“She’s been home very quick though… She was already laying on the couch when we got back.” Shinya said.

“She’s quick like that...” Ryuji sighed, still slightly amused that her motivation to muscle up had actually carried over for an entire week now.

Morganas eyes landed on Ren, who was still on the ground “You look beaten.”

“Well, while you two took Makoto for a lovely run, I was tormented by the devils advocate himself.” Ren replied.

“Hey, I’m just doing what Dr. Takemi told me to. For both you and Makoto.” Ryuji defended himself.

“I’m sure Queen doesn’t whine as much as you.” Morgana cackled.

Ren sighed “Again, I was shot. In the middle of my body. Why has everyone forgotten this already?”. He slowly got back to his feet with a grunt before walking over to Makoto to give her a quick kiss. By now, it was nothing new to the rest of the group and so far, everyone seemed to mind their own business about it. Ren guessed that it also had to do with how the news have gotten out in the first place.

“We haven’t.” Makoto reassured him with a smile.

Ren cast the other guys a look “Good to know that not everyone has forgotten.”. He wiped the sweat off his brow “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go dip my head into a bucket – or as we call it – showering.”. He turned around to walk to the side of the house, where they had a tub of water ready for washing. Sojiro and him were actually working on a system resembling a shower, but it still lacked a few parts to fully function. Since it was summer anyway, noone really had a problem with having to go outside to wash themselves. Ren let out a sigh as he lowered his entire body into the tub, still fully dressed as to wash his clothes in one go. The tub had been standing in the shade the entire day so far, so the water was almost too cold for his liking. He closed his eyes for a moment when he felt the cold slowly seep into him and take the heat away from his core. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Makoto was standing beside him. He smirked “Care to join? The water is wonderful this time of the day.”

Makoto cast him a doubting look “I believe that this tub was only meant for one person at a time.”

“Beep boop.”

The girl that he now was able to call his girlfriend sighed.

Ren chuckled before diving under to wet his head. He gasped when he resurfaced, his teeth clattering.

“Is that the wonderful water you were talking about?” Makoto smirked.

Ren, his normally frizzy hair now flat and clinging to his head, cast her a look “I might have lied to get you into the tub with me.”

“I see.”

He slowly pushed himself up and let the larger amount of water drip from his clothes and body until he was ready to step out. He took off his shirt and wrung it out before taking the towel that Makoto handed him.

As he was rubbing his hair dry, Makotos eyes landed on his stomach, where apart from slowly regrowing muscles there now also was a scar to commemorate Kaneshiros bank. By now, the skin had fully healed and covered what used to be a deep hole spouting blood to what felt like no end. It was still visible, that the scar was quite fresh, but Dr. Takemi had said that it would only be a matter of time, until it just looked like any other scar that all of them had collected along the way. She carefully put her hand over the healing skin. When Ren stopped what he was doing to look at her, she softly asked “How’s your scar?”

Ren shrugged “It’s okay, I think. Sometimes it feels like my skin is about to tear.”. When Makoto had that worried look on her face, he hung the towel around his neck and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry.” he muttered before planting a kiss on her forehead “Everything’s good. You saw how Takemi had instructed Ryuji to coach me. I’m sure she wouldn’t have done it, if my body wasn’t ready.” he smirked “She strikes me as something of a sadist, but I think she takes her trade rather serious.”. His fingers carefully traced the hardened skin where Kaneshiros bullet had pierced her shoulder. “How about you?”

Makoto put her head against his now freezing cold chest “I’m fine. It doesn’t feel so tense anymore.”

“Good.” Ren muttered before placing his head on top of hers. “I’m free for the rest of the day. What do you say to a nap on the lawn later?”

Makoto smiled against his chest “Are you asking me on a date?”

“Maybe.” Ren gently muttered.

Makoto raised her head to look up at him “Then it’s a date.” she smiled.

Ren smiled back “Then I’ll see you later.”.

He was about to walk away when he noticed Makoto reluctantly dipping her finger into the tub. He turned on his heel when an idea came to his mind. “You know… I’ve been wanting to try something.”. When Makoto looked up only to give him a confused look, he walked up to pick her up onto his arms. “Okay.. so that works.” he noted while Makoto only managed to look flustered, her cheeks blushing. He felt almost bad about what he was about to do. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” he shrugged before slowly lowering her towards the tub.

When Makoto realized that his initially so romantic-seeming intention was in fact a prank, she found herself clinging to his neck. “No, no, nonononono….” she kept repeating as she clung to him like her life depended on it. Sadly, Ren let go of her entirely when she was almost touching the water, causing her to plunge into the cold. It felt like her veins were about to freeze but she at least managed to keep her head above water. When she looked up at Ren, who was now looming over her with a cheeky smirk on his face, all she could do was gape at him.

He chuckled “Sorry… Just couldn’t resist.”. He bent down to give her a kiss.

Makoto was still too shocked to say anything but when his lips touched hers, she clamped one hand down at the back of his neck to then splash a hand of water into his face. She couldn’t help but giggle at his surprised look. “Sorry… just couldn’t resist.” she imitated him.

“I guess I deserved that.” Ren admitted with a grin. “I’ll see you for our date.”

Makoto couldn’t stop smiling, even after he had already turned the corner. She leaned back and looked up at the blue sky. She only ever realized in hindsight how different she was behaving around Ren ever since their first kiss. She was actually teasing him back, she didn’t mind it anymore when he kissed her in front of the others, she didn’t look around nervously to check if the others were looking when he sat down beside her in the evening and casually put his arm around her shoulders. And most of all, she would have never imagined that she would ever engage in somewhat – at least what she would have considered before – childish bantering like she had just done with the water. Nothing of these things was something that she ever imagined herself doing back in Jinbocho and under her sisters stern observation and moral compass. But it was nice. It was funny. And she really felt alive. Because things with Ren were easy. He had liked her at – what she considered – her worst in Jinbocho, when she had threatened and judged them without even caring to really get to know them. He had liked her when she had done nothing but sceptically observe them during her first weeks at LeBlanc. And he had liked her when they were both bleeding out in the back of the truck. And somewhere along the way, she had started to feel the same way. She had been intrigued by him since the first thing he said to her. _No flashy title for me?_ His somewhat careless and cocky behavior had managed to throw her off in an instant. If someone would have told her back then that the black-haired rebel would later on become her boyfriend, she would have laughed at them. Especially since having a boyfriend was nothing that Jinbocho Queen would have ever been able to imagine. And she didn’t even want to. She had been so terribly set on her priorities then, that she had completely forgotten what it felt like to live.

Live.

Makoto took a deep breath before diving under. Living had became something so entirely different ever since she was with the Phantom Thieves. Living was looking at clothes with Ann and drinking tea with Haru while watching the sun go down and the chickens run around the place. Living was sparring with Ryuji and playing Shogi with Hifumi while Futaba watched and came up with equally ridiculous and dangerous sounding names for her moves to match the former Shogi princess. Living was getting challenged by Shinya and Morgana to target-shot competitions that she would sometimes lose and sometimes win. And most of all: Living was leaning against Ren when he put his arm around her in the evening, when all of them sat gathered around the fireplace. She got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel before walking back into the house.

Somewhere off in the woods, a group of four people was walking. While they were laying low, each day a small group would venture out the perimeter and keep an ear to the ground for possible gossip and word on the street. Todays small group consisted of Futaba, Hifumi, Yusuke and Haru, the last two a bit more incognito than the first. Shinya and Morgana, being kids and not the most prominent of the Phantom Thieves, actually managed to get a pretty good impression of the talk of the town by mixing in the day before. More and more people learned about the split of Kaneshiros organization and its leaders death and more and more people seemed to draw the connection to the Phantom Thieves. With Yusuke and Haru sometimes being on smaller missions too, the chance of getting recognized was a bigger risk for the two. Haru was wearing a mint-green dress with short sleeves and white tights combined with her big sun-hat in an attempt to cover everything up that could make her look like Noir. Yusuke, also trying to look less like himself, wore knee-long swim-shorts and a light long sleeved jacket with his hood drawn over his head. Noir and Fox remained off the roads while Futaba and Hifumi ventured towards the streets from time to time to listen in on peoples conversations.

Haru and Yusuke were walking through the woods on their own again when Haru said “Sneaking around in broad daylight and trying to stay undetected feels a little scary...” she tugged at her hat. Even though they would have noticed for sure if someone were following them, with everything that was on the line, she couldn’t help but feel paranoid.

“I just wonder how long we will have to keep this up. As far as we know, Kaneshiros organization is nothing more than a ten-men-operation.” Yusuke pointed out last days news.

“The problem is that we don’t know how many others those 10 people can mobilize to join their cause to avenge Kaneshiro and the men we killed...” Haru sighed. “One of the things that my father taught me was, that the right person could make people believe and do things, that they would have never done otherwise.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I believe that your father can be trusted when it comes to things like these...” Yusuke said.

Haru reluctantly nodded “I believe so too.”. How long had he made her believe that she needed to do his bidding without ever asking questions? It was far too long, no matter the exact number of days.

“How are your nightmares, by the way?” Yusuke asked as he looked up into the trees.

“A bit better. I managed to sleep without dreaming last night. It was nice.” Haru said. While she didn’t hear explosions again and again while falling asleep, she had been haunted by nightmares over the last week, that would rip her awake in the middle of the night, screaming, much to Hifumis and Makotos shock. She always saw bodies with separated limbs in front of her eye. In her dream, she knew that she had caused it, since her grenade launcher was always smoking in her hands. Ren and Morgana taught her a bit about meditation, but sitting still and trying to not think about things just wasn’t Harus style. She had sat still for far too long, she didn’t want to go back, even if it would help her mind. “How about you?”

“I tried to let my emotions out by painting, but so far, nothing came of it but horrid and despicable pits of darkness… One would say that by now, we should start getting over it...”

“I don’t know if it’s that easy...” Haru sighed. She did feel better than the first nights after their war, yet still, the picture of them standing in a pool of blood, first of their enemies and later of their friends, was still burned into her brain.

Both of their heads snapped around when they heard the grass and the leaves bustling somewhere in the distance. It didn’t take long until Futabas carrot-hair appeared among the trees. Both of them hadn’t known how tense they were until their shoulders visibly dropped again.

“Any news on the street?” Yusuke asked while adjusting his hood.

“I guess it’s safe to say that a major starter of the whole “Phantom-Thieves-phenomenon” is coming from Eiko and this place called the Velvet Room?” Futaba reported.

Hifumi nodded “We’ve listened in on a few people and all of them had been to New Shinjuku-”

“Or New New Shinjuku, as they call it.” Futaba threw in.

“How uncreative...” Yusuke said with disgust.

After a short pause to make sure that noone else wanted to interrupt, Hifumi continued “Apparently an impressive tale of a group of heroes that took on an entire crime-ring is being told in many bars.”

“Not exactly beneficial to our plan of laying low and incognito.” Yusuke uttered.

“But it’s sooo awesome!” Futaba jumped up and down in excitement “It’s not like she’s giving everyone exact descriptions of what we look like! They’re just creating a myth over there! A myth that makes us sound super bad-ass.”

Hifumi put a finger on her chin in thought when she said “Maybe having so many different people carry out the same, but not the exact same, story will even lead to the outcome that we wish for. The more people hear from hear-say, the more they will start imagining things on their own until they won’t be able to tell which parts were told to them and which part they imagined by themselves, but they will still continue spreading the story. If Kaneshiros men really would start asking questions, they would get inconclusive information because everyones story would be slightly different.”

Futaba stared at Hifumi “Okay, seriously, that can’t be a Shogi-move.”

A slight smile curled Hifumis lips “I have other interests.”

The four continued strolling through the woods until they eventually ended up on a street again. “I think we’re done with todays route...” Haru said as she looked around. “We got a good glimpse into how our name got around so quick.”

“We have to remind Ren that he initially didn’t want to give our group a name.” Futaba snickered.

“It would have been a long tale to tell if everyone had to remember our individual codenames...” Yusuke nodded.

Futaba sighed “Not because of that, Inari...”

“More and more people get to know about us without ever seeing us in action. While contractors would know our names and what we look like, a lot of people won’t because they only know from New New Shinjuku.” Hifumi said. "I gives us a myterious presence."

Futaba pointed to Hifumi “Exactly.” she shook her head while mumbling “...hard to remember...”

“Umm… maybe it’s also because of this.” Haru pointed to a sheet of paper that’s been posted to a nearby tree. She wasn’t able to identify everything written on it, but the headline almost jumped at her.

“The Phantom Thieves of Hearts?” Futaba read out loud while squinting her eyes.

“What is this?” mumbled Yusuke before walking up to rip the paper down. He cast a confused look when he returned to the girls.

“And?! What is it?” Futaba asked.

“Clearly a horrible choice of fonts.” Yusuke replied.

“Urgh, are you kidding me?” Futaba theatrically pulled her hair “What does it read?”

“While the world is in turmoil and hopes of surviving are dire, a new group of avengers has emerged to save the day.” Haru read.

Yusuke scoffed “How terribly melodramatic. Is this what this Ohya calls journalism?”

“I doubt there’s something like journalism-school.” Futaba replied. “I mean Hey, if she wants to keep the old tradition of news-papers alive then I say Kudos to that.”

“But this is nothing more than a tabloid.” Yusuke sounded disgusted.

“I think that we shouldn’t be picky...” Haru said. “She did say that she would support us, so at least we shouldn’t have to worry about bad press.”

“This clearly is bad press… Look at the quality of the paper.” Yusuke sighed, rubbing the sheet between his fingers to make a point.

Futaba facepalmed. “Weird Inari.” she muttered.

“I heard that.” Yusuke dryly answered.

“Good.”

As they walked back through the forest, they spotted a cowering figure in the grass.

“What now?” Haru asked, her alarms already ringing.

Futaba squinted her eyes “She doesn’t look dangerous at all… A bit hippie, even...”

Both Yusuke and Haru gave the figure a closer look too, before hey both recognized “Isn’t that the fortune teller?”

As they approached the young woman with the tie-dye-dress, she seemed to recognize them in an instant. “The Phantom Thieves.” she said with a small smile.

“Looking for more stones?” Futaba quipped, much to the womans dismay.

“I’m past that, and a big reason for it was all of your help.” she answered.

“We’re happy to be of service.” Haru politely said. “We hope that you won’t have to face troubles like these ever again.”

Chihaya nodded “I intend to repay all of my customers, who I sold the stones to. I might need a bit of time though, but I hope that one day, we will meet again so that I can repay you.”

“Were you able to notice any differences in your fate already?” Haru asked.

The woman nodded with a small smile “The last time I checked with the tarot, my future seemed a lot… brighter.”

“That’s good to hear.” Yusuke said, remembering how her claim, that he was about to paint something big, turned out true in the end too.

“And what about our leader?” Futaba asked.

The woman suddenly turned thoughtful and reluctant when she said “Something has changed… I sensed a lot more happiness, but there’s always something lurking in the shadows in his future… I also saw that something of a rebirth happened, but this can be laid out in many different ways...”

Futaba shrugged “Nah, he really died and was brought back to life again.”

Chihaya stared at the four Phantom Thieves “Oh my...” she stammered. “Was this… my fault again?”

Futaba shook her head “Lady, I think the reason why he died was because of a bullet to the gut. I’d say that the one who pulled the trigger was to blame.”

“Which happened to be the big boss behind those guys that you owed the money to.” Yusuke added.

“So he wouldn’t have gotten hurt, if I hadn’t set you on their trail...” Chihayas voiced sounded even more shocked now.

Futaba waved her comment aside “Don’t flatter yourself. We would have gotten wind of this douchebag sooner or later anyway.”

Yusuke chickled lightly “We do tend to stumble into those situations by accident.”

Chihaya nodded before saying “You have my thanks. Please, feel free to stop by my stand anytime you’d like. I will need a bit more time to come up with your money though.”. She made a small bow before hurrying back towards her village.

After the four returned from their expedition, all of them gathered in the living room, although Ren looked far less than pleased when Futaba woke him and Makoto up from their afternoon-nap in the backyard.

Haru still held Ohyas article in her hands and now read to all of them: “Junya Kaneshiro, the merciless ruler of New Shinjuku has disappeared from sight. It is safe to assume that he died in a fight with our new heroes of justice, who just couldn’t sit still at the thought of this terrible human-being terrorizing innocent people. A secret informant stated, that the occurrence that will go down in history as the “Maid-Riots” would have never been possible without the Phantom Thieves doings. In what way exactly shall remain the secret of the informant. With the shut-down of Madarames gallery, an entire night-life hotspot liberated and a dangerous crime-ring annihilated, the only question to be asked is: What will the Phantom Thieves do next? Based on the Phantom Thieves’ spokesperson, the group will continue to help the weakest and stand up for their own justice. To the question, how people in need could find them, the mysterious man that goes by the name Hermes answered that “The Phantom Thieves will find them.”.”

“Geez, that’s sound scary…” Ann pointed out.

“Like we’re stalking people or something...” Futaba agreed.

Ryuji smirked “You really buttered her up, huh Mishima?”

“I… I feel misquoted...” Mishimas cheeks turned red.

“She certainly wasn’t lying about boosting us...” Ren said.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing at the moment though...” Makoto sounded doubtful.

“Whelp, guess it’s out now. No turning back.” Futaba shrugged before smirking “At least people won’t come looking for us, because everyone will be waiting for us to come for them.”

Makoto sighed “I really hope that you didn’t say it like that...”

“I didn’t, I swear.” Mishima squeaked.

“A bit unprofessional to simply announce that Kaneshiro is assumed dead, if you ask me...” Sojiros arms were crossed as he was leaning in the door-frame, one eye on dinner.

“Everything about this screams unprofessional.” Yusuke said.

“Inari, if this is about the stupid font again...” Futaba threatened.

“I can’t say I disagree. This whole article is more of a childrens adventure-essay than what I would consider professional journalism.” Makoto said.

Yusuke looked surprised by being supported in his believes. “Thank you.” He glared at Futaba “You see? This is not just my opinion.”

Futaba shook her head but bit back another comment.

“I don’t know what to think about her waiting for our next big thing...” Ann sighed.

“She really puts pressure on us there...” Morgana scratched his head.

“Oh come on, we don’t even have to worry about this! I mean, we basically stumbled across Kaneshiro by accident.” Ryuji leaned back in his seat.

“I’d be fine without stumbling over something this big again...” Ren muttered “For all our safety.”

Everyone had to agree.

“Sooo… What’s our next move going to be?” Shinya asked.

Ren shrugged “We’ll think about it once my muscles aren’t sore anymore...” he glared at Ryuji.

“You’ll thank me later, you’ll see.” the blonde boy replied when he caught his best friends stare.

“Ohya definitely put us on the map now. We can’t let the people down.” Morgana heroically announced.

“Just remember that if word comes out about this place, we’ll have to find a new home.” Ren reminded them.

“Not again...” Futaba groaned.

“Exactly. Helping people is nice and all, but I don’t want them standing in front of our gates.” Rens tone didn’t allow for discussions. If they were able to keep their main-base of operations well-hidden, he had no problem with continuing as the Phantom Thieves, but kind-heartedness stopped at their electrocuting gate.

Sojiro nodded “You better listen to him. If you make me move out of here, I’ll kick all of your asses.”

Futaba shot her father a raised eyebrow “Geez, why don’t you marry the place if you love it so much?”

“I wonder what the wedding would look like...” Yusuke trailed off.

“Where would you put the ring though?” Ann wondered.

“Ann, it’s a house. He could put it anywhere.” Ryuji answered like it was the most obvious thing.

“It would be strange to have a house as a step-mother...” Futaba said.

As the others rambled on about marrying houses, Makoto cast Ren a shocked look “How can they talk about something like this for so long? They can’t be serious, right?”

Ren smirked “You’re acting like you haven’t known them for almost one and a half years...”

Makoto sighed “It’s still hard to believe sometimes.”

“I mean… there really is only one important question in this.” Ren said.

“And that would be?” Makoto asked.

“Do you think that Sojiro would let me officiate it?”

“Oh my god...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have another piece of group-shenanigans before things turn for the worse again! I remember that I had actually no idea where I was going with this chapter in the begining, but I just started writing and everything just started to flow into place and this kinda fun chapter came out. Sometimes it's fun, when you don't have to wreck your brain about it and things just come to happen as you go along with it. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! Thank you for all the Hits and Kudos so far!


	32. When Mother Was There

A ray of sunshine woke Futaba up, as it hit her face through their makeshift curtains. She let out an annoyed groan as she tossed around in her bed. Her eyes eventually landed on the small calendar that stood on their shared bedside-table. She gulped when she flipped the day over. It was this time of the year again. The girl drowsily swung her legs out of bed. Anns bed was only a bedside tables width away from hers. The blonde girl was sprawled out in her bed, occasional limbs dangling over the edge and her mouth slightly agape. Futaba yawned as she slowly got out of bed and towards her dresser, all while navigating the mess on the floor. One of the things she liked the most about Ann was that she was as messy as she was. Ann never reprimanded her for not keeping her part of the room clean, because hers was equally cluttered, just not with tech-stuff but clothes and whatever other things that Futaba didn’t even know the names of. Ann was like her cool older sister, that was into boys and cute things and while Futaba had absolutely no clue about fashion and Ann equally had no idea about technology and computers, they still had managed to find some common ground. Futaba actually appreciated it, that of all the other girls, Ann was the most likely to engage in weird conversations while Makoto would normally only stare at her with that “you can’t be serious”-look and Haru with her kind smile and the “whatever you say”-attitude. She would have never thought that she would ever share a room with someone, but she was glad that Ann had been the first to move in with her as somewhat of a tutorial-boss before the hardcore-bosses in form of Makoto and Haru came at her.

Futaba tiptoed out the room. Since the house was mainly quiet still, she assumed that it must be comparatively early to her usual wake-up time. As she walked downstairs, she could hear commotion in the kitchen in the form of pots rattling and plates being moved. She had lived above a tavern, these weren’t new sounds to her. Seeing Sojiro standing at the stove always gave her a warm feeling. How often had she walked downstairs in the original LeBlanc only to find him cooking todays curry. When Sojiro noticed her standing in the door, he smiled.

“You’re up early.” he said.

“Yeah… Don’t know why...” Futaba sighed. She walked to the table and dropped down on a chair. While she did enjoy the things that Haru cooked up for breakfast, she missed having Curry for breakfast. She missed having Curry overall.

“Is something bothering you?” Sojiro asked while stirring something in the big pot.

Futaba appreciated that he did something else while talking to her. It put her under pressure when people stared at her, expecting an immediate answer to complicated questions about her feelings and such. If they did something else while talking to her, she didn’t feel put on the spot and was able to think her answers through. She knew that it hadn’t been easy for Sojiro, the self-declared “Last Gentleman”, to not keep eye-contact and to commit the deadly-sin of not putting your entire attention on your conversation-partner. But he had still learned it for her and she loved him for it. She propped her chin up on her hand before reluctantly saying “It’s the day again...”

Sojiro nodded at the pot “… I know...”

“She would have liked this place...” Futaba said. Wakaba Isshiki had never wanted to be a researcher forever. On particularly stressful days, she liked to paint Futaba a picture of what their life would be like, when all her research was done and all her questions were answered. She always told her about a little house in the country-side, where they would grow their own vegetables and just… live normal. “Has she ever told you about her dream of the country-side?”

Sojiro nodded “To be honest, I could never imagine Wakaba just sitting still in some cottage and just watch her plants grow...”

“Yeah… It was a nice story though...” Futaba replied. “If she were here, she would be really sad about not getting your curry for such along time… It’s like she made that super-special formula for nothing.”

Sojiro chuckled “I know that I would never hear the end of it… I’ve actually set Ann and Ryuji on the task, but it’s not easy.” Sojiro sighed “I would kill for some coffee too...”

“A lot of the others would too… Ann is in zombie-mode for almost an hour if she doesn’t get her daily dose in the morning.” Futaba observed.

“One day, we’ll find some coffee-beans again.” Sojiro said while stirring the pot “It’s better for all of our blood pressure anyway.”

“Maybe that’s why Ryuji doesn’t like it. He looks like someone with chronically high blood pressure… Just look how angry he gets all the time. Can’t be healthy.”

Sojiro chuckled “Maybe just don’t tell it straight to his face.”

Futaba smirked.

“So what are we going to do in honor of this day?” Sojiro softly asked, his gaze still fixed on the pot.

It didn’t take long for Futaba to answer “I wanna go to that clearing near Takemis clinic. I think she would have loved it there.”

Sojiro nodded “Then that’s what we’re going to do.”

They both looked to the door when Haru entered, as always fully dressed. In the beginning, Futaba had believed that Haru was just a show-off who needed to demonstrate that she came from something like wasteland-nobility, but it had only taken a few days to realize that Haru literally couldn’t help it. It’s been drilled into her head, that if you weren’t laying in bed, you didn’t get to wear pajamas. The realization made her sad. The fluffy-haired girl was missing out on so much. Both Makoto and Haru had gotten a role as her mothers. Haru was the kind and caring kind of mother, who always asked everyone, if they wanted second servings and who would put a blanket around Futaba, when it was cold, even if it meant that she herself didn’t get one. If it wouldn’t have been super weird, Futaba could totally imagine Haru going through every room at night to tuck everyone in. Makoto on the other hand was the tough mom. She was serious and the other kind of motherly, that would cast doubting looks over the rim of her book and kept everyone in line as for noone to get hurt. She was what Futaba imagined lions to be. Stern but fair to her children and fierce when it came to protecting them. And a mixture of both of these personalities in one person was what her mother used to be. She had been stern when it came to business and she took her work rather serious, sometimes even to a point where Futaba questioned if Wakaba actually loved her work more than her daughter. But whenever she was extremely tough throughout the day, she would be extremely kind in the evening, when she would treat Futaba to her favorite meals and play games with her until late at night. That’s who Wakaba Isshiki was. But she was removed from this world far too early.

“Good morning, Futaba-chan.” Haru smiled as she walked to the stove to put on a pot of water for the tea. When she noticed the scraps of fruit that Sojiro had left over from cooking breakfast she smiled at the old man “The chickens will have a luxurious breakfast today.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate it as much as everything else they’re being served.” Sojiro chuckled.

“The better we feed them, the better their eggs will taste.” Haru recited before taking the small bowl of scraps.

“Oooh, I wanna come too.” Futaba jumped up. She found it entertaining to watch the chickens hurry around their pen.

As the two girls stood in the garden and tossed scraps to the ecstatic chickens, Futaba noticed how Haru regularly cast her sideways glances before eventually saying “How are you feeling?”.

It was an odd question and Futaba had learned that whenever someone asked you something like this, they already kind-of knew that there was something wrong. “I’m good.” she raised her shoulders “Why do you ask?”

“Well… with your mothers death-day and all...”

“You remembered the exact day?” Futaba was surprised.

“I’m sorry… I hope it wasn’t rude.” Haru quickly apologized.

“It’s just impressive.” Futaba tried to reassure her. So far, none of the others, except for Sojiro of course, had ever remembered the exact day. They all knew that it had happened around this time of the year and they knew for sure when Sojiro and her would set out to a spot that her mother would have enjoyed one certain day of the year, but so far, noone had remembered on their own.

“I see.” Haru said “I was taught to memorize every important date. I haven’t been with you for that long last year around, so I must have just memorized it along with all of your birthdays.”

“You’re strange.” Futaba said.

Haru giggled “You call it strange, but my father called it being a proper lady.”

“Yeah, maybe 100 years ago.” Futaba snorted.

“Maybe.” Haru agreed.

“When did your mom die?” Futaba decided to ask.

“29th of November, just a few days before my birthday.” Haru was unsurprisingly quick to answer. “But it’s been 10 years already.”

“How was she?”

Haru had a fond smile on her face “In hindsight, I think she was the one who kept my father sane. She had such a calming personality and everyone loved to be around and talk to her. Back then, we didn’t have cooks because my mom loved to cook for us. The whole relationship to the houses staff was completely different back then too. My mother was everyones friend and people actually wanted to help and support us, instead of hating their job but doing it anyway for the pay.”

“Hm..” Futaba hummed “I think I have a pretty good image of what she was like.”

“You do?” Haru asked.

“Yup. She sounds exactly like you. Except for the axe, probably.”

Haru giggled “It’s nice of you to say that. I have to agree, I couldn’t imagine my mother wielding an axe.”

“I think noone assumed that your weapon of choice is an axe either.."

“There really weren’t a lot of other things laying around back at home.”

“Your father runs a gun-factory. How is an axe the only weapon laying around there?” Futaba asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, we had a lot of guns.. but only pistols and rifles. As for melee, the only thing I could find was the axe in the backyard.”

“You really are strange. Like all of us.” Futaba smirked before giving her kind mom a hug.

It didn’t happen often that just Sojiro and Futaba went out on their own. First it was because Futaba wouldn’t go out at all and then it was because Sojiro would mostly stay behind and tend to the tavern while Ren would go out and run his errands. But ever since she had overcome her demons shortly after her mothers first death-day, she and Sojiro set out to nearby places to remember her mother. She didn’t have a grave. There hadn’t been a ceremony. So Sojiro and Futaba visited a different place each year. They stayed off the road and walked past the back of Takemis clinic until they reached a forest-clearing that overlooked a rich green meadow. In the distance, Futaba saw a deer prancing around in the tall grass. She plopped down into the grass and closed her eyes, as the wind brushed against her face and messed with her hair. Beside her, Sojiro groaned as he slowly got down too.

“Need help there, old man?” Futaba teased.

“How rude.” Sojiro huffed as he finally managed to sit down with another groan.

“You’re a drama queen.” Futaba sighed before resting her head against his shoulder.

“Says the one who threw a tantrum when she felt that the curtains that I got her by cashing in many favors were a shade too… green.”

“Because they were!”

“They were just green.” Sojiro retorted.

“And I came to like them in the end, didn’t I?” Futaba protested. “Man, how low did we sink? Right now, Ann and I use oversized t-shirts as curtains… And those have holes...”

“I have an entire wall in my room tmade from cupboards.” Sojiro replied. He still loved his room. Mostly because he didn’t have to share it with anyone.

Futaba continued to gaze across the meadows, her head leaned against Sojiros shoulder. “Hey Sojiro… Can you tell me of another adventure you and mom had?”

“Fine.” he chuckled. “Have I told you about that one time where your mother dragged me into an old, shadow-infested tech-store because she needed some special kind of wire?”

Futaba shook her head.

“Well, your mom was on the verge of finishing her computer, you know which one.”

Futaba nodded. She had only heard stories of what an adventure it had been to get all the pieces together for her mother to build the ultimate computer for her researches. She had named every one of her tech-appliances. The name she had given this one: Necronomicon. Futaba wondered what had become of it after her mothers death and Sojiros and her sudden departure.

“So there we were, the place crawling with shadows and your mother just walked through the aisles like this was nothing but a shopping trip.” Sojiro continued. “She wouldn’t even keep her voice down. When I asked, if she was out of her mind, she just smiled and said that she did it for research.”

“So did the shadows attack you?”

Sojiro shook his head, still looking baffled “She only told me afterwards, that she had known beforehand, what kinds of shadows there were in there. She had come up with the theory, that this particular type didn’t react to sounds so she just went in there and tried it out.”

Futaba chuckled “Sounds like her.”

“Sometimes, her brain was just too fast. She was always one step ahead of everyone.” Sojiro shook his head “But I wish she would have told me about her theory in advance. I almost had a heart-attack when she started to loudly explain what exactly she was looking for.”

“I wonder what happened to the Necronomicon...” Futaba said.

“I’m pretty sure that noone had been able to crack it. You know how adamant Wakaba was about passwords.”

“Yeah… It’s a shame though. Maybe her research could have really changed something.”

“The world has truly lost a great researcher with her.” Sojiro admitted with a heavy heart.

“I miss her...”

“Me too, kid.”

Futaba brushed her hair out of her face before casting a sideways glance at Sojiro. He had always been a part of their lives, ever since Futaba was little. There was no denying that Sojiro really, really cared about her mom. And even if he wasn’t her biological father, he always acted like he was. Sojiro had said on various occasions that he was smitten with her mom, and that she had been out of his league. Sometimes she wondered if it had been hard for him to see that she got knocked up by someone else, that her mother then never mentioned again. She wrapped her arms around his arm. She knew that she could be a handful. Her mother would never shy away from telling her, if she was. And still, Sojiro stayed by her side, protecting her as much he could protect a teenage girl that hid in duffle-bags to go on missions with the other kids.

“I don’t even want to imagine what you did back there with Kaneshiro, but I’m sure your mother would have been proud.” the old man suddenly said. “You helped save a lot of people. In the end, that’s exactly what Wakaba wanted too by finding out what caused the Shadow-infestation.”

“I probably wouldn’t have been able to get into Kaneshiros system if mom hadn’t taught me the basics...” Futaba said. “Huh… maybe I should give my computer a name too.”

Sojiro chuckled “And what would that be?”

“Hmm….” Futaba pondered before snapping her fingers “Prometheus.”

“A fine name.” Sojiro agreed.

The sun slowly started to set. “We should make like a hedgehog and roll home.” Futaba said before getting up.

“I have no idea what you are referencing, but I agree.” Sojiro said.

Futaba offered her hand “Need help, old man?” she smirked.

Sojiro furrowed his brow but took her hand nonetheless “I can’t help it… I’m really getting old.” he sighed when he was back on his feet.

Futaba shrugged and started to walk “You’re still a great dad.”

“...what did you just call me?” Sojiro sounded surprised.

Futaba turned around to grin at him “You heard me.”

“Yeah… but could you repeat it again. For my old ears?” he still sounded perplexed. Futaba had never called him Dad except for when it was to keep up a facade.

Futaba smirked “You’re not that old.”. She started skipping ahead.

Back home, a bunch of the Phantom Thieves sat together in the living room.

“How long did Haru say that she would be gone?” Ryuji asked, his stomach rumbling loudly.

“What’s taking Boss and Futaba so long? I’m starving!” Morgana complained.

“You’re being tactless.” Makoto reprimanded.

Ren looked up from his book “We’re becoming spoiled. Maybe you should try taking things into your own hands.”

Yusuke looked up from his sketch-book “Concerning cooking-experience, Ren would be the next in line.”

Ren shot the artist a look “I’m not going to cook for your lazy asses. You go outside and dig up some vegetables on your own. But beware of Harus wrath if you should mess something up.”

Both Ryuji and Morgana gulped.

“I’m huuungry...” Morgana whined.

“Then go find a can in the pantry or something.” Ann sighed.

Ryujis groan was predominated by his rumbling stomach. “Come on, Morgana… Let’s go find something to eat...” he sighed as he pushed himself off the couch.

“Is it wise to leave these two alone in the kitchen?” Yusuke asked.

“Boss would drop dead if he knew what was going on in his hallowed halls.” Ann noted.

“Would you rather have them keep complaining in here?” Ren asked. Noone responded.

In the kitchen, Morgana and Ryuji scoured the pantry for something that would make a stand-alone decent meal.

“Pickles, sweet corn, … These things won’t fill our stomachs...” Morgana sighed.

“Man, I regret that second serving I took yesterday...” Ryuji groaned, searching the upper cupboards. “Haha, there we go.” he grinned when he spotted a can on the top shelf.

“What did you find? Is it Ravioli? Some canned stew?” Morganas mouth was already watering.

“Nope.” Ryuji pointed to the single can “Beans.”

Morganas face dropped “B-...Beans?” he asked, aghast.

“Hey, beans are great. They’re healthy and fill you up.” Ryuji argued.

“But…” Morgana stammered.

“If you don’t want some, the more for me.” Ryuji shrugged. He stood on his tiptoes to get to the can. “Enjoy your sweet corn.”

“Hey! I didn’t say that!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Then turn on the stove.” Ryuji assigned.

Morgana nodded and walked to the stove to light the fire that would heat up the metal plate that laid on top. Ryuji tossed him the can to place onto the plate while he continued to go through the pantry.

“I can’t believe that we’re going back to eating beans… I thought we moved past that.” Morgana sighed as he waited for the can to heat up.

“Relax, just look at is as a snack before the real dinner.” Ryuji said before emerging with another jar “You want some pickles on the side?”

Morgana made a face “Beans and pickles?” the kid shook his head “You’re disgusting...”

“Don’t mock it if ya haven’t tried it.” Ryuji replied.

“I don’t even need to try it to know that pickles and bea-” Morgana didn’t get to finish his sentence when the can beside him exploded, sending beans flying in every direction. Both Ryuji and Morgana stared at the burst can, too perplexed to speak until eventually everyone came rushing from the living room.

“What happened?!” Ann shrieked when she saw beans everywhere. Morgana was wiping what was meant to be their pre-dinner, out of his face.

Ren looked at the scene before asking “Did you forget to take the lid off the can?”

Ryuji needed a few moments to process everything before he turned to Morgana “YOU DIDN’T TAKE THE LID OFF??”

Morgana was defiant “How should I have known? You didn’t tell me to!”

“BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU KNEW!”

“I DIDN’T!”

“EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!”

“YOU GOT A PROBLEM?” Morgana looked like he was ready for a fight.

“HAVE YOU SEEN THE KITCHEN? WE GOT A PROBLEM!”

Their shouting became louder and louder. The bystanders started to cover their ears when eventually Ann started to shout over everyone “BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!”.

Morgana and Ryuji still glared at each other but they seemed like they weren’t about to jump at each others throats any longer.

The others dared to take their hands off their ears again before Ren said “Well… now I hope that Sojiro and Haru still take a while for your own sake.”

Ryuji sighed and nodded before he looked for a rag.

Morgana looked lost when he looked around the room “We’ll never get this done… They could be back any minute...”. He snuffed out the stove-fire before grabbing another rag. He started wiping the kitchen counters.

Ann reluctantly sighed “Fine… I’ll help you.”

Morganas eyes lit up “Lady Ann, you’re too kind.”

She waved his comment off “Yeah, yeah...”

One after the other, the rest of the Phantom Thieves started to lend a reluctant hand too. Ren and Ryuji had Shinya and Morgana sitting on their shoulders to clean the ceiling, when Haru and Mishima set foot in the kitchen.

“What happened here?!” Haru looked shocked, although most of the mess the exploded can had caused was already dealt with.

“You’re better off not knowing...” Ren sighed.

“Are those beans?” Mishima asked with squinted eyes but never received an answer.

Haru looked around the room “Guys.. I think we have a more pressing issue at the moment.”. Her deeply worried tone caused everyone to look at her. The cleaning was forgotten in an instant and Ren and Ryuji set down the two boys.

Mishima reluctantly pulled out a letter “We found this.”. Written on the envelope stood “To: The Phantom Thieves”

“Is it fan-mail?” Shinya asked.

“We don’t know what it says yet… But it was stuck in our gate.”

The mood in the kitchen instantly dropped.

“Wh-… What?” Ann gasped.

Makoto snatched the envelope from Mishimas hands and tore it open. “The Phantom Thieves have built up a reputation as law-bringers and fighters of justice, proving that their cause aligns with ours. We therefore demand that the one named Alibaba be handed over to receive the deserved punishment for murdering one of our own. Should the honorable Phantom Thieves not follow our demands and fail to deliver Alibaba in one week, we shall reveal each of the Phantom Thieves real identity and the location of this hide-out. We are Medjed, we are unseen, we will eliminate evil.”

Everyone exchanged a bothered and scared look until eventually Ryuji broke the silence “What the fuck is this?”

“How did they find us?” Morgana sounded scared.

“They want to reveal our identities...” Yusuke muttered.

“If only one of Kaneshiros men is still out for revenge, he’d be one lucky bastard if that intel came out.” Ryuji said.

“And how are we supposed to know who this Alibaba is?” Shinya asked. “That’s not a real name, right?”

“And still, here we are with another dead-line...” Ann sounded bothered.

“If our whole identities weren’t on the line, we could just pack up and leave, but like this...” Makoto shook her head “They did their homework.”

“Do they really want us to go up against a murderer?” Morgana asked.

Makoto looked at Ren. There was something in his face that she could only describe as something dawning on him. “Ren?… You’ve been quiet, is something on your mind?”

Ren shook his head. This wasn’t good. Sojiro would be far from happy to read this. If Medjed made use of their location, it was serious. “I don’t know yet… But I think we’re in deep shit.”

Everyone grew quiet again. If their leader used language like this, it never meant something good.

After quietly cleaning up the last bit of the kitchen, they sat down together in the living room. While everyone had a million questions, they knew that none of them would be able to answer them. Ren had been cryptic when he said that they needed to wait for Sojiro and Futaba to get back. As the two finally returned from their trip, they came across gloomy and scared faces.

“Geez, what happened?” Futaba asked upon entering.

Ren said nothing and just got up to hand them the letter.

Futaba and Sojiro exchanged a confused look before they both started to read. With every word, their eyes grew wider, Futabas with shock and Sojiros with unease about the thing that he ultimately never wanted anyone else to know. Futaba ripped the paper from his grasp and clutched it with shaking hands.

“M-… murdering…?” her voice quivered.

Sojiro looked unusually pale.

“Do you have any idea what all of this means?” Ryuji asked.

“We need to pack our things and get going.” Sojiro urged.

“So you think that they were bluffing, when they said that they know our identities?” Ann almost sounded hopeful again.

“No, Medjed doesn’t bluff.”

“Then abandoning this place won’t help us.” Makoto spoke up “If they release all of our identities, we could be in serious danger if Kaneshiros men come looking for us.”

“I…. I don’t understand...” the orange-haired girl said with nothing but a whisper.

“Futaba?” Ren carefully asked.

The girl shook her head before yelling “No! That can’t be! There.... There would have been reports!”. As soon as she finished her sentence and noticed Rens horrified look, she clamped a hand over her mouth. 

Sojiro turned around to stare at her. His usually stern face was now lined with something resembling fear “What reports?”.

“Um...” Futaba stammered.

Everyone stared at Boss now, confused by his sudden overreaction about a letter that noone else really understood.

“Futaba, WHAT REPORTS?” hearing the old man yell sent all of them flinching. Normally, Sojiro was more of a growler.

Ren raised his hands as if he was trying to calm down an angry bull. “Sojiro… calm down..” he carefully said. He gulped “We’ll tell you everything, but you should sit down first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, kicking off the Medjed-Arc. This one will be very different from the original, but how can you have an internet-hacktivist-group without the internet? ;) As you might have guessed, we're steering towards another backstory, this time about how Ren got to know Futaba.
> 
> Hope you're excited ;)


	33. Oracle

3 years ago

Ren had been at Sojiros place for about two weeks. The old man was nice enough, although Ren still wouldn’t say that he was particular fond of his newest employee/room-mate. Sojiro would send him out on the town to pick up stuff for him or just have him water the garden while he himself stood in his kitchen, cooking his renowned curry, that he would serve at any time of the day, even for breakfast. It had taken some time to get used to it but after a few days, Ren had realized that curry must have been the best meal to start the day with. It warmed you up and energized you. Carrying boxes all day got a lot easier once you had a decent meal in your stomach. Over the last days, Sojiro had even started to assign him as a waiter in the evening, serving the customers. Needless to say a lot of regulars started to ask questions on why Sojiro suddenly had a teenage boy working in his tavern, that they had never seen before. Sojiro would always wave it aside, saying that he just looked after him for a friend, like Ren was some pet. In the beginning, he had wondered why the old man had taken him in in the first place, if he didn’t even like him that much, but then on the other hand, Sojiro got a working hand for almost free. It must have been hard to run a tavern on his own, and at that age nonetheless. The walls were thin, so Ren noticed with how loud a groan the old man lowered himself to bed every night. And while Ren lived there, thinking that Sojiro might not have been the most social or kind, but was still a sort of okay man, what did start to bother him – or rather creep him out – was the occasional sobbing and whimpering that he would hear some nights from across the hallway, when the tavern was quiet downstairs. At one point, he could have sworn that there was someone whispering something, but it was too quiet to understand. Ren came across this occurrence for a few more times over the next week, until he was finally unsettled enough.

He was sitting at the bar one morning, eating his plate of curry while Sojiro was sorting his beloved coffee-beans by acidity. “Is there someone else living upstairs?”

Sojiro didn’t stop what he was doing when he said “Yes. It’s none of your business though.”

Somehow that didn’t managed to appease him, but rather made him wonder if his dead parents had sent him to live with some kind of psychopath. “Are you holding someone against their will?” he asked, one foot already placed on the floor, ready to dart out the door any second. He almost had a heart-attack when the man spun around to look at him, but his expression was something like real surprise and shock.

“Wh-… Why would you ask that?!” he asked, thrown off-guard.

“Because I have never seen anyone else in this place and I hear crying at night.”

Sojiro sighed “Very well... I guess it’s no use keeping it a secret from you, if you really plan on staying here.”. He wiped his brow with a rag before crossing his arms “The one you hear at night is my daughter.”

When Ren realized that Sojiro was done talking, he furrowed his brow “You locked up your own daughter?” he asked, disbelieving. This must be some messed up Rapunzel-story, but where did he fit in?

“I’m not locking her up.” Sojiro angrily replied. “She’s just… going through some rough times, especially right now.”

“Does she ever come out of her room?” Ren asked, incredulous how he had never seen her over the last weeks.

“She’s… how do I put it… very cautious of strangers.” Sojiro said “Before you came, she would only come out whenever noone was in the tavern.”

“Oh...” Ren said, suddenly feeling bad about being present and therefore scaring Sojiros daugther.

“She just needs some time to get used to your presence. You’ll see, she’ll come out eventually. She’ll behave like a scared deer though, so… just be patient.” Sojiro said.

Ren reluctantly nodded, still not entirely understanding what was going on here.

“Since now you know… you could go upstairs and bring her breakfast.. Maybe introduce yourself.” Sojiro proposed, placing a plate of curry and rice on the counter.

Ren felt incredibly weird as he stood in front of the door, a steaming plate of curry in his hands. He carefully placed it on the ground, as Sojiro had told him to. He carefully knocked on the door without anticipating an answer. “Um… hey...” he started, feeling like a complete idiot. “Sojiro asked me to bring you breakfast.” he scratched his head “So… um… I’m sorry that you can’t come out because I moved here… If you want to, I can give you a heads-up when I’m about to go out the next time… It must get lonely in there...”.

There was an almost inaudible bustling behind the door.

“My name is Ren… by the way.” he said while taking a step back. “I’m gonna head into town in half an hour or so to pick up some stuff… So the coast should be clear for about an hour after that.” he sighed “So… enjoy your meal…. I really hope that you weren’t asleep because that would mean that I just talked to a door...”. He flinched when he heard a muffled snort from the other side of the door.

“I’m awake.” a young-sounding voice said. “I’m Futaba.”

Ren was surprised. Sojiro certainly hadn’t prepared him for this.

“Could you… go now?” she asked. “I’m kinda starving.”

“Oh, right! Sorry.” Ren quickly walked away, perplexed by the odd situation.

Ren continued to bring Futaba her meals like some kind of prison-guard over the next week. She wouldn’t always answer, but whenever Ren asked if she was okay in there, she would either say a curt “Yup” or tap on the door a few times to give a sign of life. He also continued to tell Futaba whenever he headed out to give her the opportunity to go downstairs and maybe socialize with Sojiro a bit. He only got to hear from the old man that his method apparently worked and that Futaba apparently had dared to set foot onto the ground-floor again, giving Sojiro the chance of actually seeing his daughter, even if it was just a short amount of time before she would flee back to her room again. His comparison to a deer wasn’t farfetched with Futaba. After one week, Ren still didn’t even know what the girl looked like.

That was until one busy evening in the tavern. Ren was about to get something from his room, when he heard Futaba knocking on her door from the inside. He stopped with raised eyebrows “You know that it’s normally the other way around, right?” he asked.

There was a pained sigh and something of a distressed growling.

“Is something wrong?”

“Uuuuuuh...”

Ren sighed and was about to keep on walking when suddenly her voice rang through the door a little louder than usual. “I need your help.”

“Okay.”

“… how do I put out a fire?” Futaba asked out of the blue.

“Wait, what?”

“I… might have set fire to some of my papers...”

“Oh my god, Futaba, you have to let me in.”

“NO! No, no no nonono...” Futaba panicked “Just… tell me what I have to do. Walk me through it.”

“How am I supposed to do that? Open the door and let me handle this!”

“Nnnngh...”

“Futaba!” Ren hammered his fist against the door “Fine, then I’ll get Sojiro!”

“NO! Don’t get him… He… can’t know this happened!”

“Then let me in!”

“Hngh….”

Before Ren could say something else, the door flew open to reveal a pitch-dark room with drawn curtains. It was impossible to make out anything but the blazing trash-bucket in the middle of it. Whoever opened the door couldn’t be seen. “Holy shit...” was all he brought out “Do you have a rag or something? A bucket of water maybe?”

“If I had a bucket of water, I wouldn’t have needed to ask you for help, dummy.”

“Fair enough.” Ren muttered.

“I have a canteen though..”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“Then GIVE IT TO ME!”

“Geez, no need to shout.”

Ren was still unable to see where her voice came from, but he could make a vague guess when something heavy hit him in the back. “Ouch.” he pointed out before emptying the entire canister over the bucket. He extinguished the last flames by fanning them out with a clipboard that he grabbed from her desk. When nothing but the last smoke came from the bucket, he looked around the room “Where the hell are you?”

“The closet.”

“Seriously? You’re still not coming out?”

“Hey, not even Sojiro is allowed into my room. You should feel honored.”

Ren rolled his eyes “Is there anything else you need, your majesty?”

“No, you can go.”

Ren grumbled something as he stomped out of the room.

Another few days passed when Ren was ambushed once more on his way to his room, but this time, a small hand shot out of her room to drag him inside. After processing what just happened, he noticed that she had actually opened up the curtains and lit up some lanterns. But what surprised him the most was, that she was standing right in front of him, looking terribly uncomfortable. She was almost two heads shorter than him. Her hair was long and carrot-orange and a big pair of glasses rested on her nose. She wore a graphic t-shirt and baggy pants.

“What’s happening here?” Ren asked, perplexed.

Futaba held up a finger as if to stop him, while she seemed to be feverishly looking for words. A few minutes passed until she finally took a deep breath “I… was thinking...”

Ren raised an eyebrow at her.

Futaba stomped her foot “Can you… turn around or something?”. She waved her hands.

Ren raised his hands and turned his back to her.

“I hate when people stare at me while I’m thinking...” she mumbled and Ren wasn’t sure if she was even talking to him. “I… was thinking about what happened a few days ago.”

“You mean when you set fire to a trash-can and threw a full canteen at my back?”

“Ugh… Yeah.” she sighed “And maybe… just maybe I need to… become more independent.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes, maybe.”

It felt strange to look at a wall while talking with someone who was standing right behind you. “If I may ask… why are you holed up in here anyway?”

“It’s… not like I want to...”

“But Sojiro really doesn’t lock you up in here?”

“Of course not! He would never do that!” Futaba exclaimed before shuffling her feet. “I… don’t know why.. Something just always held me back ever since my Mom died...”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s about a year now… Since she died, I feel so empty. Like I lost my place in the world along with her.”

“Why do you feel that?” Ren carefully asked. Who would have thought that he would become therapist?

“Ever since I can remember, I assisted my Mom with her research. She taught me everything I know but now, with her gone and me and Sojiro living here, my skills are worthless.”

“Just because your previous skills aren’t needed at the moment, doesn’t mean that you can’t acquire new ones, right?”

“Yeah, but… Sojiro runs a tavern! I’ve never been good with people. I got along with my mom and Sojiro. The rest was like… meh. What could I possibly do at a tavern, when I don't like people talking to me?”

“Maybe cook?”

Ren thought he heard Futaba on the verge of complaining before she said “Huh… you think I could do that?”

“I think that Sojiro would have a stroke if you walked down there and told him that you wanted to learn how to make his curry.”

“I do like his curry...”

“Everyone does.”

“But… I’ve never cooked anything before.”

“That’s why you’re learning it.”

“Hngh...”

Ren turned around to look at her “Let’s do it together then.”

Futaba stared at him with wide eyes “What?”

“Let’s learn it together. I don’t know how to do it either.” he shrugged.

“Huh….” Futaba was lost in thought for another minute before she looked at him with squinted eyes “Are you…. A key item?”

“A what?”

“A key item? You know…”

“I really don’t...”

“Like… I needed to you advance my story.” she nodded “Yeah… that must be it. You’re my key item! I need you to learn how to cook curry!”

“I’m pretty sure that you need Sojiro for that.” Ren replied.

“No, I need you to be able to learn from Sojiro! Like… you give me a stat-boost in.. social adaption.”

“I understood nothing of what you just said, but if it makes sense to you…”

Futaba almost looked excited as she was bouncing up and down “Okay… okay… the tavern should be empty now. Let’s go!” she gave herself a pep-talk before running downstairs.

As they both arrived in the tavern, Sojiro was concentrated on arranging glasses and minded his own business. Futaba took a deep breath before almost yelling “Sojiro! I want you to teach me how to make curry!”

The old man almost dropped the glass he was holding when he saw his daughter standing beside Ren. “You want to learn what?” he asked, baffled.

“I want to learn to make your curry. And Ren is going to learn it with me.” Futaba announced.

“O-… of course! We can start tomorrow morning.” Sojiro looked like he was about to pinch himself to check if this was a dream.

“O-Kay!” Futaba said with enthusiasm before heading upstairs again.

Sojiro continued to look like he had just been visited by a ghost. “Did I die?” he suddenly asked.

“Not that I know...” Ren replied.

“She… never wanted to do anything down here...” the old man stuttered. “How did you get her to talk to you?”

Ren could only shrug. He had no idea.

Over the next weeks, Futaba and Ren were taught the art of making Sojiros curry. While she still preferred to stay back in the small kitchen whenever customers came along, she opened up a great deal in front of Ren and also Sojiro. She giggled and talked a lot and instead of hiding in kitchen cabinets, like she had done in the beginning, she had resolved to hiding behind either Ren or Sojiro, whenever the bell by the door chimed. Ren didn’t know her or rather their entire story, but he started to learn that her whole life, Futaba was something of a tech-wizz whose entire purpose in life was working alongside her mother. She had never played with other kids, partly because the place that they had been living in before LeBlanc hadn’t been very kid-friendly. Her entire life, Futaba had been her mothers shadow, either by literally tailing her at science-meetings or just by working from the background. While later on she did start to have more human interaction with other scientists, when they started to work on bigger projects, Sojiro said that those scientists generally were a weird bunch of people, so it hadn’t really helped with Futabas socialization. With her mother gone and her life as an assistant-researcher brought to a sudden end, Futaba found herself in a world that she had no clue about. While Sojiro started his life as a gastronomer, Futaba found herself lost in her new life, that had nothing to do with computers, researches and most of important of all: without her mother. As the world around her suddenly changed into something that she couldn’t follow, Futaba decided to stick to the only place that she felt like she had control over: her own room.

But now, while working together with Ren, she started to blossom. She cooked and at some point she even dared to go outside with Ren to pick up Sojiros deliveries. While walking through Yongen still made her tremble in fear, she managed to push through and after a few repetitions, she got more relaxed each time. Soon, she was even helping out regularly in the evenings, although she would sometimes pull a plastic bag over her head if she needed to walk past customers. While Ren enjoyed living with someone – albeit slightly weirder – around his age, the happiest about Futabas change was Sojiro. He couldn’t look prouder everytime she returned from outside or when she served him her self-made curry to try.

They continued to live like a strange patchwork-family for another month, until Futaba once again dragged Ren into her room. By then, Ren had gotten used to Futabas cluttered and dark room. In her free-time, she tinkered with various electronic stuff that Ren, and during the last month she herself, found at markets in Yongen. Her entire desk was covered in screws and tools with occasional cables and wires. Futaba plopped down onto her office chair and clutched a pillow to her chest. While she still preferred that people didn’t look at her in 1-on-1 conversations, she had gotten a little more confident and comfortable around Ren.

“I need your help.” she started.

“Where’s the fire?” Ren looked around in search for the trash-can.

Futaba shook her head “I want you to escort me on a reconnaissance-mission.”.

“Need something special from Yongen?”

“Not in Yongen...” Futaba carefully said. When Ren gave her nothing but a confused look, she continued “It’s about my mom… Has Sojiro told you how she died?”

Ren shook his head and leaned against the door.

“My mom was a researcher. She wanted to solve the question of why the shadows attacked and where they even came from. She did a lot of field-research and I helped her by studying old maps and looking for possible POIs.” she adjusted herself on the chair, so that she was now squatting on it. “The day she died… She was on another field-research, to a place that we both thought sounded promising, especially since in the beginning a lot of shadows were seen roaming around that place. She set out with two assistants, but only these two came back.” she swallowed “I never got to know, what they found in that place. But I want to.”

“And where can we go and ask?” Ren asked.

“They had a computer-network back at the base, where all the investigation-reports were saved. If we go there and get access to it, we can read what they have found on that day.”

Ren looked doubtful “Why does this sound like we won’t be welcome to check their computers?”

“Well… since Sojiro and I left, we aren’t part of Medjed anymore, so… we’d have to break in.” Futaba nervously chuckled.

“A month ago you wouldn’t even let me into your room to put out a fire and now you want to set out to break in somewhere?” Ren sighed.

“Hey, a lot of this happened because of you being my key item, so it’s technically your fault.” Futaba replied.

“Great...” Ren shook his head “You do know that Sojiro will kick me into another country if he finds out that I took you to your old place to steal from them, right?”

“We won’t be stealing, just looking!” Futaba said.

“Not the biggest issue here...” Ren replied.

“Ugh… You told me that I could learn how to cook and I did. And now… I thought, what if it didn’t need my mother to solve the shadow-mystery? What if I could carry on her work? But to do that, I need to know where she left off, so I can continue on from there!”

“You got this idea because you learned to cook?”

“Hey, I’m making huge progress here! I could actually find my place in the world.”

“You really are.” Ren said, finding himself unable to deny her. “Fine… tell me more.”

“A camping trip?!” Sojiro looked like Futaba had just told him the secret of teaching pigs how to fly.

“Yup! I want to go on a camping trip and Ren said that he would take me.” Futaba announced, no trace of insecurity about her lie.

“We’ll be careful. And we’ll be back in 4 days.” Ren tried to sound equally reassuring.

Like Ren, apparently Sojiro also wasn’t able to deny Futaba, so he grudgingly sent the two on their way. As Ren was about to walk out the door, most of the luggage on his back, Sojiro shot him a stern look. “And you: don’t try anything funny with my daughter, okay?”

Ren raised an eyebrow at the old man before saying “I’ve been living across from her for almost two months now. Why would I need to take her camping when it would also do to just wait for your snoring to shake up the whole house?”. The old man whacked him across the back of the head with an annoyed look on his face. “Geez, you seriously think that I’d hit on her? She’s already like a sister I never needed, but still kinda like now that I have her.” Ren calmed him down.

Sojiro shook his head with a sigh “I know… I’m just… confused by all of this. She never seemed to be into camping before.”

_She still isn’t._ Ren thought.

“Don’t mind me… have fun you two.” Sojiro said with a sigh before releasing Ren.

“What took you so long?” Futaba asked as they started walking.

“Your father wanted to make sure that I won’t flirt with you.”

Futaba furrowed her brow “Ew.”

“Ouch...” Ren said with an annoyed look on his face “I happened to be very popular with a lot of girls back in my hometown.”

“Please don’t tell me that you went the harem route...” Futaba sighed.

“Course not...” Ren replied. “So… how long will we be walking?”

“To the other end of Tokyo and a little further.” Futaba said.

“Are your muscles even capable of doing that much exercise? We’re kinda short on time too, if I want to keep my head and the roof over it.”

“Relax! I’ll just tell him that we lost track of time looking at butterflies or something...” Futaba shrugged.

“You really got the old man wrapped around your finger, huh?” Ren asked.

“Yeah… his children would have totally used him, if he ever had any.”.

Ren cast her a confused look.

“Oh. You didn’t know. Sojiro is not my real father. He is.. but not entirely… you know what I mean.” she gave up eventually.

“So… was Sojiro like… your moms boyfriend?” Ren carefully asked.

“No. He hung out with us ever since I was born and they did behave like an old married couple at times.. but I think it was more platonic.” she sighed.

“So after your mom died, Sojiro took you in?”

“The day my mom died, he grabbed me and we ran. I don’t know why he was in such a hurry, I didn’t even get to pack all my gadgets… When we looked for a place to settle down, he said that I should go by his last name from then on, as to not raise any more questions. He also allowed me to dye my hair.” she grinned.

“You’re telling me that this isn’t your natural hair-color?!” Ren asked with fake surprise.

Futaba stuck out her tongue.

After a hellish march through all of Tokyo, Futaba and Ren finally arrived at a cluster of stacked containers, fenced in by a wire-fence.

“Where exactly do we need to go?” asked Ren as they kneeled behind some bushes and scouted out the place.

“We should be fine with the computer in the inventory-office.” Futaba said. “Back when we lived here, there would be times where there was noone in there at all… Maybe we’re lucky.”

“That doesn’t sound like they’re well-guarded...” Ren noted.

“They’re scientists. Most of the things in there are completely worthless to most of the population. There’s a few guards patrolling the fence, but that’s it.” Futaba explained.

“Then let’s hope that we don’t come across those...” Ren muttered.

“Hope you got your sneaking-boots on.” Futaba grinned.

“I only have the one pair.” Ren replied.

“Oh….”

Ren sighed “Let’s just get this over with...”

They continued to sneak through the bushes until they arrived at the backside of the compound. When the patrolling guards were out of sight, Ren boosted Futaba over the fence before climbing up himself, trying his hardest to make as little a sound as possible. Under Futabas lead, they sneaked towards one of the nearest containers before silently slipping in. A grin spread on Futabas face when the container indeed was empty.

“Jackpot.” she giggled.

“Just do what you have to, who knows when someone comes back.” Ren reprimanded.

Futaba nodded and hurried towards the computer. While normally so careful and insecure about everything she did, she suddenly came alive when in front of a computer. Her fingers were sailing over the keyboard without her even looking and her eyes were glued to the screen. “I got it.” she said after what felt like no time.

“What does it say?” Ren carefully asked, only realizing then, that maybe Futaba shouldn’t know everything written in there. Who knew how much those reports went into the detail about her mothers death. He carefully walked up behind her to peek over her shoulder.

**July 17 th, field-research to coordinates ….**

**Dispatched: Sphinx, Owl, Metis**

**Returned: Owl, Metis**

**Conclusion: No new knowledge acquired.**

“Futaba...” Ren placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We were so sure that that place would give us some answers...” Futaba mumbled.

“I’m sorry...”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. My mom always said that it’s better to check and come back empty-handed than don’t check at all.”

“Hey… we should get out of here.” Ren said.

“Just give me another second. There must be some reports about my moms death too.” she said, her fingers already hovering over the keyboard again.

“No, no, no, that’s a bad idea.” Ren was alarmed “Once you read it, you will never be able to forget it again.”

“But I have to know!” Futaba got defensive, her fingers still working on their own. She stared at the screen “Huh… that’s strange… There’s not report in the general casualty folder… Maybe I have to look somewhere else...”

“Do you?” Ren asked, scared of what would happen to both her and him, if they returned back home with a freshly traumatized Futaba. “I know it’s hard, but your mother is dead. Will it really make that much of a difference if you knew exactly how it happened?”

Futaba paused for a moment and put her hands away from the keyboard. She made a few clicks on the computer to get it back to its original state before she got up. “You’re right.” she admitted with a heavy heart. “I… got what we came for… Let’s go...”

Ren nodded before peeking out the door to check if the air was clean.

Halfway home, they found refuge in an old apartment-building. Bringing the tents had really proven as nothing more than an alibi for Sojiro. They sat around a small electric lantern and ate their dinner in silence.

“Are you okay?” Ren asked eventually, when her silence started to become unsettling.

Futaba nodded and stuffed some more dried fruits into her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut before eventually saying “I.. shouldn’t have listened to you. I should have looked for the reports on her death.”

Ren was taken aback “Why do you think that that would change anything?”

“Because then I would know...” Futaba stalled like she hadn’t in a while with him “I would know if it was my fault..”

Ren couldn’t help but be surprised “Why would you think that it was your fault?”

“Because I was the one who found that place. If I sent her into some trap-riddled maze or into the arms of a horde of shadows… then it would have been my fault because I would have done a bad job.”

“How should you have known, if that place was full of shadows or not, if you haven’t even been there?” Ren asked.

“I don’t know.. Send another drone or something...” Futaba replied.

“If your mother really thought that this place was dangerous, would she have really gone without voicing any concerns?” Ren asked.

Futaba fidgeted with her fingers and focused on the ground before meekly saying “No….”

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder “Hey… I know that this is hard… But I’m sure your mother wouldn’t have wanted you to wreck your head about whether you’re to blame...”

Futaba slowly nodded before looking up to him. “I guess you’re right.” she leaned against his shoulder. “Thanks… You’re pretty cool.”

“Sojiro said no flirting.”

The girl shot back into an upright position, looking at him with a disgusted face “I wasn’t flirting. Especially not with YOU.”

“Again… ouch….” Ren replied.

“You’re… like my brother.” Futaba growled, visibly uncomfortable with all the talking about feelings.

“Likewise.” Ren replied.

“You think I’m your brother?” Futaba raised an eyebrow at him.

Ren sighed “Shut up and go to bed. We have a long walk ahead tomorrow.”. He imagined that little sisters were as annoying.

The sight of LeBlanc was beautiful after another long day of walking. It was still too early for the evening-business, so Futaba had no problem with shoving the door open while yelling at the top of her lungs “Sojiro! I HUNGER!”

The old mans head popped out from the kitchen. “You’re back.” he smiled “How was your trip?”

Futaba shrugged while walking across the tavern and towards the staircase. “It was good. My batteries are drained though. He didn’t hit on me. I’m like a brother to him.”

Before Sojiro could reply something, she had already disappeared upstairs. The old man cast Ren a confused look. Ren could only raise his shoulders.

Sojiro chuckled “I guess you’re officially a member of the family now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're taking a huge step back in time to find out how Ren got Futaba to come out of her shell. Like I already mentioned, this arc will be very different and it's already starting with Futabas past and the reason for her being a shut-in before she meets Ren. Next chapter, we will see how Sojiro will react after getting to know the truth about their camping trip ;)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and I'm happy to hear your theories and what you think;)


	34. Futaba Goes To Court

Sojiro stared at them with a mixture of pure anger, horror and panic. “You went back?” he growled, his stare on Futaba and Ren as he slowly rose from the couch.

“I had to know!” Futaba tried to defend herself.

The old man pointed a finger at Ren “You lied to me and took her there?!” he smacked him across the back of the head so hard that Ren felt his brain hit his skull.

“Sojiro I swear, I didn’t know what we walked in on. I had no clue about Medjed back then.” Ren slurred while clinging to the backrest of a chair to steady his spinning head.

“He’s telling the truth, I just asked him to help me!” Futaba yelled. “What do they want from me? I didn’t kill anyone!”

Makotos eyes went wide “Wait…. Futaba is Alibaba?!”

“You were in a gang?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

Futaba sighed “Medjed isn’t a gang. It’s a collective of scientists and researchers.” she turned to Sojiro again “But why are they after me?!”

“Because they think that you led Wakaba to her death!” Sojiro yelled out of desperation. The whole room fell quiet as everyone stared at Sojiro with horror.

“Wh-….what?” Futabas voice was quivering as she stared at her father “B-… but why?”

Sojiro sighed, unable to speak after his uncontrolled outburst.

“Why… why did you take me away then? I look even more guilty now.. I could have defended myself!” her eyes went wide as they filled with tears “You knew… You knew and you didn’t tell me?” the girls entire body started shaking “Is that the reason why I had to take on your name and why you suddenly allowed me to dye my hair?”

When Sojiro didn’t answer, a sob escaped her “You really think I did it?”

“Futaba, I-” but Sojiros words caught in his throat as his daughter stormed upstairs. Not long after, they heard a door bang.

The Phantom Thieves exchanged uncertain looks. None of them dared to speak.

“Boss…?” Haru eventually asked carefully.

The old man pinched the bridge of his nose. “She should have never found out...” he muttered.

“Do you really think that Futaba had a hand in her own mothers death?” Yusuke asked, aghast.

“Of course I don’t… All of this is much more complicated.” the old man sighed. He looked at Ren “I’m sorry for losing it with you… Could you please make sure that she’s okay?”

Ren nodded before heading upstairs while the others still couldn't help but stare at Sojiro, still surprised and a bit scared by his sudden outbursts.

“I’m sorry kids… I need a minute.” Sojiro muttered before heading to the garden.

Morgana looked at the remaining group “We all agree that we can’t hand Futaba over to Medjed, right?” he asked.

Everyone nodded.

“But what can we do?” Ann asked.

Makoto sighed “The problem at hand is that only one or two of us know the entire story...”

“As long as Sojiro doesn’t come around, we won’t be able to consider our options...” Yusuke said.

“Guys… you don’t really think that Futaba had a hand in her mothers death? That’s insane.” Ryuji said.

“Of course we don’t! But Sojiro said that matters are far more complicated than we think.” Makoto said. She was rather confused by the whole situation that they now found themselves in too.

Upstairs, Ren carefully knocked on Futabas door.

“Go away.” he faintly heard from inside.

Ren sighed before pushing the door open. He could only imagine that Futaba must be the curled-up ball that hid under the blanket on her bed. He carefully sat down on the edge of Anns bed.

“What don’t you get about “Go Away”? It’s not that hard to understand. It just means that you should go anywhere else but here.” Futaba angrily mumbled from underneath her blanket.

“Seriously? You, the one who stalked me and Makoto with night-vision suddenly holds a speech about privacy?” he tried to lighten the mood.

“I’m not in the mood right now...” Futaba replied. “My father just told me that he believes that I killed my mother...”

“Except for he didn’t say that.” Ren replied.

“Why else would he have grabbed me and ran? If he believed that I was innocent, we should have stayed there and helped solve the case...”

“We didn’t really get to listen to his side of the story. Maybe there’s a good reason for why he did what he did.”

“He lied to me for years!” Futaba yelled from underneath her blanket “All this time that I spent hiding in my room, I could have looked for clues! He let me believe that she died in an accident!”

“Maybe it really was an accident?” Ren offered, although he had to admit that he felt fairly confused too and was grasping for straws to get Futaba out of lock-down and back to a conversation with Sojiro, so preferably all of them would actually learn something about this strange situation that they now found themselves in.

Futaba thrashed around until her head emerged from the blanket. “Pull your head out of your ass, Ren! Why would Medjed believe that I murdered her then?!” she glared.

“Language.” Ren found himself saying on auto-pilot. He sighed “Look, you won’t get anywhere if you don’t listen to what Sojiros has to say. I’m sure that there is more to this, than we know right now.”

“How should I know if he’s telling the truth now?” Futaba pouted.

“Then what’s your plan? Are you just going to go back to hiding away in your room?” Ren asked in return.

“No.” Futaba sat up. “I’ll deliver myself to Medjed and help them solve the case. I’ll give them my account and then they’ll have to see that I didn’t kill my mother on purpose. Maybe they'll even tell me what exactly happened to her.”

“Do you really think that you can trust Medjed more than the man who provided for you your entire life?”

Futaba cowered under her blanket again “I… don’t know anymore...”

“Then… let’s at least listen to what Sojiro has to say. We’ll ask him everything that you want to know. If you really think that going with Medjed is the right way after that, then so be it...” he said, secretly praying that Sojiro had a damn good explanation.

Futaba looked conflicted “What if I can’t talk to him anymore?”

Ren reached out and offered her his hand “We’ll do it together.”

Outside, Sojiro was squatting beside the chicken-enclosure.

“ _Where’s Sphinx?”_

“ _She’s dead, sir. The place was filled with traps. Who spotted out the place?”_

“ _Alibaba did.”_

“ _Figures… I heard her fight with Sphinx a few days back. Think the girl finally lost it and sent her mother to her death on purpose?”_

“ _None of the other analysts had that place on the radar before...”_

“ _Shit… I told her that Medjed was no place for a kid wanting to play genius… Now we actually have to hold a trial for some brat...”_

If Sojiro hadn’t eavesdropped on that conversation by accident, things would have looked very different today. He absentmindedly threw some kernels to the chickens.

“Holding them can be very calming.” Harus voice startled him. She didn’t wait for a response when she stepped inside the enclosure to pick out MiLady. Sojiro didn’t get a choice when she gently put the chicken in his hands.

Sojiro couldn’t help but smile as the chicken immediately seemed to settle in, making a calming gurgling sound with its throat.

“Could you tell us, what happened with Medjed?” Haru asked as Makoto stepped outside too.

Sojiro sighed “I think that someone is trying to pin Wakabas death on her.” he swallowed and absentmindedly petted the chicken. “I didn’t believe her, but not long before she went out on that mission, she told me that she felt like something was wrong...”

“ _Sojiro… I feel like something will happen to me.”_

“ _Did you have one of those dreams again?”_

“ _No, it’s my own feeling. I think I’m going to die soon.”_

“ _Geez, Wakaba… that’s a little intense, don’t you think?”_

“ _I mean it, Sojiro. If something happens to me, I want you to take Futaba and get away from here. Leave everything behind. Go open up a tavern, like you always wanted.”_

“ _I thought opening up a tavern was both our dream.”_

“ _It doesn’t matter. Please, keep Futaba safe.”_

Sojiro cleared his throat “When I overheard that her companions shifted the blame on Futaba so quickly, I knew that Wakaba must have been right about and that there really was something strange going on. So I went to her place, had Futaba pack a bag and left as long as the news about her being Wanted hadn’t reached the Check-Out-Office yet.”

“So you think that Futaba was used as a scapegoat to cover up something?” Makoto summarized.

Sojiro nodded “I didn’t want her to know. She was already shocked enough to hear about her mothers death. How was I supposed to break it to a girl in shock that Medjed thought that she was responsible for her own mothers death?” he sighed “She’s been through so much… I thought that the more time would pass, Medjed would eventually lose interest…”

“Do you think that Medjed is aware that Futaba is one of us?” Makoto asked.

“It’s possible. Either that, or they believe that the Phantom Thieves would be able to find her.”

“We didn’t get popular for tracing people though...” Makoto uttered “Besides.. the fact that they are setting a dead-line could indicate that they know that we know her.”

Sojiro shook his head “I can’t believe that she had to find out like this.”

Haru placed a hand on his shoulder “I’m sure we’ll solve this.”

Before Sojiro could reply something, the door opened to reveal Ann “Hey Boss… Futaba is back and she wants you to answer her questions.”

Sojiro sighed before handing back MiLady to Haru. He looked at the two girls before muttering “Now what am I going to say to her?”

Haru gave him an encouraging smile “I think the only thing you can tell her is the truth. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

Makoto nodded before accompanying him back into the living room, where all of a sudden everything has been set for an interrogation. They had moved a table to the middle of the room. On one side, Futaba and Ren sat. On the opposite side stood a single empty chair.

“Is this really necessary?” Makoto asked reluctantly. After already knowing Sojiros side of the story, she felt bad that he now had to go through an interrogation from the girl that he had protected with everything he had.

“Yup.” Futaba said, dead-serious. “The defendant can sit down.”

Sojiro nodded before getting into the chair. He raised an eyebrow at her when Makoto pulled up another chair to sit down at his side.

Futaba stared at her “What are you doing?”

Makoto diplomatically folded her hands on the table before she addressed both of her opposites “I volunteer to act as the defendants attorney. Since the accuser seems to have brought her own legal support, it would only be fair to provide Sakura-san with an equally skilled negotiator.” she couldn’t hide a blush when she caught Rens surprised smirk.

“Always so competitive...” Ren gave her an amused look. Why did she have to be so attractive when she had that challenging and confident look on her face?

“You shouldn’t call me Fist of Justice behind my back without a reason.” Makoto replied with that icy-sweet smile of hers.

Futaba let out a groan before slamming her hands onto the table “This isn’t the Ren&Makoto-show! This is about whether I’m going to ever be able to trust the man that I thought of as a father!”

Sojiro looked aghast “Futaba… you don’t think that you can trust me?”

“You lied to me for years!”

“It wasn’t that easy! I had to make a choice.” Sojiro defended himself.

Futaba crossed her arms in front of her chest and bristled. On the other end of the room, Haru entered from the garden and sat down with the others, who had taken their places on the sofas and the floor, forming an audience.

Ren sighed “Let’s move on.”

Futaba squinted her eyes at Sojiro before she nodded to Ren.

“Why did you run away with Futaba?” he asked.

Sojiro sighed, struggling for where to begin when Makoto took over “He did it because he promised Wakaba to keep her safe.”

“Why did you think that I wasn’t safe at Medjed?” Futaba followed up.

“Because noone ever tried to blame a navigator for an expeditions death.” Sojiro replied “Until that day.”

“How did you know about this conversation?”

“I eavesdropped. It was pure coincidence.”

Ren looked surprised. This really started to look like something bigger. “Why did you believe that taking Futaba away and starting a new life somewhere else was the only way?”

Makoto answered in Sojiros stead again “Because Wakaba has uttered a suspicion before, that she might become the victim of an attack.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Futaba lurched forward in her chair.

“It’s true.” Sojiro said, he looked as if he was in pain. “Wakaba told me that she felt like she was going to die soon. She told me to keep you safe, if anything happened. She asked me to take you away from Medjed.” Sojiro replied.

“But… why would she do that? Why would she send me away from the only place where I could have finished her research?”

Yusuke spoke up from the back “Maybe she suspected Medjeds involvement?”

“Quiet in the peanut gallery, Inari!” Futaba snapped.

“He might have a point though.” Ren pointed out.

“So mom didn’t trust Medjed anymore?” Futaba asked, disbelieving.

“My guess was that she didn’t want you to look further.” Sojiro softly said.

“But why?”

Makotos eyes grew wide as she connected the dots “Because she might have known too much....”

Sojiro reluctantly nodded.

“But… mom was researching shadows. They don’t have a brain...” Futabas voice was shaky.

Ren scratched his head “Maybe there’s people who don’t want the truth about the shadows to come out?”

“And you think that they’re working with Medjed?” Futaba asked Sojiro, only this time she wasn’t interrogating him anymore, but actually asking for his opinion.

The old man shrugged “I don’t know. But the way they shifted the blame on you sounded very rehearsed. They said that they heard you fight with her a few days back before they suggested that you must have “snapped” and sent her to her death on purpose.”

Tears were running down Futabas cheeks again. Someone had really tried to pin her beloved mothers death on her, trying to paint her as an insane little child. She had given everything to her mothers studies and as if killing her hadn’t been enough, they had tried to shift the blame onto her.

Sojiro sighed “I didn’t know how to tell you back then. You were so heartbroken about Wakabas death. I just wanted to see you happy again. So I kept quiet and swore that I would take this to my grave. You shouldn’t have to deal with such things. I wanted to give you a new life, far away from all those schemes, where you would never have to face anyone who accused you of murdering your mother. I’m sorry, that you had to find out like this.”

Futaba returned to straight-up sobbing as she hid her face in her hands. She couldn’t believe that she actually doubted that Sojiro had nothing but the best intentions.

“Futaba...” Sojiro carefully said. He got up and knelt down beside her. When Futaba threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder, he returned the embrace and held her tight.

“I think court is adjourned.” Ren whispered and carefully got up from his chair, motioning everyone else to leave the two Sakuras alone.

“I’m sorry I doubted you...” Futaba sniffled against Sojiros shoulder when everyone else was gone.

Sojiro carefully patted her back “It’s okay. A lot happened today...”

“So you really think that mom was murdered?” Futaba drew back and looked at him.

“I don’t know. But I know now that I shouldn’t have taken it lightly when Wakaba actually started talking about her death.”

Futaba wrapped her arms around herself “How did she know? And why did she never talk to me about any of this?” she had always thought that her mother and her were close. Wouldn’t the fear of being assassinated be something that you would like to share with others?

Sojiro shook his head “Because she didn’t want you to get involved.”

“But...”

“I know that you saw yourself as her partner, but you were always first and foremost Wakabas daughter. She loved you and she wanted you to be save above anything else. No scientific breakthrough and no threat to her life could have changed that.” Sojiro interrupted.

“I still wished that I could have helped her…” Futaba muttered.

“I know.”

“This is messed up… Can’t there be some quest-guidelines on how to approach this?”

Sojiro sighed “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”. Sometimes he felt like his daughter was talking in a foreign language.

Futaba patted his shoulder “It’s okay, Dad.”

While Boss and Oracle had their heart-to-heart in the living room, the rest gathered in the kitchen.

“It feels like we just can’t catch a break...” Haru sighed while absentmindedly wiping the kitchen-counter to get rid of the rest of the beans, that the guys had left in their hurried attempt to wipe away their traces.

“Poor Futaba...” was all that Ann could say.

“We are stumbling from one predicament to the next...” Yusuke noted.

“I don’t even remember when all of this started...” Ryuji scratched his head.

“Yongen got destroyed… remember?” Morgana said.

“We never found out why, have we?” Ryuji recalled.

“With all due respect to Yongen and all the other settlements… I think we have a more pressing issue at hand at the moment.” Makoto reminded everyone.

“Right.” Ren said, incredibly happy to have Makoto back for some serious strategy-talk. It was kind of nice to have someone who would call everyone back to business.

“But… do we really have enough to come up with a plan?” Morgana asked “We know that we can’t hand Futaba to Medjed, but… what do we do then?”

“We are yet again facing another dead-line...” Yusuke said.

“And if Medjed really is as well-informed as Boss and Futaba claim…” Haru began.

“...we probably won’t go far with Futabas battered laptop...” Ren continued.

“His name is Prometheus.” Futaba said as she walked into the kitchen with Sojiro. “And don’t talk shit about my precious baby behind my back. Remember who delivered you all those pics of Makoto.” she said, pointing at Ren, who immediately blushed when Makoto threw him a confused look.

“She… meant camera-footage...” Ren stammered, fully aware of how creepy this sounded in hindsight.

“I guessed.” Makoto replied, still an eyebrow raised at him.

“Relax, it was nothing creepy. I made sure to only save some pics of when you looked especially pretty.” Futaba waved her hand.

Makoto still looked confused when her gaze darted between Futaba and Ren.

“You did… look beautiful...” Ren carefully pointed out.

“How long were you observing me?” Makoto directed at Futaba.

“Only occasionally!” Futaba called out “We had to make sure that you’re okay!”

“I’m starting to sense a pattern here...” Makoto sighed, although she had to admit that them checking up on her in confinement was at least a little less disturbing than the still dream-haunting incident in her room.

“We have gone wildly off-track here… I thought that this wouldn’t happen, now that we have Makoto back in our ranks...” Yusuke uttered.

Ren cleared his throat, thankful for the way out that Yusuke just opened for him “Right. Medjed.”

Sojiro leaned against the kitchen-counter. “Let’s start with what Ren and Futaba found out on their secret mission.”

“All we found was the standard mission-report. It just said that they didn’t find anything useful there.” Futaba said “I wanted to find moms death-report, but there wasn’t one with the rest… And then Ren dragged me away.”

Sojiro scratched his head “Isn’t that alone suspicious already?”

Futaba shrugged “I don’t know much of that department… But I think that mom told me once, that every death of a Medjed-member must be documented.”

“But they didn’t with Wakaba...” Sojiro muttered. “And you say that everything the mission-report said was that nothing was to be found?”

“No new knowledge acquired.” Futaba was able to recite. 

“Something weird about that?” Shinya asked when the boy noticed Sojiros furrowed brow.

“I just remember that one time, when Wakaba and I were out on a mission with another guy, who got injured on the way. We had to write pages about how everything went down.” Sojiro said.

“One should think that it would be the same when someone dies...” Ren said. 

“So they really wanted to cover it all up?” Ann asked.

“But why would they do that? Medjed was always about uncovering the truth! If my mother really died because she knew too much, it would go completely against Medjeds motto!” Futaba pointed out.

“And if Medjed really was behind all of this, why would they want Futaba? They would know that she had nothing to do with it...” Makoto had her finger on her chin again. 

“The only thing I could imagine is because they want to get Futaba out of the way too?” Sojiro offered.

“The two men, who went out on that mission with your mother… did you know them?” Makoto asked Futaba.

“No… I didn't really talk to anyone but mom and Sojiro...”

“Hmm...” Makoto thought aloud “Then could they have really known that much about Futaba? If I recall correctly, these two were the ones who started the rumor about you fighting with your mother...”

“Which we didn’t even do!” Futaba pointed out.

“We’re going nowhere again...” Ryuji sighed.

“It seems like we’ll just have to go back to good old investigating.” Ren said. 

“Huh...” Yusuke chuckled awkwardly “We might actually have to solve a murder this time...”

“I agree. We should find out who really was behind all of this and if Medjed is an ally or a foe, before we approach them.” Haru said.

“But where do we even start?” Morgana asked. 

Ren looked at his little sister “ Good question.  Futaba? Where do you want to start?”

Futaba stared at Ren “Why do you ask me?”

“Because this is about your mother. Where do you think we could get the most answers?” 

“Hngh...” Futaba flinched as she stressed her brain for an answer “I… guess I would start with the place that I sent her to. Maybe they found something there?”

“I agree.” Makoto said. “If we can’t trust the reports that Futaba and Ren found back then, then maybe there really is something important there.” 

“But.. didn’t you say that you had to walk for almost two days from Yongen to Medjed?” Ryuji asked.

“Yup.” Futaba nodded.

“But we’re even farther out now!” Ryuji complained.

Ren smirked “Then you better put on your hiking shoes.”

Ryuji sighed “I only have the one pair.”

The deja-vu wasn’t lost on Ren.

Ren was about to go to bed, when he saw Sojiro sitting in the backyard, having a smoke. He was working on the same pack of cigarettes for about two years now. Given the scarcity, he only gave in to the temptation whenever he felt really stressed. Ren sat down in the plastic chair beside him.

“I’m sorry for losing it back there with ya, son.” he said, his gaze fixed on the night sky. “And thank you, for getting her to listen to me. I worked so hard on never getting in contact with Medjed again. For her sake. I should have known, that she would start asking questions at some point. She’s Wakabas daughter after all. Asking questions runs in her DNA.”

Ren nodded “I understand. Although I think you might have slapped me a concussion...”. When Sojiro didn’t respond to his joke, he continued “We’ll go and fix this. And then we’re going to find out the truth.”

Sojiro nodded. “I know that I can't come with you... My legs are far too old, I'd only slow you down.. And I know that I don’t have to tell you twice to look after her.” he let out a deep sigh “I’m worried about her and what learning the truth will do to her. I know she’s stronger than I think. But life can be cruel some times. And investigating your own mothers murder is just one of those cruel things.”

“We’ll help her find the truth. And we’ll help her handle it.” he smirked “I mean, who better to help someone overcome trauma than a bunch of traumatized people?”

Sojiro sighed before he took another pull on his cigarette. The smoke drifted upwards before completely dissolving as he slowly exhaled again. “I just hope that you’re not going in over your heads.”

Ren patted the older mans arm “Sojiro… When have we NOT been in over our heads?”

"You keep saying this like it's something to be proud of..."

"There's not really anything else to say." Ren looked up at the stars "We just do what we have to do to stay safe. No matter how big the opponent. And there's no way, that they're taking Futaba."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Futaba has it rough in this one, but finally a plan starts to shape and the Thieves will be back to adventuring in no time;)


	35. Tokyo In The Summertime

The abandoned streets of Tokyo were silent except for a group of eight people walking the streets under the scorching heat of a summers midday.

“Remind me again, why we couldn’t take the car for our longest journey yet?” Ryuji groaned while wiping the sweat off his brow.

“A valid question indeed.” Yusuke agreed as he fanned himself some air with his flat hand.

“Because we couldn’t find any gas. If we ran out on our way, we would have had to abandon the car entirely.” Makoto answered

“A valid answer...” Yusuke sighed.

“It would have been, IF WE HADN’T PASSED 3 GAS STATIONS ALREADY!” Futaba yelled in frustration.

“You might have a point. But just because we them, doesn't mean that they would have had any gas...” Ren admitted.

“Better safe than sorry.” Haru said, looking like she was out on a lovely summer stroll with her wide sun-hat.

“It’s sooo hot….” Ann complained, tugging at her shirt to cool herself off.

“How come that you’re complaining the most while also being the least dressed?” Futaba muttered.

Ann stuck out her tongue at the orange-haired girl.

“It get’s so much hotter between all those blocks of cement...” Makoto sighed, already dripping with sweat. Wearing black had its downsides in the summertime.

“No wonder all those Tokyo-apartments needed air-conditioning...” Haru noted.

“Futaba, how long do we have to keep going?” Morgana whined.

“We haven’t even traversed half of the city yet” Ren took over when he looked at the street map in his hand. “I think Futaba and I stayed somewhere around… here.. when we passed through last time. So maybe we can find shelter there once more?”

“3 years is a long time, but I doubt that these huge buildings just disappear out of nowhere...” Morgana sighed.

“God… what did people do here to cool themselves off?” Ann sighed.

“They probably avoided walking outside in the middle of the day.” Ren replied.

“I heard that a lot of those tall buildings have swimming pools on their rooftops.” Haru said.

“Damn that sounds nice...” Ryuji exclaimed.

“I’m pretty sure those are all dried out by now.” Morgana sighed.

“I’d kill for something to cool off...” Ryuji muttered.

“Hey, Ann… do you have any water left?” Makoto asked weakly.

“I drank it already...” she replied.

“We’re going to die...” Futaba sighed.

The group dragged themselves through the heated streets until they found themselves standing in front of a gate that opened up to a huge park.

“Inokashira Park?” Ann read from a gilded plaque.

“This looks nice.” Haru smiled.

“We might be able to catch some shade if we cut through here...” Makoto said. “What does the map say?”

Ren nodded after giving the map a look “Should work.”

The air already felt much cooler as the group walked through the forest. They paused for a moment when they spotted a huge pond in the center of the park.

“It looks so peaceful… It must have been nice to escape the bustling city in here...” Haru noticed.

Ren looked at the others. “Let’s take a break.”

They walked down to the pond and sat down in the tall grass under a tree. Anns already empty water bottle hadn’t been the only one, so they all shared another canteen as they caught their breath and cooled off.

“The water looks so nice.” Ann said as she looked upon the lake. She slowly got up and walked to the waterside.

An evil smirk appeared on Ryujis face as he watched her getting closer and closer to the water.

Makoto sighed when she noticed “Please don’t do anything stupid...”

Ryuji grinned as he got up and walked over to her. “Ya think there’s fish in there?”

Ann gave him a confused look “How should I know?”

Ryuji looked out onto the lake when he shrugged. “I dunno. Why don’t you check?”. Since Ann didn’t react fast enough it was easy to tip her over with a one-handed push to her back. The blonde boy chuckled when the girl resurfaced again, spouting water.

“You asshole!” she shrieked as she pushed her wet hair out of her face and slowly got back to her feet. Standing, the water reached her hips.

Ryujis grin disappeared when he was thrown off-guard by Anns wet shirt clinging to her body. Before he knew it, he was falling towards the lake too when Futaba ran up behind him, yelling “I’ll avenge you, Ann!”.

The blonde boy resurfaced beside Ann, looking equally surprised as she had a few moments before. The girl still looked pissed as she grabbed him by the front of the shirt and started shaking him “You’re such an idiot, you-”

“Cannonball!” Futaba maniacally laughed before taking a few steps back to then run to the edge of the water and jump off, clutching her legs to her chest. On impact, she sent another wave into Anns and Ryujis faces, stopping their argument and leaving them sputtering. The girl laughed at the two blondes.

“I want in on the fun too!” Morgana suddenly called out as he ran towards the lake-bank before reconsidering after the first step into the lake. He did know how to swim but he still had a certain amount of respect, especially for unknown waters.

Ren smirked as he walked up behind him and lifted him up by grabbing him under his arms. “In you go.” he announced before carefully tossing the boy into the water.

Morgana sputtered for air as he found his footing, the water reaching his neck “How dare you!” he glared at Ren.

Futaba pointed at Ren “Hey, if you toss people in, you gotta get in too!”

Ren rolled his eyes as he slowly waded into the lake until he was standing beside Ann and Ryuji. He shrugged “Happy?”

“Full body.” Futaba commanded.

“That’s a bit much...” Ren tried to argue but didn’t stand a chance when the two blondes joined forces to push him over. When the black-haired leader emerged from the water again, whipping his hair out of his face, he smirked at the two “Oh, you’re on. Futaba, come here.”

“Aww, yiss.” she grinned as she waded towards him and climbed onto his shoulders. “Fear our wrath!” she laughed an evil laugh as Ren straightened his back with her sitting on his shoulders, now towering over the two blondes, who didn’t need to be told twice when they followed their opponents.

“No hair-pulling though!” Ann tried to set the rules.

“Oh, we’re past rules.” Ren grinned before charging at Ryuji.

“Bring it.” Ryuji taunted, raising his arms while Ann crossed her feet behind his back to stabilize herself. The brawling started with Morgana watching and judging from the sidelines.

Back in the grass, Haru, Makoto and Yusuke watched their teammates antics with raised eyebrows.

Their back-and-forth went on and on until eventually Futabas and Rens wrath won when Ren created a footing with his hands for Futaba so the girl could throw herself at Ann and therefore take down the whole construct.

“No fair!” Ann complained.

“Yeah, you can’t just throw someone at us!” Ryuji agreed.

“We said no rules.” Ren shrugged while high-fiving with Futaba.

“That’s what You said!” Ann replied, out of breath and shaking her head to get the water out of her ear.

“We won fair and square.” Ren said.

Ann smirked when she caught Makotos look from under the tree “Judging by her look, Makoto must be soo proud of you and not rethink her taste in men right now.” she held Rens gaze while she fist-bumped with Ryuji.

“You’re just being sore losers.” Ren grinned. “Although we should get going again before the others think that we’ve lost it completely.” Ren said when he started to wade back to the edge of the water.

“Admit it, you’re one of us!” Futaba called after him.

“One Of Us, One Of Us!” all four of them kept repeating while Ren rolled his eyes and walked out of the lake.

Makoto gave him a bemused smile as he returned to the rest of the group, dripping wet and victorious.

“Did you see me win?” he asked with a smirk.

“I’m so very proud of you.” Makoto replied.

“That’s what I thought.” he grinned.

“What’s there not to be proud of, when you see your boyfriend win by unfair means.” she said with her sweet-acid-voice.

Ren sighed “Really? You’re on their side?”

“I do value justice.” she smiled.

“We said that there’s no rules.” Ren replied.

“I didn’t hear everyone agreeing to this.”

“AHA!” Ryuji, who had just returned from the lake with the rest, pointed at Ren.

Ren smiled at Makoto “Maybe next time you should be on my team to remind me to stick to the rules.”

Futaba walked up and slightly kicked his shin “What?! You’re ditching me?!”

“Of course not. We could combine forces.” Ren shrugged.

“Hm… wouldn’t that be really unfair though?” Futaba wondered. “Although… Ryuji, do you think you can hold two people on your shoulders too?” she chuckled when she imagined Makoto sitting on Rens shoulders and herself on Makoto “Three tiers….”

“Yo, Morgana, you’d be okay with sitting on Anns shoulders, right?” Ryuji jumped on her train of thought.

“M-… Me?” the kid sputtered at the thought.

“What?! Morgana is way too small to go up against Futaba!” Ann threw in. “What if she just jumps at us again?”.

Ren rolled his eyes “That’s… not what I meant.”

Makoto got back to her feet “You don’t have to worry Futaba, I think I will remain watching from the sidelines with these kinds of games. Pushing my friends around is not really something that I take interest in.”

“Beep boop.” Ren smirked.

Ryuji grinned “Oh that was nothing compared to the time when Ren smacked me in the face.”

Makoto looked aghast “You did what?”

Ren sighed “I came upon some dark times while you were gone.”. He had told Makoto about the time that he vented in the front-yard with Ryuji, but he purposely left out the part where he had actually hit him.

“Besides, it was totally my fault.” Ryuji assured her. It really shouldn't have surprised him that much, that Ren was into Makoto.

Makoto slowly shook her head as she packed up her backpack again along with the others. The group continued to make their way through the park, enjoying the cool breeze that would blow through the trees and cool especially those team-members with wet clothes.

Ann and Ryuji made up the rear guard.

“You really think I don’t notice you staring at my wet shirt every few seconds?” she eventually asked with a sigh.

“What are you talking about? I’m not.” Ryuji quickly deflected, his eyes uncontrollably darting back and forth between the path ahead of them and her.

“You’re even doing it now. You’re such a bad liar.” she gasped, but it sounded almost as if she was amused by it. She plucked the still dripping shirt, only for it to immediately stick back to her body as soon as she let go. “I mean… how would you feel if I stared at you the entire time because your six-pack is starting to show?”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow when it was his turn to smirk. “I dunno, if you don’t do it how’d you know it’s there?”. His grin almost reached his ears when he noticed Anns face turn red.

“I-.. I don’t. Sh-… Shut it!” she shrieked.

Ryuji grinned “Oh really? So… if I were to do… this...” he raised the hem of his wet t-shirt to wipe it across his face.

“Not looking.” Ann replied through almost clenched teeth, unable to control her eyes as they kept darting to her side to catch a small glimpse.

“You’re such a bad liar.” Ryuji imitated her before she gave him a playful shove. “Just admit it. You think I’m hot.”

Ann gasped before she turned to him “You want me to admit what?” she asked while a small smile tugged at her lips.

“You heard me. Let’s just stop beating around the bush and come clean. Right here, right now.” he challenged.

“If I admit to that, you have to admit that you think the same about me.” she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Ryuji weighed his chances for a few moments before he realized, that it must have already been common knowledge how he felt about her and her looks. “Okay, I admit it.” he shrugged.

“HAH! You heard that, guys? Ryuji thinks I’m hot.” Ann called out to the rest of the group, probably in an attempt to embarrass him in front of the others.

Futaba turned around, clamping her hands to her cheeks in an over-acted expression of surprise “WHAT?! NO way! Who could have possibly known THAT?!”

Ryuji chuckled at Anns failed attempt to make fun of him “Seems I’m like an open book already.” he grinned.

“Oh, you both are.” Ren called out from over his shoulder.

Ann crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

“You never really planned on admitting anything to me, huh?” Ryuji smirked.

Ann made a face at him before imitating his voice from earlier “Ya think there’s fish in there?”.

Ryuji chuckled and shook his head “You tried so hard to get me back for that, but everything I got from it was that you’re staring at my body.”

“Ugh….” Ann sighed, defeated.

After more tedious hours of walking through Tokyos streets, they eventually came to a cluster of tall apartment buildings.

“Seems quiet…” Ren said as he looked up.

The others nodded before they walked into the lobby. They ignored the elevators and took the stairs as far as the staircase would take them until eventually being blocked off by debris. As they stood in the landing of the fifth floor, Ren and Ryuji pulled open the elevator doors to find the cabin one floor beneath them.

“Looks like the door two stories up is already open.” Makoto said after casting a look up in the dark elevator-shaft. “I don’t think that we should all climb up the cables though… These things tend to break over time...”

“Can’t we just settle down in one of these apartments down here?” Futaba asked.

“If we make a bit more effort now, the better protected we’ll be. If someone was to search this house by night he would easily have access to this floor.” Ren explained while taking a rope out of his backpack before handing it to Ann, since she was the lightest of the athletes among them. “You’ve been working out, right? Think you can handle it?”

She reluctantly nodded and wrapped the rope around her upper body before carefully testing the elevator cables. She took a deep breath before putting her entire weight on them and slowly started to process upwards. She was about halfway to the desired floor, when the cables started shivering in her hands and a creaking sound came from above her. Her muscles were already burning but her fear took over in that moment.

“What’s going on?” Yusuke asked.

“I think the cables are coming loose...” Ann said while carefully processing upwards. She was almost at the right height to easily get onto the next floor when another loud Bang rang out above her, causing one of the cables to lose all its tension in her hands. She gathered all the remaining strength she had as she lunged off the cables and towards the opening. It turned out that she was just in time, for only seconds later the rest of the cables came crashing down, hitting the top of the cabin.

“ANN!” she heard Ryujis panicked voice echoing through the shaft.

“I’m good… Almost there.” she replied through clenched teeth as she pulled herself up and onto the carpeted floor. After taking a few moments to breathe, she looked for something to anchor the rope to. When she found a loose metal beam that was slightly longer than the elevater-doors width, she tied the rope to it and aligned the beam so the down-pull from the rope would keep it in place. “Heads up.” she called out before tossing the rope down.

One after the other, the rest of the Phantom Thieves climbed up the elevator shaft. When the last one was up, they pulled up the rope again to lock themselves in. Ren was able to pick the lock of an apartment that seemed pretty much untouched. They all settled in in the living room and unpacked their dinner rations for the day.

“I think that the sun hasn’t been good to my skin today...” Yusuke uttered.

“Your color does pay tribute to the sea-animals you love so much.” Futaba noted.

“I’m afraid the weather won’t be much different tomorrow...” Makoto said.

“Maybe we should have traveled by night?” Haru thought out loud.

“I think we would have had a lot more issues with shadows and other shady creatures if we did...” Morgana sighed.

Ren spread the map on the floor in their middle. “We still have to cover all this way from here to… there.”

“So we we’ll need another whole day just for walking?” Morgana whined.

“According to this map, there should be a town next to our final destination. We could try and stay the night there before going in the next day.” Ren said.

“Futaba-chan, what is this place anyway?” Haru asked.

“I don't really know… It only caught my attention because of some drone-footage I saw, where a lot of shadows just wandered around that area. It looked like they were somehow drawn to this place...”

“If this place has a significance to shadows, we might come across some tough new enemies..” Makoto called to mind.

“It’s a good thing that we came prepared with our new weapons then.” Haru smiled with a look at their backpacks, their new weapons strapped to them.

“Hell yeah. I can’t wait to finally give my new bat a swing.” Ryuji grinned.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired...” Futaba got up. “I’m gonna check out that bedroom over there. Good night.” she yawned.

When they heard the door close, Morgana looked at the others “Hey… if this place is so riddled with shadows… couldn’t it be that Futabas mom really died in a shadow-attack?” he quietly asked.

“It’s a possibility but if it really was that simple, wouldn’t Medjed have followed the protocol?” Makoto replied.

“Besides, have you ever heard of shadows being “drawn” anywhere but Mementos?” Ann asked.

“We only saw them wandering around the surface aimlessly so far...” Yusuke agreed.

“Then maybe they feel something special coming from this place?” Haru wondered.

“We’ll only find out if we go see for ourselves.” Ren said. He got up to block the front-door with a chair “I think we should be good without watches for tonight. All of us need the energy for the walk we have ahead of us tomorrow.”

The rest nodded before everyone found themselves a place to sleep, either in one of the other rooms or on the living room floor. Makoto was about to follow Haru when Ren took her wrist and led her into what must have been a kids bedroom.

“Think we can fit?” he asked as he pointed to the twin-bed in the corner.

“This is about the size of your bed at home.” Makoto pointed out.

“I’d like to think that mine is a tad wider.” he smirked.

“If that makes you feel better” she patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Makoto nodded “Yes…” she walked to the bed before turning around to look at him again “Do you think that I’m boring?”

Ren raised an eyebrow before smirking at her “I definitely do not.”. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders “But why do think that?”

“I don’t know...” Makoto stammered. “Maybe because I don’t do… water games in a lake...”

Ren placed a kiss on her forehead “I honestly don’t mind.” he stroked a strand of hair out of her face before saying “Do you think I’m childish?”

“A little, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” Makoto replied “Overall, you seem like you have much more fun than I do. And that made me wonder, if you ever have fun with me...”

Ren chuckled “Are you serious?” he asked and locked his arms around her a little tighter. “Do you have any idea, how much fun I’m having when we get all competitive or when you sabotage our dates by theorizing about the greater evil?”

Makotos eyebrows dropped “You’re not taking this serious...”

“I am.” he said. “I know that I tend to slip into Ann, Ryujis and Futabas behavior sometimes… and I know that that’s not your thing. But honestly, there is nothing that I enjoy more than watching you get crazy analytical. I also enjoy a few other crazy things we do but-” he stopped when he caught Makotos embarrassed look. “What I want to say is, that even when I get childish sometimes, it’s not what I want all of the time. What I want all of the time is you. So if you ever decide to give being stupid with us a try, you’re more than welcome to. But if you don’t, it’s okay too. I’ll like you no matter what.”

“Yeah, but what if-” Makoto tried to object.

“Makoto.” Ren looked deep into her eyes. “I love you.”

Her eyes went wide when she processed what he just told her “I… love you too.” she said, overwhelmed. She cupped his face with her hands and kissed him. She had known it for so long, but she still hadn’t found the courage to say it out loud until this day, in a probably long-dead kids room in the middle of Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of light-heartedness in those dramatic times. I imagine Ryuji, Futaba and Ann are somewhat of the quirkier guys of the group while Yusuke, Haru and Makoto are the people watching with raised eyebrows with Ren switching occassionally. It was about time for ShuMakos first "I love you" too. I swear, I'm almost done with teasing about RyuAnn... This chapter coming out during RyuAnn week was kinda fitting, it was a nice coincidence that I spotted just now. But enough about that, I hope you enjoyed this little quirky bit before we're really getting into investigating in the next chapter;)


	36. United We Investigate

After a second day of walking through the singing streets of Tokyo, the Phantom Thieves were more than relieved to exit the city and enter the country-side again. As they proceeded along cracked streets, Futaba started to feel uneasy. Compared to the place they came from, they came closer and closer to Medjeds base of operations. The point of interest that they were going to was a good two hours march away from the container-city, but still, walking into what could be considered as Medjed-territory while being wanted by them was a bit unsettling to the orange-haired girl. She knew that if push came to shove, the others would never let anything happen to her.

“That village nearby should be somewhere in… this direction.” Ren pointed into the distance after another look at the map.

“See another lake on our way there?” Ryuji groaned while wiping the sweat off his face.

“Nope.”

“How disappointing… I would have actually considered making use of one this time...” Yusuke said, hiding under his thin white jacket.

“We’re almost there. The sun is already starting to go down, so the weather should cool off soon.” Haru tried to motivate the others.

“Let’s just hope that the village still stands… None of us packed camping gear.” Makoto hoped.

“What are we going to do if it’s inhabited?” Yusuke asked.

“We’ll just have to see and improvise. If it looks friendly, maybe they’ll let us stay one night.” Ren answered.

“We should be careful though. It could be possible that the village is affiliated with Medjed. It would be bad if word got to them that a girl matching her description passed through.” Makoto pointed out.

“They haven’t seen me for 4 years! I look completely different now! Not just because of the hair!” Futaba protested.

“I’m sure you do, but we shouldn’t take any chances.” Ann said.

Their worries turned out to be uncalled for, for when they approached the cluster of houses that was protected by a semi-safe-looking fence, they found a ghost-town.

“What happened here?” Ann asked as they walked along the street running through the middle of the village.

“This place must have been inhabited during our times too, since someone built a fence...” Yusuke looked around.

“You don’t think that all the people died here and that the place is haunted now, right?” Futaba asked.

“I’m pretty sure that this place isn’t haunted.” Makoto replied, although she didn’t find the scenery they were standing in very calming either.

“It doesn’t look like this place has been ravaged either… It’s just empty.” Haru observed when she noticed the shut doors and barred windows.

“What if they’ve barricaded themselves in one of the houses and are just waiting to strike?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana pricked his ears “I don’t hear anything…”

Ren raised his voice as he turned to the others “We’re just going to stay for one night. Let’s find a roof over our head.”. If there really was people hiding away in the houses, he felt that they were probably scared and not out for their blood. Maybe he was able to take their fear by telling them, that they weren’t there to hurt them either.

“It would be good to find a place as high as possible, so we can start observing the institute too.” Fuaba tugged at Rens sleeve.

The leader nodded “Good plan.”

The group found a three-story house next to the fence. While some of the walls had already crumpled, due to the weather none of them really complained. They set up their camp for the night by sitting around a lantern and sharing some dinner.

“That big building over there should be the place.” Ren said as he gazed into the distance, where the outlines of a big building could be made out.

“Compared to the distance we have walked the last two days, this is nothing but a small stroll.” Yusuke chuckled.

Haru looked around “It still worries me, that we don’t know what happened to this place…”

“I think we’re in a relatively safe spot… But maybe we should sit guard, just for safety. If everyone takes a shift, we can switch every hour so we should all get enough sleep.” Makoto said.

“Sounds good to me.” Ryuji yawned.

As the rest of the group continued sitting and eating together, Futaba retreated to one of the windows and took her night-vision goggles out of her backpack. She put them on before she looked towards the building in the distance and tried to make out something, but even through the zoom, all she could see was a big building.

“Are you okay, Futaba?” Makoto carefully asked.

Futaba nodded.

“Do you see anything interesting?”

“Not really… Although...” she paused while zooming in some more. “There’s movement all around the facility.” She noticed shapes appearing and disappearing “I think it’s shadows materializing and disappearing again...”

“That’s not how they usually behave...” Makoto put her finger to her chin.

“There’s loads of ‘em too… There must be something special about this place.” Futaba said as she watched the shadows wandering around the big building. “So our hunch was correct after all...” she muttered, more to herself than Makoto. She remembered how excited her mother had been, when Futaba had shown her the drone-footage of the wandering shadows. She had been so convinced that this would be the breakthrough, that she didn’t sleep for days. If Futaba hadn’t known how much Wakabas research had meant to her, she would have probably been mad for leaving her to dine with Sojiro while her mom was doing who-knew-what in her container-office, walking in circles and muttering to herself.

_Mom… what did you find in there?_ she wondered.

“We’ll find out more tomorrow.” Makoto reassured her. “But for now, we should get some rest.”

Futaba reluctantly nodded when she got up and put her night-vision goggles into her backpack.

“I’ll take first watch.” Ann volunteered.

Ren nodded “Okay. Wake one of us up in an hour.”

The rest of the Phantom Thieves each found themselves a spot to get – relatively – comfortable in. It didn’t take long until the old conditioning kicked in, that let them fall asleep instantly as to get as much sleep as possible until it was their part to sit guard.

When it was Makotos turn to watch over the Phantom Thieves three hours later, she couldn’t help but smile when her gaze fell on Ren, who was sleeping beside her. She had never really enjoyed the times where they had to make do with the hard ground as their bed, but now, since she was able to sleep in Rens arms, she felt like she would be fine sleeping no matter where. She was about to run a hand through his hair when her ears picked up movement downstairs. She reached for Rens shoulder and shook it. His eyes shot open instantly, his whole body in alarm-mode. Makoto quickly put her finger to her lips to motion him to stay quiet. Ren sat up and waited for further information.

When Makoto motioned him to listen, he too heard the faint bustling downstairs. He mouthed “Shadows?”. When Makoto nodded, he slowly reached for his backpack.

“You want to take them out?” Makoto whispered.

Ren nodded “If they’re already one floor beneath us, they won’t stop there. They must have already sensed our presence...” he whispered back.

Makoto reached for her new combat gloves and put them on while Ren was already standing at the door leading down, taking a peek.

They both carefully proceeded downstairs to find a single shadow wandering around. It was walking on four legs and had the body of a big dog but instead of one head, it had two and where normally a furry tail would have been on any normal one-headed dog, this one had something resembling a rats tail.

Makoto and Ren exchanged a look and a nod before Ren silently charged at the unaware shadow, vaulting over it while slashing at the back of its neck with his dagger. The beast roared in anger at the surprise-attack but was soon silenced when Makoto punch-stabbed him with her new gloves before finishing the fight with two well-placed kicks to both heads. With a small hiss, the shadow evaporated into mist.

“Nice moves...” Ren smirked at her.

"Thank you. Likewise." Makoto gave him a satisfied grin.

Rens demeanor changed when his focus landed on the hole in the wall, that opened up towards the center of the town. He walked to the edge without saying a word. Shadows were roaming the streets, aimlessly walking around like drunk people who forgot where their house was.

“We should get back.” Makoto reached for his hand. “We won’t stand a chance against all of them. We should think about fortifying our hide-out and remaining undetected.”

Ren nodded before he followed Makoto upstairs again. While they had tried to eliminate their intruder as silently as possible, moving a chest of drawers to block the door downstairs woke up more than one of the others.

“What happened?” Morgana asked.

“I think we found out why there’s no people living here anymore...” Ren grunted as he pushed the furniture into place.

“Holy shit...” Ryuji silently exclaimed when he too noticed the commotion of shadows in the streets.

“You think all of them have been killed by shadows?” Ann sounded scared.

“Either that, or they decided to abandon this place to go live somewhere safer...” Ren replied.

“Let’s just hope that it was the second.” Haru shuddered.

“One of them had found its way downstairs. Ren and I took care of it.” Makoto said while pulling off her gloves.

“Ever the power-couple.” Futaba yawned.

“I don’t think they heard us, so we should be safe up here.” Ren said before patting the piece of furniture “And this should keep us and them at a safe distance too.”

The others nodded before Ryuji spoke up “I think Makotos hour should be over by now. I’ll take over.”

Makoto nodded her thanks as she got down beside Ren. She didn’t feel comfortable at all with Shadows roaming around right below them, but she was taken by sleep nonetheless when Ren put his arm around her.

When the morning came, the shadows started to disperse and disappear again. It was an unexplained phenomenon, why these creatures preferred walking the nights. A popular theory was that they had adapted like animals, waiting to come out at times where there weren’t so many people around who would shoot at them. And while the shadows in front of their door disappeared with the first rays of light, the steady number of shadows wandering around the research facility didn’t decrease.

After a quick breakfast, the Phantom Thieves packed their stuff and began the last walk towards the big complex. As they approached the research facility, a few lonely shadows stood in their way but they had nothing against the combined forces of the Phantom Thieves. Like every other building in the world, the building in front of them was run-down and had seen many better days.

Futaba looked up at the huge letters that hung over the entrance. “United Future...” she read out loud.

“If this really is an important place for shadows, then this is wildly unfitting.” Yusuke said.

Futaba chuckled “Maybe shadows are actually supernatural beings who are trying to make the world a better place?”

“By killing all humans?” Ann shrieked.

“I’ve read many times that humankind was considered as the most destructive species.” Makoto said.

“Huh...” Yusuke muttered “That does put things in perspective.”

“Whoah….” Futaba looked at the others with wide eyes “Are we the bad guys?”

Ren cleared his throat “This has taken a weird turn… Let’s just get inside and look around.”

With combined efforts, the group managed to force open the main entrance. They found themselves in an abandoned lobby. Nature had started to take back what was hers, as the spacious lobby was partly overgrown with grass and other plants. As they looked around, they noted three hallways leading away from the lobby.

Ren looked at the others “We should split up to cover as much of this place as possible.”

The others nodded.

“Everyone has their earpiece?” Makoto checked before saying “Then Ann and Ryuji, you take the hallway to the left, Ren, Futaba and I will take the middle and Yusuke, Haru and Morgana take the one to the right.”

“Be careful. Judging from how many shadows we encountered out there, we can assume that there are a lot in here too.” Ren reminded everyone before smirking “Time to give our new weapons a try, I’d say.”

Makoto sighed “Please take this serious. If any of you are in trouble, don’t hesitate to call for backup.”

The teams nodded before they took off into their assigned direction.

Ann and Ryujis assigned hallway was lined with conference- and presentation rooms.

“This place is creepy...” Ann sighed after searching the third conference room. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for! I doubt that we’ll just come across a huge binder that says “Huge Monsters - Big Secret!”.”

“Man, things would be easy...” Ryuji said.

Ann turned a brochure over in her hand “Just what was this United Future? All of those pamphlets laying around keep talking about a bright and safe future.”

“Bright and safe my ass...” Ryuji muttered.

“It also seems that they were pretty involved with politics back then…” Ann said.

“And pretty hungry for donations...” Ryuji added as he held up an info-sheet about how donations would help the organization make a better future.

“Ugh… I don’t get any of this...” Ann sighed and put the pamphlet into her bag to show it to the others later.

“Our countries stability and a safe future for our children depends on you.” Ryuji read aloud.

“Geez...” Ann said.

“Did anyone really buy that crap back then? I mean… it couldn’t have been much different from council elections back home, right? They all promised the world and in the end, they did none of it.” Ryuji said.

“I guess that’s how politics work…” Ann shrugged.

“Then politics and politicians suck.”

“This has been the third room where we found the same flyers and stuff… I guess that this wouldn’t be the place where they kept their secrets...” the blonde girl sighed.

“Let’s just get this hallway done and see where it leads us. I saw a break-room a little farther down.. maybe there’s some food in there.” Ryuji shrugged.

“Yeah… let’s hope that the others find something more useful than all those empty promises...” she replied as she pushed open the door into the hallway.

They continued farther inside when a gurgling sound started to emerge from the ground behind them.

Ryuji grinned as he drew the bat from his backpack “Took ‘em long enough.”

Ann rolled her eyes as she unfastened the whip at her side “No fair, I can’t light up my whip in here...”

Ryuji didn’t get a chance to answer when the two shadows dragged their feet towards them at a surprising speed. They were small and looked like a hybrid between a root, a plant and an elf, but they were able to pack an impressive punch, as Ryuji had to admit before he gave them a quick death with two hits from his electrocuting bat.

“Haha, I love this thing!” he exclaimed with a wide grin as the two shadows dissolved in front of their eyes. He turned his head to look at Ann, only to find her staring down the hallway in the direction they had come from. What now floated towards them was a huge stingray, gliding through the air silently as if it was water. It didn’t charge at them but instead kept its distance. With a flap of his fin, he sent forth ice-darts.

“Watch out!” Ann called out before making a side-step to avoid being hit.

Ryujis reaction followed short after, yet he wasn’t fast enough and instead was grazed by one of the stingrays missiles. He found Anns eyes across the hallway when he noticed the shadow preparing for what he guessed would be its next round of ice-darts as it dangerously began to float in circles. “Retreat?” he asked.

When Ann didn’t see any other chance, she nodded. Both blondes started running down the hallway, going in zig zags as to avoid the ice-darts that were now thrown after them in huge amounts and without breaks.

“In there!” Ryuji called out and pushed open a door on the right-hand side.

Ann followed him before they pushed the door shut with united forces, leaving them in complete darkness. Ann sighed when she turned on her flashlight and looked around the room. They were in a broom-closet. “What now? We’re trapped...”

“Maybe it will leave…” Ryuji sighed and relaxed a bit while still leaning against the door. “You okay?”

Ann nodded “Yeah. But what about you? You were hit, right?” she turned to look at him.

Ryuji shrugged “Just a graze...” he said when he looked at the small rip in his shirt. He carefully lifted it to check on the red patch of skin on his rib-cage “Didn’t even draw blood.”

Ann still looked worried when she took a step towards him and placed a hand on the now freezing-cold part of his skin.

It felt both agonizing and beautiful. “It’s really-” he started before he lost his train of thought when he noticed Anns turquoise eyes looking up at him. There was worry in them, but also something soft and warm. He got goosebumps, but not from the ice-attack that just hit him, but because of Anns thumb, that gently traced along his rib now. Their eyes were locked onto each other the whole time, and judging from her look, she was equally surprised by the situation that they now found themselves in. Ryuji gulped when their faces inched closer, as if an invisible force pulled them towards each other. When their lips met in the middle, it felt like both of them went into freeze-mode. They continued standing in what soon became weird, their lips touching and Anns hand resting on Ryujis bare ribs but none of them seemed to know how to get out of the dilemma again.

Lucky for them, their friends didn’t disappoint when they came calling for them from the hallway. Both blondes took a confused step away from each other, their cheeks flushed and unable to hold eye-contact.

Ryuji made the first move when he pulled the door open, calling out to the others “We’re here!” while making sure that his shirt was back in place. If anyone would make insinuations about them hiding out in a broom-closet, he was sure that we would sink into the ground from embarrassment after what just happened.

“What happened?” Makoto asked when she spotted the two blondes walking out of what looked like a broom-closet, their faces red as if they had just ran a marathon.

“We ran into a big one and had to take cover.” Ryuji answered.

“Yeah… it was shooting ice darts...” Ann backed him up, still looking anywhere else but at him.

Ren looked around to check if said shadow was still around before saying “I think it’s gone… Did you find anything interesting?”

Ann shook her head “No… just some pamphlets and flyers, but they look like advertisements...”

“Yeah.” Ryuji awkwardly added before quickly catching up “What about you?”

“We might have found something, but then we heard the noises coming from your hallway so we came to check up on you first.” Makoto said.

The two blondes nodded before following their leaders into the main lobby again, where the rest was already waiting.

“Anything useful on your end?” Ren asked the third party.

“I’m afraid not. We went through a lot of offices, but no paper-work that might give us a lead about this place...” Yusuke reported.

“Okay, then let’s go back to where Makoto, Futaba and I left off. We might have found the way behind this whole squeaky-clean facade.” Ren said, pointing to the middle hallway.

The Phantom Thieves continued deeper into the huge building, walking past what looked like more offices and meeting rooms. While the first part of the hallway looked like it used to be more inviting for possible visitors, the further they got, the more industrial and less inviting it looked.

They came to an abrupt halt when Ren motioned them to stop. He pointed at a huge metal door at the end of a corridor. In front of it stood a shadow twice their size. It had a human body with blue skin and white clothes. His head was topped with small horns but where there should have been a face, there was nothing but a hole. In his hand, he held what looked like the blade of a wind engine. So far, it seemed like it hadn’t noticed the intruders.

“Let me guess, we have to go past it?” Ryuji asked.

“That door looks intriguing...” Futaba said.

“He looks tough...” Morgana said.

A small giggle escaped Haru when she loosened her axe from her backpack “Allow me.” she said with a sweet smile as she made her way to the front. Her eyes met Ryujis, who caught her drift with a grin. He took a hand-grenade from his belt and placed it on the floor in front of her before retreating with a mock-bow. Haru took the stance of a golfer, swinging her axe before lobbing the grenade towards the shadow with the flat side of the axe. “Fore!”

The rest of the thieves followed the arc of the grenade with their heads before covering their ears when it exploded in the shadows non-existent face. Their opponent let out a scream that sent a gust of wind their way.

“Let’s go!” Morgana called out, readying a projectile into his slingshot and firing it.

The shadow readied its weapon, quickly spinning it in front of his body to create an even stronger gust of wind that even managed to change the direction of Morganas projectile, sending it flying towards its shooter.

“Hit the deck!” Futaba called out before pulling Morgana down to evade his own shot.

“I think ranged attacks are out of the question for now...” Ren called out over the bellowing gust of wind that tugged at them.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” Ann asked “We can’t go around and strike from the back!” she added after looking around the corridor with no doors.

“It has to stop at some point, right?” Haru asked while shielding her eyes.

“Isn’t there something that we can throw that’s heavy enough and won’t come flying back at our faces?!” Futaba yelled.

“I got it!” Morgana replied before getting up and hurrying back and into one of the offices only to return with a metal push-cart made for transporting files.

“Good idea, Mona-chan!” Haru understood and got behind the cart with him, continuing to gain momentum and speed as they pushed it towards the shadow. Perplexed by the unconventional attack, the shadow started to slow down the wind-blade. Morgana and Haru took the opportunity to jump onto the rolling cart, the girl ready with her axe and Morgana with a loaded slingshot. Morgana shot at the shadows knee, causing it to buckle down on one side and therefore giving an opening for Haru to jump off the cart and slashing the arm holding their opponents weapon.

When the shadow reared in pain, Ryuji came running up, his bat drawn, and used the cart as a step-stone to launch himself up and over the shadows head before bringing his sizzling bat down on it.

Yusuke landed the finisher by firing three bullets into its chest, causing the shadow to disappear with a bone-chilling groan.

“Let’s hope that this thing guarded something special...” Futaba said as she got back to her feet.

Haru walked up to the big door and pushed down the handle “Locked...” she sighed.

“We should split up and go look for a key.” Makoto announced and looked into the group.

“I’ll go with Yusuke!” Ann nervously called out. She left no room for objections when she grabbed the artists arm and dragged the confused-looking boy off.

“Weird...” Futaba looked at the others with a raised eyebrow.

Makoto sighed as she looked at the rest “I guess everyone picks their partner for themselves..”

The rest split into duos to look through the various upper-tier offices that they had passed.

“How are you holding up Futaba?” Makoto asked as they were sifting through their assigned office. “Do you have any idea what could have piqued your mothers interest in here?”

“Hm… I’m pretty sure that she wasn’t interested in all this propaganda that we found earlier, so I guess she would have gone further inside.. I always thought that this was a research facility but so far, all we found is an office-building...” Futaba replied.

“We haven’t found any traces of someone else being here...”

“My mom didn’t leave traces. She believed in keeping places as intact as possible.” Futaba replied while going through a bunch of drawers.

“Has she been on expeditions a lot?” Makoto asked.

“Basically all the time. Whenever she was back, she either wrote reports about the places she’s been to or was looking for new places to go.”

“Weren’t you lonely?”

“A bit… But I helped her from back home. And I had Sojiro with me, whenever he didn’t join my mom..”

“What exactly was Boss’ job at Medjed?”

“I don’t really know… sometimes he assisted my mom with things and expeditions, sometimes he helped around the base… He cooked for the camp most of the times. That’s when my mom came up with that formula for the perfect curry for him.” Futaba replied.

“Futaba… were Sojiro and your mother...”

Futaba turned around to look at Makoto with a surprised look “I wouldn’t have taken you for the one interested in gossip.”

“I’m not...” Makoto stammered “I was just wondering...”

Futaba chuckled at the girls embarrassment before saying “I think Sojiro liked my mom but I don’t think that she liked him the same way. I never really talked to her about it, but my guess is that Sojiro got friendzoned...” she sighed “He's still like a father to me and he still acted like a husband to my mom… not in a creepy way though. He just… always was with us and supported us.”

Makoto smiled “That sounds really nice.”

“Yeah… sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if we actually got to live in that cottage like she had always dreamed… But then… I would have never met all of you.” she adjusted her glasses “If my mom was alive, Sojiro might have never opened up LeBlanc in Yongen and maybe we would have never met each other!” her eyes went wide “That’s so scary… I.. kinda don’t want to live without any of you...”

Makoto smiled at the girl “There’s no way of knowing that we would have never met though..”

“In a way… all of us would have never ended up together, if our lives had been less shitty...” Futaba continued her train-of-thought.

“I wouldn’t put it that way...” Makoto squirmed.

“You wouldn’t? Sojiro and I ended up in Yongen because of some conspiracy with my mom, as it turns out, Ren is with us because his parents died, Morgana was roaming around in his own, Ryuji and Ann got exiled, Yusuke was almost starving, you were oppressed by some scumbag principal after your sister left you behind, Haru was about to be sold-off to some rich asshole, Mishima, Eiko and Shinya were slaves in Kaneshiros palace, Hifumi was also sold by her own mother...”

“Okay, okay… maybe you’re right.” Makoto interrupted her.

“Ugh… we’ve been through every drawer now! There’s nothing here!” Futaba groaned.

“Let’s hope that one of those other offices has a key...” Makoto sighed.

“I think Ann and I just kissed...” Ryuji dropped the bomb on his best friend as soon as the door closed behind them.

“You think?” Ren raised an eyebrow at him “I’m not an expert, but is there really that much of a gray area?” he asked while going through a filing cabinet.

“How should I know?! All I know is that it was weird.” Ryuji groaned as he walked around in circles.

“Kissing is kind of a weird concept...” Ren smirked.

“You’re not helping at all.” Ryuji sighed.

“Neither are you.” Ren pointed out as he slid the second drawer shut.

Ryuji sighed as he started going through a closet on the other hand of the room, but it was obvious that he was concentrated on the task at all.

“And how weird could it have been, anyway? It’s you and Ann we’re talking about.” Ren replied after a brief silence when he realized that he was interested in how this came to happen.

“Super weird.” Ryuji replied.

“You did it on front of the shadow or what?”

“Of course not!” Ryuji shrieked in an Ann-like manner before calming down again “I just… thought that you were supposed to feel something and stuff...”

Ren smirked “You’re a softy after all.”

Ryuji pointed a finger at Ren “You told me that it’s a done deal with me and her. Then why was it so awkward just now?”

Ren raised his shoulders “Maybe because it was in a broom-closet while you were hiding from a shadow?”

“Isn’t that like… a perfect moment for something passionate?” Ryuji threw back.

Ren sighed “Maybe you two have been delaying the inevitable for so long that your bodies just did what they wanted and surprised your brains?”

“Is that a thing?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. Thinking back to Anns confused look while her thumb was sliding along his rib, Rens theory didn’t sound so strange anymore.

“Has anything changed in the way that you feel about her?” Ren continued asking while going through the desks.

“No… but is it really meant to happen when you feel nothing while kissing?” Ryuji looked miserable.

“Maybe you’ll just have to try again.” Ren shrugged, much to Ryujis dismay.

“And how am I supposed to do that? Just walk up to here and say “Yo, last time sucked, I want a retry.”?” he asked with raised arms.

“Maybe cut the “Yo”.” Ren replied.

“You’re having so much fun right now, aren’t you?” Ryuji sneered at him before groaning “This place is empty… let’s go check if the others were luckier.”

“If anyone’s allowed to say that, it’s me. You’ve gone through one closet and I’m not even sure you did that with enough attention.” Ren replied. “But yeah.. let’s get out of here, Casanova.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Yusuke asked while sifting through a stack of binders.

“Uhuh?” Ann carefully replied while going through some cabinets.

“Why me?”

Ann turned around to look at the lanky artist and acted like she didn’t know what he meant.

Yusuke elaborated “Why did you choose to go with me, instead of Ryuji, like you usually do?”

Ann sighed “Because I hoped that you wouldn’t ask...”

Yusuke threw her a confused and hurt look “I’m not blind, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”

Ann shook her head “I’m not.. I just thought that of all the others, you’d be the least interested in why I wouldn’t go with Ryuji for once...”

“How rude.”

Ann sighed “I’m sorry… I just realized how mean that sounded...”. This day was getting worse and worse.

“So what did happen between Ryuji and you?” he eventually asked.

Ann closed the drawer she was just looking through “We kissed….”

Yusuke threw her a confused look “And wouldn’t that normally be-”

Ann interrupted with a harsh voice “I know that I should normally want to be around him then, Yusuke!” she calmed herself down again “Sorry… I’m so sorry…. It was just… not how I imagined it to be...” she leaned against a cabinet.

“Life often is not how we imagine it to be.” Yusuke tried to cheer her up.

“I know but it wasn’t so much of the place and time but how it felt… It was so… weird.” she said before explaining to him how they awkwardly stood there with their lips literally just touching.

“Isn’t that the basic construct of a kiss though?” Yusuke asked with serious interest.

“Duh...” Ann sighed, disbelieving that she was analyzing her first kiss with Yusuke “but I always thought that you were supposed to feel something… I’ve been waiting so long for this moment and now it happened and it… sucked.”

“From what you were explaining, there was no sucking involved though.”

“OH MY GOD, Yusuke!” Ann shrieked in embarrassment. How could someone be so savage without even knowing?

“So now that your first kiss was not how you thought it would go, how do you intend to go about the next?” he continued, undisturbed.

“I don’t know if I even want to try it again! I always thought that what we had was just going to happen at some point… but maybe we aren’t… supposed to...” Anns voice dropped.

“Do you really believe that?” Yusuke asked.

Ann just shrugged.

“Because I don’t.”

She looked up at him in surprise.

“I believe that things will sort themselves out.”

The way he said it made Ann nod.

“And now help me look under the desk.”

“Didn’t you already check there?” Ann asked.

“I want to check on the bottom of it. Some people that my mother and I used to stay with stashed all their belongings under a closet.

Ann raised an eyebrow before helping Yusuke roll over the desk. To her surprise, there actually was a key taped to the bottom of the block of drawers on the right side. “You’re a genius.” she said with wide eyes.

Yusuke chuckled when he ripped off the key. “I think we found what we came for.”

The two were the last to catch up with the others. Judging from the still-closed door, none of them had found what Yusuke and Ann had.

“Looking for this?” Ann giggled when she pointed to the key that Yusuke held up.

Ren smiled “Good job, you guys. Let’s just hope that it’s the right one.”

Yusuke put the key into the lock. A satisfying sound rang out when the key turned and slid back the bolt. When Yusuke pushed the door open, they found themselves looking at a huge server room.

Futabas eyes went wide when she walked in and looked around at the equipment. _Did you see this, mom?!_ A weird feeling spread in her heart, as if her mother was with her in this very room, looking over her shoulder like she used to when she had taught her how to type super-fast. 

“There’s no way we can see what’s on those servers, right?” Makoto asked as she looked around the room. 

“I doubt it… No way can we come up with enough electricity to bring them back to life...” Ren replied.

“Then this place is useless?” Ryuji sighed.

“As far as we saw, this institution only ran on computers… There was hardly anything useful in print...” Yusuke said.

“Should we go over all those offices again?” Haru proposed.

“To think we walked two days for this...” Ann shook her head.

While the rest of the team argued about going back or investigating other places, Futaba walked around the room.  _You’ve been in here, haven’t you? Did you manage to access those servers?_ It’s been years since her mother looked at this place, who knew what still worked back then. Something about this room just made her know, that she was walking on the same path that her mother had all those years ago. It was more of an intuition than anything else, that made Futaba bend down to an air-vent to remove the loose grating. She reached inside without thinking twice  and pulled out a thick notebook. On the leather cover was a sketch of a cartoonish sphinx mid-flight with a magnifying glass in one paw. She remembered how she had spent hours on drawing that, before she eventually gifted it to her mom on her birthday.  _Mom…. What happened here?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru golfing a grenade has been on my mind since the Kaneshiro-arc but it felt a bit too comedical for the rather serious war-setting. I'm happy I was finally able to throw it in now. I'd imagine it to be a fun Showtime-Attack for Haru and Ryuji;). The combined attack with Morgana and her was supposed to be a tribute to their Showtime-Attack, but since Morgana can't turn into a car in this universe, I had to improvise with the cart. 
> 
> We now have a name for the possible "Evil Corporation" of this story, but we'll have to find out what Wakaba discovered in the next chapter, when we get a closer look into that notebook.
> 
> And then let's see how Ryujis and Anns weird first kiss will be resolved;)


	37. The Last Flight Of The Sphinx

The Phantom Thieves had gathered around Futaba, who was still sitting on the floor and staring at her mothers notebook.

“Futaba...” Ren carefully said before squatting down beside her.

“That’s my moms..” she quietly said before looking up at him “Why was this in an air-vent?”

“Guys….” Harus voice quivered when she pointed her flashlight to one of the server-towers near the air-vent.

None of them dared to say it out loud when they saw the dark red splatters on the hardware. Futaba didn’t need to hear it from the others to know, that she was probably looking at her mothers murder-scene. She felt surprisingly calm. Maybe it was her mothers notebook in her hands, that calmed her down.

“Futaba… we should get out of here..” Makoto said in her concerned motherly voice.

Beside her, Ren nodded “Yeah. Let’s go home… You don’t have to stay here.”. The exact thing that he had so feared happened. If Sojiro knew that they took Futaba to the place that her mother was executed, he would probably whack the brain out of Rens skull for real this time.

Futaba shook her head, her hands clutching the notebook to her chest. “NO! I need to find out what happened here!” she stared at the others “If this was the place she died, she must have come across something important! Why would she have hidden her notebook otherwise?” she desperately begged the others to listen.

They had to admit that the notebook being stashed in an air-vent couldn’t have happened by accident and might have been one of the last things that Wakaba Isshiki did before her death. Ren rubbed his temple before asking “Are you going to be okay? We don’t know what we might learn from this...”

“I’ll be fine… We all need to know.” Futaba took a deep breath before placing the notebook on the floor in front of her. She flipped it open and scrolled through the pages that had occasional doodles by her in them, that she would do whenever her mom was back home. She eventually found the last pages that treated the newest lead of “United Future”. The rest of the Phantom Thieves sat down around her, when she started reading her mothers log-entry.

“United Future turned out to be the name of a political party back before the shadow-incident. Promising to steer the country into a safe future, this party and its main-representative had high hopes of making the diet and providing the prime minister in upcoming elections, although a popularity poll found in one of the offices showed that the parties popularity and trust from the public was not as high as competing parties’.”

“So it really was about politics..” Ryuji said while still avoiding to look at Ann.

“But why would shadows be drawn to some losing parties headquarters?” Morgana asked.

Futaba continued reading “I managed to extract some data from the main-server.” her breath suddenly hitched when she saw the next line, written in her mothers handwriting. Tears welled in her eyes when she read “(GG Mimir)”. A small sob escaped her, when Ren put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. She looked up at him “I taught her that phrase. Mimir was her mission laptop...” she said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Do you want someone else to go on reading?” Ren asked.

Futaba shook her head “I can do it.”. She wiped away her tears and cleared her throat before she read the entire next passage. “Mom found something that they called “Project Metaverse”. It’s a theory about an “Underworld” that is existing parallel to ours.” she summarized for the others.

“Like a parallel universe?!” Morgana asked.

“Whoah… does that mean that there’s different versions of us down there?!” Ryuji looked mortified.

Futaba rolled her eyes “It’s not a parallel universe, it’s just… something that exists parallel to our world…”. When everyone looked confused she groaned “It makes sense!”

“A political party was interested in something like this?” Haru asked.

Futabas eyes went wide when she read the next paragraph. She looked at the others “The shadows that roam our earth now are presumably inhabitants of this Metaverse.”

“So these things are able to teleport to our world?” Yusuke wondered.

“Mom seemed to suspect that there must have been an incident that connected our world and the Metaverse, causing the shadows to traverse to our world and wreak havoc here.”

“And that gateway must be Mementos...” Morgana realized.

Futaba nodded before looking uneasy “There’s more… Mom says in here, that she believes that the broken barrier between the Metaverse and our world was man-made.”

Everyone exchanged an uneasy look as they processed the implications of this theory.

Makoto was the first to speak up “If a human was responsible for all of this… and your mother was the first to find out...”

“Then Sojiro would be right in his suspicion that she might have known too much...” Ren finished.

“This is insane! Why would anyone bring down this shit on humanity on purpose?” Ryuji exclaimed with wide eyes

“Maybe they themselves weren’t aware of the full consequences.” Yusuke gave to mind.

"Or someone lost control." Morgana said.

“Fuck!” Ryuji exclaimed before he buried his face in his hands in disbelieve. Ren noticed how Ann didn’t reach out to him to calm him down, like she usually would have, but instead chewed her lip.

Futaba turned around to look at the others “But that still doesn’t make sense! Medjed would party for a week if they had intel like this.”

“You said those guys she went with were new. Could they have been spies?” Ren asked.

“I said they were low-ranks, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they were new...” Futaba replied. “Besides, Medjed has some tough entrance-exams. You would have to be insane to do this just to stab them in the back, not to mention that it takes months – if you’re lucky – until you’re sent out on expeditions.”

“If they were only out to kill Wakaba, why would they even bother to return then?” Ann asked.

“So if they didn't do it, they must have been threatened into silence by the real killer.” Makoto said.

“Okay, so how do we find out who the killer was?” Morgana asked.

“First guess would be to find those two Medjed-guys...” Ren said. “But that would mean that we would have to go to Medjeds base and reveal our faces.” he cast a worried look at Futaba.

“They already know your faces.” Futaba stated.

“Do you think that they will just let us talk to those two?” Haru asked.

Futaba raised her shoulders “Hard to tell.. They’re normally kind of butt-hurt when someone criticizes “Their way” of doing things, so they might get pissed when you walk up and demand an interrogation of two of their own.”

“But throwing you under the bus is okay...” Ren muttered in annoyance over the hypocrisy.

“Even with Wakaba Isshikis notes alone, we wouldn’t be able to prove to Medjed that she was murdered by a third party…” Makoto sighed “We have no choice. We have to ask them...”

“But can we really walk up to Medjed simple as this?” Ann asked.

“What if they won’t let as leave as soon as we’re in?” Haru feared.

Ren looked at Futaba “Is there any way that we might be able to catch them outside of the base? Are there any routines?”

Futaba looked stressed “I don’t know…”

Ren sighed before giving her a nod “It’s okay… Do you think that we can reach Sojiro from here? Maybe he has some ideas...”

Futaba shrugged “I don’t know… We’re pretty far away…”

Ren got up and offered her his hand “Come on. Let’s try outside.”. He knew that there must have been more to this place, than an inactive server-room. But all he cared about was getting Futaba away from her mothers murder-scene and out of this depressing place.

Futaba took it and pulled herself up while clutching her mothers notebook to her chest with the other.

The group shielded their eyes when they stepped out into open again around midday. To their surprise, no shadows were waiting for them as they slowly walked away from the large building.

They made a break under a large tree, far away from United Future, when Futaba unpacked her large apparatus to phone home. She pushed the button “Oracle to homebase, come in.”. A static noise rang out from the speakers, but noone replied. “Oracle to homebase, can you hear us?”. When they still got no answer after a few minutes of waiting, she drooped her shoulders “It’s no use...”

“Then what are we going to do?” Morgana asked.

“We got nothing….” Ryuji sighed.

“Futaba, what do you think we should do next?” Yusuke asked.

“That’s right, maybe we should continue talking about Medjed!” Ann said, looking at Futaba. “Futaba-”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Futaba yelled while clutching her head “STOP asking me! I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!”

“Futaba...” Makoto carefully addressed the girl.

“NO! All of you shut up! I don’t know anything about Medjed anymore! It was moms and Sojiros place, not mine!” she yelled, cowering on the floor and covering her ears “I can’t help you! I’m useless without Sojiro or my mom...”

The Phantom Thieves exchanged worried looks as Futaba sat in the middle of them, sobbing.

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder before calmly saying “It’s okay. We won’t ask any longer.”. When the girl started to calm down, he looked at the others “We should go find somewhere to spend the night.”. When all of them silently agreed, Ren continued “You guys go on ahead. We’ll be a few steps behind you.”

When the rest of the Phantom Thieves started walking, Ren sat down in the grass in front of Futaba until she eventually dared to look up again.

Ren gave her a patient smile “Ready to go?”

Futaba shook her head.

Ren rolled his eyes with a smile before he got up and offered her his hand “Fine… come on then.” he said before adjusting his backpack so it hung at his front.

Futaba reluctantly climbed to her feet and hopped onto his back. She lazily rested her head on his shoulder, gloomily looking ahead, as he slowly started walking.

“You know that noone is blaming you for anything, right?” Ren said.

Futaba mumbled “They all think that I know everything about Medjed, but I don’t… My mom was a member… I was just… there, because of her… I’m sure if Sojiro was here, he would know what to do, instead of freaking out and having a melt-down...”

“I know it’s tough. But all we can do is spitball until we find something plausible. Noone expects you to have the answer to everything.”

“Maybe I should just go to Medjed and show them my mothers notebook. Even if they don’t believe me, at least all of you wouldn’t have to waste your times with this...”

“You’ll go to Medjed over my dead body.” Ren huffed. “We’re not done yet.”

“Please… I don’t want to hear any more questions… I don’t know anything...” she sounded defeated.

“Why don’t we make a deal?” Ren asked.

“A deal?” Futaba replied, suspicious.

“I get to ask one question, but it will be the last.”

Futaba sighed before grudgingly answering “Fiiine. Go ahead.”

“Do you know if Sojiro had any friends around here, that we might be able to get a hold of?”

“Hm...” Futaba hummed in his ear.

“It’s okay… Take your time.” Ren encouraged her.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Futaba spoke up again “I think he stood in contact with one of Medjeds food-suppliers. They talked about cooking a lot… I… might be able to guess what village he came from...”

“See? You know stuff.”

“You can act smug after we know if he turned out useful or not...” Futaba replied, annoyed.

The others picked out an abandoned farm-house in the middle of nowhere as their refuge for the night. After Ren instructed everyone to not direct any questions at Futaba, they settled down in the living room. Ren took it on himself to inform the rest about Futabas lead. He didn’t let the others come up with any more questions when he cut straight to the point “Tomorrow, Futaba will point us to the town. Ann and Ryuji, you’ll go and convince the man that he owes Boss a favor and to act as our messenger. Give him the old carrot and the stick, you know how to do it.”

While normally, this would have been nothing but a normal days business to them, they suddenly stared at him with wide eyes and red faces.

“C-… Can’t I go with Makoto instead?” Ann asked with a nervous giggle as she tried to act like nothing was wrong.

Ryuji nervously cut in too “Yeah… I could also go with Morgana if you want...”

Ren took a deep breath to keep his cool before he put on a forced smile “Let’s just think about this tomorrow.”. He understood Futabas struggle, but Ann and Ryujis sudden disharmony couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Futaba, who had spent the entire time just looking around the group while cowering on the sofa, suddenly got up. “I wanna be alone for a bit...” she quietly said before grabbing her bag and walking upstairs with it. Not long after, they heard a door close.

“I’m worried about Futaba-chan...” Haru wrapped her arms around herself. “Should we really leave her be after we led her to the place of her mothers death?”

Ren shook his head “We should leave her alone for a while and let her sort things out. You saw how stressed she got with all of us looking to her. I think she just needs some time to think.”

The others nodded.

“I still can’t believe that everything that happened 50 years ago was the doing of another human being...” Ann shivered.

“The barrier between the two worlds was destroyed… It sounds like a work of fiction...” Yusuke said.

“What’s really bothering is, that there still must be someone out there who doesn’t want this information to get out and that they are ready to go over corpses...” Makoto pointed out.

“Should we really tell Medjed the whole truth then?” Morgana asked “If we draw the wrath of this unknown party onto us for spilling their secret, the revenge of Kaneshiros followers might not be our biggest problem anymore.”

“Then what are we supposed to tell Medjed?” Ryuji asked.

“All we have to do is prove that Futaba had nothing to do with Wakabas death. If we get our hands on the other two guys and get them to tell what really happened, we cleared Futabas name and our job would be done.” Ren said.

“We don’t know anything about our opponents though.. Will they really let us go that easily?” Makoto asked.

“I don’t know. But at no point do I want Futaba in there. We still can’t be sure of the real part that Medjed played in this. I’m not going to take Futaba to them, if it should turn out that they were behind all of this shit to begin with.”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow “Do you really think that Futaba will just sit here and wait?”

“I don’t care if I have to tie her to the radiator. She’s not going in there.” Ren said with a dead-serious determination.

They continued to sit together in semi-silence until the sun started to go down. During the whole time, Ren observed Ann and Ryuji with growing annoyance. They tried hard to avoid any kind of eye-contact and they never commented on anything the other one said. When Ann was the first to get up and excuse herself to the bedroom next door, Ren had enough and dragged Ryuji up to his feet and into a corner.

“I know that what happened between you two must be awkward, but shit Ryuji, go in there now and fix it.” the leader muttered.

Ryuji looked at him with wide eyes “H- How should I do that?”

Ren stared at him with an intense glare “I don’t care how. We need all hands on deck if we want to go up against Medjed. And we need you and Ann working together. So go and figure it out.”

Ryuji gave his best friend a nervous look but in the end was forced to nod after being stared down by their leader. He took a deep breath before he mustered the courage to walk into the room after her. She was standing with her back towards him and had just untied her hair, letting it flow freely down her back.

“Hey…” he started after closing the door behind.

“Oh…. Hey….” Ann replied, her eyes fixed on the floor in front of his shoes. She nervously tugged at her shirt, that she had tied into a knot around her waist to make it more fitting.

"Weird day, huh?"

"Yeah..."

“So… About earlier...” he rubbed the back of his neck. When Ann made no attempt to make things any less awkward, he just decided to get it over with “Let’s just forget about it… It was a weird moment and it was bad and-”

Ann knew that he was telling the truth, yet hearing it from him, that their kiss was bad somehow struck a nerve. “Bad?!” she asked, her face turning into a frown.

Ryuji knew fully well that she must have felt the same as him. He let himself get dragged into the mood really quick though “Oh come on, you hafta admit that it sucked!”

“Well it wasn’t like you are such a good kisser either.” Ann spat.

“How was I supposed to get any experience with you breathing down my neck the entire time?” Ryujis voice rose.

“And how was I, with you always hanging out with me?” Ann matched his tone.

“Well maybe I was selfish and didn’t want you to find anyone better.”

“Maybe I didn’t want you to meet someone else either!”

“Maybe I wasn’t even interested in other girls!”

“Maybe I didn’t care about meeting other guys!”

They continued to glare while processing what they had just thrown at each other. They both were breathing heavily for some reason when Ryuji spoke up “You wanna try again?”

“Bring it.” Ann answered in a challenging tone 

As they strode towards each other to meet in the middle of the room, half-angry, half-passionate, there was no deep eye-contact or uncomfortably-comfortable placed hands anymore when their bodies crashed against each other. When their lips met for a second time, their awkward encounter from earlier that day was already long forgotten when fireworks erupted in front of their closed eyes and the sizzling tension between their bodies seemed almost as loud as Ryujis bat when it was powered up. They continued to blindly stagger across the room, tearing each others clothes off until Ryuji had her pressed against a wall.

“That was my favorite shirt.” she muttered against his lips after seeing it slide to the floor out of the corner of her eye.

“Used to be mine.” he muttered back before running his hand through her hair.

“I know.”

He grinned against her lips. Less then 24 hours ago, he had cursed Ren for making fun of him and his proposition that Ryuji should ask for a retry. Right now, as Anns right hand was resting on the still irritated patch of skin on his rib-cage while the fingers on her other hand gently but firmly dug into his back, he figured that maybe it was the best damn advice he could have given him.

Meanwhile in the living room, the rest of the Phantom Thieves was still sitting together. None of them had been unaware of the weird air between the two blondes. They were also unable to ignore a heated discussion, even through closed doors, but it went quiet all of a sudden.

“Shouldn’t we check if they are okay?” Morgana asked innocently after a few minutes of silence.

He was answered by a bunch of red faces, since everyone else was able to guess the reason for the sudden silence.

“We definitely do not.” Ren said and hoped to have put an end to the conversation.

Upstairs, Futaba had settled into what must have been a childrens room. Underneath the rack of the loft bed, the previous owner had hung some curtains, creating a little cave to hide away from the world. Futaba didn’t even need to know the kid to instantly feel a connection to him or her. She pulled out her mothers notebook and her flashlight before retreating behind the curtains. She wrapped herself into a blanket, that she found laying in the hide-out before she started scrolling through the pages again. She hadn’t shared it with the others back in the server room, but her mother always used her notebooks as her general diaries too. Futaba just hadn’t wanted to read it out loud in front of everyone. She felt like she should read it on her own first. She looked at the entries before her expedition to United Future.

“I can’t shake this feeling that someone is breathing down my neck. Like I’m onto something that I shouldn’t know. It’s ever since I uttered my theory out loud, that the shadow-infestation might not have been a natural incident. The others are oddly unimpressed by this thought too. Unnaturally unimpressed. That place that Futaba found sounds promising. I don’t understand how noone ever found those drone-footages of shadows roaming around this particular building intriguing.”

Futaba raised an eyebrow _So Mom thought that Medjed acted weird?_ She continued flipping to the next page.

“I went to have my expedition approved today and asked for two companions. I never had to wait this long to have my companions approved before. Something about noone was available to join me. More like noone wanted to. They ended up giving me some low-ranks, who haven’t been on many missions before. I don’t mind, they seem like good kids, but still I keep wondering why absolutely noone else shows interest about something as promising as this.”

“I met one of the other researchers today and told them about my upcoming expedition. When he heard where I was going, he looked like he had seen a ghost. When I asked if something was wrong, he was squirming for answers before he eventually said that noone should go there. When I walked away, I could still feel his scared looks on my back. Am I going crazy?”

“I was approached by someone from the board today, who told me that they categorized my mission under Top Secret and that I wasn't allowed to talk about it with anyone else. I can't shake this feeling that especially the higher-ups give me strange looks...”

“I woke up screaming tonight… Lucky for Futaba that she sleeps like a rock… I am going crazy. I can’t shake this feeling that something will happen to me.”

“I told Sojiro today, that I think that I will die soon. He thought I was joking, bless his heart. I told him to keep Futaba safe, if anything should happen to me. Maybe I’m already insane and hallucinating things, but I just felt like I needed to make sure that Futaba was protected, in case anything happens to me. I know that Sojiro will take good care of her. If for some reason I shouldn’t make it, then at least him and Futaba should get to live our dream of opening up a tavern or live in the country-side. I love both of them so much. They deserve to be happy, even if I’m not around anymore.”

Futaba didn’t notice that she was crying until her tears dropped onto the paper. She sobbed before quickly dabbing her sleeve onto the page to keep the stain from spreading. It was the last entry before her expedition notes. Futaba flipped through until she landed on the last page, where her mothers usually so clean handwriting turned hectic. Futaba squinted away the tears and took a deep breath. She didn’t need to know what was written on this page to know, that this was probably the last thing that her mother had managed to bring to paper before shoving it into an air-vent, only moments before she stared her killer in the eyes. She shivered and wrapped the blanket around her a little tighter before she let her eyes wander over her mothers last words.

“I don’t know how much time I have left, there is someone who wants to enter the server-room I’m in and it’s not one of my assistants. If anyone should find this: Don’t trust Medjed! United Future had a major hand in the shadow-infestation and still exists to this day, trying to keep their machinations unknown. I will die in this place, but I will leave behind-”

The frantic scribbling stopped mid-sentence, before a last sentence was hastily written on the bottom of the page.

“I love you Futaba.”

Futaba gaped at the last page of her mothers notes before she covered her face and sobbed, when she imagined her mother cowering on the floor where she had sat earlier that day, writing down her last thoughts while her killer was already banging on the door. Medjed had known. They must have known and that was why they behaved so strange before her mom had left. And still they wanted to make her look like the crazy one who sent her mother to her death. Why hadn't she noticed anything? Why hadn't her mother asked her to get some information? She had hacked into Medjeds closed systems a few times, she might have been able to get to some of the boards protocols. Before leaving, her mother had dealt with the fear of dying and all Futaba had been able to think of was packing the right things into her backpack, so Sphinx would be prepared properly. She should have packed a gun for her. Futaba moved into the corner of the walls and curled up into a ball. She clutched the flashlight and the notebook to her chest before rocking and sobbing herself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're uncovering some secrets here! So as you might see, the Metaverse is not exactly the same as in the original since we're also not working with Personas and Shadow-versions of people. And maybe you can also guess who was involved with this political party now?;) Futaba really gets pushed to her edge in this one, but the question about what Medjed knows about her mothers death still remains to be answered!
> 
> I know that I kept you waiting for a long time, but there you have it: Another first RyuAnn-kiss and a better one this time;)


	38. Disingenuous Methods

In her dream, Futaba was hunted by a sphinx with her mothers head. Her voice was screechy and shrill when she screamed at her “You should have informed yourself better! You let me walk to my death!”

Futabas eyes shot open, only to find herself still hidden away in the little cave. She untangled herself from the blanket and took a deep breath. _You’re not my mom…_ she thought to herself before grabbing her stuff and climbing out of her hide-out. She remembered the things she had read last night. _I should tell Ren about that…_ She was sure that he had stopped the others yesterday from checking up on her. He was still the one who knew her best of all of them. He was a good brother. She had just needed some time to think things through on her own, without everyone watching her with worry or bubbling with questions. Her head felt a lot clearer today, even after dreaming about her moms head on a sphinx.

She silently walked out the room to check if someone was already awake. Looking at the sun outside, she was sure that at least Haru must be up by now. When she walked downstairs, she noticed that both Morgana and Yusuke had spent their night on the couches. She started doing the math and figured that Ren and Makoto probably claimed a room for themselves. But even after leaving her a room to herself, there still should have been two free rooms. She raised an eyebrow in confusion when she silently sneaked past the sleeping guys and into the kitchen. She found Ren, Makoto and Haru sitting around a table. When Ren noticed her standing there, he got up and walked towards her.

“How are you feeling?” he carefully asked.

Futaba gave him a reassuring nod “Better.”. She looked at Ren “I read my moms journal some more.”

Ren looked like he was about to tell her that she shouldn’t have done that. Eventually he said “Anything new?”. He walked her to the table.

Futaba nodded and placed her mothers notebook in front of her. “Inbetween reports, my mom would always write diary-entries into her notebooks…”. She gave a grateful nod to Haru when the fluffy-haired girl handed her something to drink. “She started to get suspicious, because everyone at Medjed started to behave strange when she was planning the mission. The only reason why she went there with those two low-ranks was because noone else wanted to go with her.”

“But didn’t you say that Medjed would have been interested in the results too?” Makoto asked.

“That’s what confused my mom too. Someone else would have seen those drone-footages before me, I only had them from the archives. Normally, someone must have gotten interested. People actually told my mom not to go there.” she swallowed “And there’s more:” she reluctantly opened up the last page, showing them her mothers hectic last writings.

As the other three read along, Haru covered her mouth in shock.

“Don’t trust Medjed...” Makoto repeated, her face pale.

“And United Future was behind the shadow infestation...” Ren added.

“We still lack proof, though...” Makoto said.

“My mom wrote it! What more proof could you need?” Futaba asked.

Makoto looked torn “It’s not that I don’t believe your mother, but the question is: Will Medjed? We thought that they might not be aware that they were being lied to, but after what you just told us, it seems like Medjed knew something.” she said as Morgana and Yusuke entered the kitchen.

“The amount of things we don’t know is becoming annoying...” Yusuke said.

Haru sighed “I have to admit that I’m looking forward to the phase where things finally start to make sense.”

Ren scratched his head “Then let’s hope that we’ll get one step closer to that after we questioned that friend of Sojiros...”

“Speaking of todays mission, where are the carrot and the stick?” Futaba asked.

Laying on a musty mattress with metal springs poking through, they were covered by a thin and scratchy blanket. Anns head was resting on his chest as she carefully traced a finger along all the small and larger scars that he had acquired throughout the years. She knew the story behind all of them.

“You’re tickling me.” Ryuji said with his eyes still closed, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Ann grinned “Oh yeah?”. She tilted her head and started kissing his neck.

Ryuji grinned back before he rolled onto his side to face her. There was something that felt surreal, like it was too good to be true. He leaned forward and kissed her. It still felt like his heart was about to burst as soon as their lips met. As they pulled back again, they couldn’t help but look and smile at each other.

“The others will be so smug about this...” Ryuji said, holding her gaze all the way.

“I guess we won't convince them that nothing happened...” Ann smiled with red cheeks.

“I can already hear Ren...” Ryuji sighed before imitating their leaders voice “Was about time.”

Ann giggled before looking deep into his eyes. “I guess it really was about time...”

“Yeah.” he softly said.

“So what took you so long?” she asked.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow “Seriously? You could have said something too, ya know?”

Ann grinned “Yeah… but maybe I just really liked watching you squirm...”

“Wow...”

She smiled and reached up to stroke his cheek.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“I really don’t know why you didn’t say anything… Cause I’ve been yours for years now.” the blonde girl said with a soft smile 

“Now that’s just cruel… You’ve been waiting for me to make a move for years?” he asked.

“Hey, it wasn’t easy! Do you know how many times I just wanted to grab you and shake you so hard until you’ll finally tell the truth?” Ann replied.

“Oh, cry me a river!” Ryuji rolled his eyes.

Ann giggled when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

“So back then with Mika… you weren’t just disappointed in my taste for girls… you were jealous because I called her hot?” Ryuji puzzled together.

“Oh my god, are you really figuring this out just now?” Ann laughed.

“Why couldn’t you just say it?!” Ryuji asked.

“Because it should have been obvious!”

Ryuji groaned “Why do you have to be so complicated?”

“Oh, as if you’re so easy!” Ann replied. “You told me that you love me, when I asked you to insult me?!”

“You wanted to be thrown off-guard, and it did!” Ryuji grinned triumphantly.

Ann laughed before they lost themselves in each others eyes again.

“I meant it though...” he eventually said.

“Me too.” she ran her hand through his hair before leaning in for a kiss that made the butterflies in her stomach fly in loops.

“We should get up… Everyone else is probably waiting already...”. He ran his hand down her bare back.

“Hmm…. I’ve never been so reluctant to get off of an uncomfortable mattress...” Ann muttered.

“Seriously, I think I’ve been impaled by one of those springs...” Ryuji sighed before a devious smirk appeared on his face “My back feels a bit scratched...”

Anns cheeks reddened “Sorry...” she smiled shyly while carefully running her fingers along the red lines that she had left behind.

“I’m not complaining...” Ryuji smirked. They shared another long kiss before Ann eventually pushed him away.

“We should really get up...” she reluctantly said.

Ryuji sighed before he rolled onto his back and sat up to get dressed. He turned around to look at her “I think you can stop with the arm-work-out...” he said with a grin as he held up his torn t-shirt.

“Whoops.” Ann grinned. She got up to kneel behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest. “Same goes for you...” she said, her head resting on his shoulder, when she pointed to the piece of cloth on the floor that used to be her shirt.

“Walking out is going to be even more awkward now...” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck before he buttoned up his pants.

Ann grinned as she did the same “It doesn’t have to be, if they don’t see us sneaking to our backpacks in the living room...”

“We’ve never been good at sneaking...” Ryuji grinned.

“We don’t really have another choice...” Ann replied, adjusting her bra.

They stood in front of the door, when they shared a last look. “Ready?” Ryuji asked.

“Ready.” Ann replied “Quick and quiet.”. They shared a last kiss before Ann opened the door as quiet as possible. When she peeked outside, she noticed that the living room was empty and that all the noises were coming from the adjacent kitchen. She looked across the room to find their backpacks on the other end. Ann gave a curt nod to Ryuji before quietly slipping out.

The two had almost reached their backpacks when they were startled by Rens voice. “Watcha doing?”. He sounded amused.

The two blondes whirled around to find the entirety of the Phantom Thieves standing in the archway. When Ann noticed Morgana gaping at her, she took a step behind Ryuji to shield herself from view.

“Um… mornin’?” Ryuji tried to sound casual. Behind him, Ann scrambled to her backpack to take out a t-shirt.

“Didn’t even need night-vision for that...” Futaba cackled.

“Wait… what? But you needed night-vision to see Ren and Makoto-” Morgana started before gaping “Lady Ann?!” he stammered when he found the connection.

“And what happened to your back?” Yusuke asked, oblivious, when Ryuji bent over to his own backpack.

“Ya know…. Uncomfortable mattress...” Ryuji tried to play it cool, but both his and Anns pink cheeks gave him away.

When Ryuji reached for his bag, Ren grinned “And what’s that on your neck?” he asked. When Ann stared at the hickey that she must have given him in the heat of the moment, her entire face turned red. Ryuji couldn’t hide his red cheeks either, when he nervously rubbed his neck.

“You too seem to be glowing today… Just like Ren and Makoto did after they returned from Dr. Takemi..” Yusuke noted.

“Seriously Inari, it’s not that hard to understand...” Futaba sighed.

Haru giggled “So there never were vitalizers from Dr. Takemi to begin with.”. 

Ren uncomfortably cleared his throat before saying “Moving on...”. When everyones attention was on him again, he said “Ann, Ryuji, Futaba and I will go to the village and find that old pal of Sojiros. The rest goes scouting out the Medjed-HQ. But don’t let yourself be seen.”

“Medjed has cameras all around the fencing, so keep your distance!” Futaba said. “Go sit in a tree or something.”

Yusuke bristled “We will do no such thing.”

Makoto pondered “It might not be a bad idea...”

Ren squeezed Makotos shoulder “You’ll figure it out. Let’s just hope that our guy will give us something to work with… We’ll meet back here, once we’re done.”

The group of 4 followed Futabas lead as they walked through an open field. Ann was walking up front with Futaba while Ryuji and Ren walked a few steps behind them.

“Seriously, if all it took for you guys to finally do it was me to give you some harsh words, I would have done it sooner.” Ren smirked.

“Oh come on, you can’t take credit for the whole thing!” Ryuji groaned. After all, Ren would have never gotten into the situation where talking Ryuji into going after Ann was necessary, if the two hadn’t shared such an awkward kiss before that.

Ren slapped his best friend on the back “I’m happy for you, man. It was about time.”

A smile tugged at Ryujis lips when he looked ahead to see Ann walking in front of him, chatting with Futaba. “Yeah.” he said, unable to stop the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

They arrived at the small farmers village an hour later. Since they didn’t know how much info traveled from this place to Medjed, they remained hidden away in an old hay-barn at the edge of the village.

“What now? Have you seen the guy, Futaba?” Ryuji asked.

Futaba leaned out of the large gates to look into the town “No… But he has to be from here! He always brought Sojiro vegetables and stuff.”

“Then maybe we should check out the center… Peeking down this alley won’t bring us further..” Ann suggested.

“Wait!” Futaba hissed. After a few moments of tense silence, she continued “I think that’s him.”

“For real? Lucky us!” Ryuji grinned.

Ann leaned out the door too to get a look of the target. He was a middle-aged man, slightly younger than Sojiro maybe. He was standing in the alley on his own.

“Ready?” Ren asked.

“Showtime.” Ann winked.

“Just don’t overdo it...” Ryuji uttered, already suspecting another cringy acting-performance.

“Oh please...” Ann waved his comment aside with a grin as she tugged at her outfit and messed up her hair a bit. She leaned forward to whisper into Ryujis ear “You’re into it.”. When Ryuji looked completely flustered, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before running out the barn, yelling “OH, excuuuuuse meee!”

Futaba raised an eyebrow when she looked at the frozen blonde boy “Seriously? That’s your thing?”

“N- NO, it’s not THAT...” he stammered, although deep down he knew that everything that Ann Takamaki did was his thing.

The three waited for a few minutes until they eventually heard footsteps again, followed by Anns fake, distraught voice. “Please, sir! I think my cat ran somewhere in there… I reeeeally need your help to find him!”. Only a heartbeat later, she half-dragged the confused man into the barn. Before he could react to the three other people waiting for him and before he could do something in his defense Ryuji had already pressed the man against the wall with his lower arm against his throat.

“Your cat ran away?” Ryuji asked Ann with a disbelieving face while the man stared at them in shock.

“What? It worked, didn’t it?” Ann defended herself.

“I’ve seen better performances from you...” Futaba said.

“Can you stop slamming me? He’s here, isn’t he?!” Ann replied annoyed.

“WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?” the man shouted in a panicked voice.

Ren stepped out from the shadows “Please excuse the detour and sorry for “abducting” you like this… um… ”. He looked at Futaba and scratched his head “You know his name?”

Futaba shrugged.

Ann sighed “We’ve never been prepared this badly before.”

“You’re acting has never been worse too…” Ryuji uttered.

Ann stuck her tongue out at him.

Futaba stepped up to the man “Um… hi… You probably don’t know who I am...”

The mans eyes went wide all of a sudden when he looked into Futabas face “Alibaba?!”

“You remember me?” Futaba looked surprised.

“Of course I remember! I only saw you once or twice, but Hierophant talked about you all the time.” the man said, slightly less freaked out about the situation now.

“Hiro-who?” Ryuji looked confused.

“Hierophant. Dads Medjed-codename.” Futaba explained, avoiding dropping any more names on purpose.

“But what are you doing here?” the man asked.

Ren motioned Ryuji to ease up his grip on the man, when he felt that he wasn’t going to betray them. The man took a relieved breath and gave a grateful nod to Ren when Ryuji took a step back.

“Do you still go to Medjed?” Futaba asked.

“Once a week. Why?”

“Do you think that you could get a message to two people in there?” Ren continued.

“M- Maybe… I got someone on the kitchen-staff who might do it.” the man replied.

“You wanna draw them out and then question them?” Ryuji turned his head to look at Ren while his body was still ready to lunge at the man in front of him, should he try anything funny.

“That would be my plan.” Ren said.

“We’d have to come up with a lie though… They could just run to their leaders, if we sign as the Phantom Thieves...” Ann added.

Futaba spoke up “Maybe we could trick them, if we claim to have some valuable things to sell?”

“Or say that we found their cat...” Ryuji sighed, still disbelieving that this actually worked.

“IT WORKED!” Ann stomped her foot.

“Do you think that they would get suspicious, if only those two receive those notes? Couldn’t they just send others to check it out?”

Futaba shrugged “We would need something so interesting, that they wouldn’t want to miss out on it themselves...” she pondered for a moment before her eyes wandered to Ann. A knowing smirk spread on her face.

“Oh… I see…” Ren said, when he followed his sisters train of thought.

“What…?” Ann asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait….” Ryuji was utterly confused and torn between finding the idea funny and telling them off, for they were talking about his… what exactly?

Futaba knelt down to pull two pieces of paper out of her backpack “Ann, you got any lipgloss on you?”

“No…? Why would I have lipgloss with me?” Ann asked before she eventually managed to do the maths “Oh hell no!”

“It’s just a letter!” Futaba rolled her eyes.

“Then you write it!” Ann shrieked.

“My handwriting is like a dudes.” Futaba argued. “You put hearts instead of dots and you do smiley-faces.”

Ann sighed before walking over to Futaba. She snatched the pen and the paper out of her hands and dropped down on the floor. “I hate all of you...” she grumbled before she started writing in the most playful handwriting that she could muster:

“ _I can’t stop thinking about you, ever since I saw you walk through the forest. I can’t sleep without seeing your face in front of my eyes. Please, come meet me in the abandoned hay-barn in the farmers village tomorrow. I’ll be waiting.”_

She signed it with a big heart. While she was writing, Sojiros old friend asked around town and managed to come up with lipgloss from some strange collector. Ann raised an eyebrow at all of them, when they pushed the bottle into her hands. “If this is still liquid, it’s been rancid for years.”. When noone answered her, she sighed before applying the ugliest shade of pink that she had ever seen. After she stamped her lips onto both of the identical letters, she wiped the excess off with a piece of cloth Ryuji handed her. She shoved the two letters into the mans hands.

“Thank you.” Ren said.

“Let’s not talk about it.” Ann sighed.

Futaba looked at the man “You can get that to two guys named Owl and Metis?”

The man nodded “I’ll do my best. I’m going there again tomorrow.”

“Thanks!” Futaba said.

“So we’ll be waiting here the day after tomorrow.” Ryuji concluded.

The others nodded when Ren said “Let’s get back and see if the others found something interesting.”

As the four arrived back at the farm-house, the others had already returned from their trip. They sat together in the living room and shared todays findings.

“If this blows up, we won’t have much time to come up with something else. We’re closing in on their deadline.” Ren said after telling the others about their plan to draw out Wakabas two companions.

“Then all we can do is hope that it won’t blow up.” Morgana said.

“Especially since we found nothing of importance on our recon-mission...” Haru sighed.

“Even though we all sat in a tree...” Yusuke sounded annoyed.

Futaba shrugged “Medjed isn’t stupid. They know how to protect their stuff.”

“The whole container-village is set up beside an old excavation site.” Makoto explained to the others.

“Makes sense for a bunch of scientists...” Ryui shrugged.

“Whole thing was started by the initial scientists stationed there too.” Futaba said “When we were there, one of them was still alive. But he was more of a vegetable...”

“Geez, how old must he have been, when he was already working as a scientist when the shadow-infestation happened?” Ann said.

“Very.” Futaba said. “But who else but scientists to keep him alive..” she shrugged.

“Probably doctors.” Yusuke said.

“Studying medicine isn’t what it used to be...” Haru gave to mind.

“Anyways, all we can do for now is wait...” Makoto reluctantly said.

“And we even have an entire day off tomorrow!” Morgana added.

“This is like a vacation in the country-side.” Haru smiled.

“Excpet for we have a dead-line on our hands...” Ren muttered.

“I’ve been wondering… Medjed only told us about the When, but how were we even supposed to know where we should deliver Futaba to?” Makoto said.

“Maybe they already assumed that we would come and find them?” Yusuke asked.

“That would confirm that they know that Futaba is one of us.” Ren said. “What’s bothering me, is that since we now know that Medjed must have known something about United Future, they can’t want Futaba delivered to bring her to justice. Because they must know that she had nothing to do with it.”

Harus eyes went wide “You believe that they want to silence her?”

“Maybe they were scared that she would do exactly what we did. We investigated.” Yusuke said.

“All we can do is make guesses right now… Let’s wait what those other guys will tell.” Ren answered before he got up “Let’s make tomorrow a relaxed preparation day. The day after tomorrow, we’ll know more.”

The Phantom Thieves slowly started to part ways to retreat to their rooms (Futaba decided to move in with Haru, so Yusuke and Morgana were able to sleep in a bed too). As soon as the door closed behind Ann and Ryuji, they were all over each other again. When their lips met, the by now usual fireworks were drowned by something of a bitter taste in Ryujis mouth. He drew back with a disgusted face “What’s that on your lips?”

Ann looked at him with an evil grin when she said “The lipgloss that all of you made me wear today.”. Before he could react, she pressed another kiss onto his lips. “Told you it was rancid.”

“Ew!” he exclaimed. “It tastes horrible.”

“Duh...” Ann rolled her eyes “I had to walk around with this the entire day!”. When she tried to go for another kiss, Ryuji held her back by the shoulders. “Seriously?” she asked.

“It’s really gross...” Ryuji tried to defend himself.

Ann smirked before grabbing him by the shirt and steering him towards the mattress. She pushed him down on it before kneeling over him. “You could have just said something in my defense back there...” she said. “If you hadn’t been so focused on dissing my acting the entire time...” she purred “then maybe you wouldn’t have to share my burden now of tasting lipgloss that’s decades old.”.

“It was for the mission...” Ryuji reluctantly said. “It’s not like I was happy about you having to pretend to be lovesick for some strangers…”

Ann sat back on his thighs. “So you’re jealous?” she asked, a small smile curling her lips.

He followed her by sitting up too. “Nah… I know it’s just for show… We just never know what kind of creep will show up...”

She smiled when she looped her arms around his neck “You know why I never worried about that?”

“Because you know how to defend yourself, I know.” Ryuji replied.

“That and because I know that as soon as things go south, you’d be there in a heartbeat.” she softly said before placing a kiss on his forehead.

Ryuji wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close before muttering “I’ll be there in less than that.”. Ann knew how to take care of herself. She wasn’t some porcelain doll that needed some other guys protection. But sometimes situations called for back-up. And Ryuji had sworn to himself years ago, that he would always be hers.

Upstairs, Ren was pacing up and down in the room that he and Makoto had claimed. Makoto was sitting on the large bed, observing him with unease.

“Ren, we can’t do anything at the moment. We have to wait until we can question Owl and Metis.” she said.

Ren sighed “I know… I’m just worried, that we’ll run out of time. We still don’t have a plan on what we do after we hear their story. If we even hear it. Maybe they decide not to talk.”

Makoto felt uncomfortable when she said “Then we make them talk.”. She couldn’t say that she disagreed with Rens unease. They still didn’t know half about Medjed and how they acted. While the mafia could be considered as rather straight forward, they had no idea how a collective of scientists on the hunt for the truth - or to contain the truth, as they realized today - behaved.

Her remark caused Ren to smirk “Won’t you look at that… Proposing torture is something that I would have never imagined coming out of your mouth...”

Makoto blushed at his remark. Indeed, she never would have thought that she would resort to techniques like these either. “If that’s what we need to do to keep Futaba safe.”

Ren dropped down on the bed beside her. He laid down and placed his head in her lap before saying “That’s the problem… I don’t even know what we have to do to keep her safe. If they’re really after her to save their face and to keep her silent, then what? We can’t just off another clan again…” he let out an exhausted sigh “Especially not when they’re nothing but a bunch of nerds...”

Makoto burried her hand in his mop of hair and gently kneaded his scalp before saying “Let’s not think about the worst-worst-case yet.”. She cast a look out the window before she said “Doesn’t it feel a lot more political this time?”. When Ren gave her a questioning look from below, she continued “Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro… Kamoshida was a pervert who abused and imprisoned teenagers for his own pleasure. Madarame was an old man desperate for fame, who was ready to kill people to keep up an illusion. And while Kaneshiro admitted to working for someone else, he also did what he did because of his personal believe that it’s either eat or be eaten.” she explained. “In this case though… Futaba claims that Medjed is all about finding answers and the truth, yet they still seem to lie about the real reason why they want Futaba and even about the cause of Wakabas death. What must happen, that an entire organization covers up something this big?”

“Depends on their integrity… Maybe the truth isn’t that important anymore, when your life is on the line.” Ren said. “Wakaba said that United Future still exists and works hard to keep whatever they did a secret.”

“Hm...” Makoto pondered “Then we can’t rule out that United Future has Medjed under their thumb too.”

Ren smiled “God, how I missed conspiring with you.”

Makoto smiled back at him “It feels good to be back.”

They shared a smile before Ren eventually said “I’m worried about Futaba...”

“I know.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have left her alone with that journal yesterday… She shouldn’t have had to go through her moms last thoughts on her own...”

Makoto gently stroked his head again when she said “I think Futaba might have kept her mothers more “private” thoughts to herself, so she could go through them on her own on purpose. It’s not easy, but I know she’ll be fine. We’re all here for her, when she needs us.”

Ren slowly nodded “You’re right… Guess it’s a good sign that she’s staying with Haru tonight.”

“You’re starting to sound like Boss.” Makoto noticed.

The leader sighed “The fact isn’t lost on me. Yet I can’t seem to help it.”

“Maybe the constant threats from Sojiro to keep an eye on her actually turned you into him.” Makoto tried to joke.

Ren closed his eyes and concentrated on Makotos fingers gently digging into his scalp. “Maybe… Although I would like to think that I’m more of a brother-type while Sojiro is the dad...”

“I think that’s how she sees it too.” Makoto smiled.

“That makes her sometimes calling you Mom-koto really weird...” Ren pointed out.

Makoto had to giggle before saying “I feel like our whole “family-situation” gets stranger by the day..”

Ren chuckled before he looked up and into her reddish-brown eyes. “I love you so much.” he gently said. He loved talking strategy with her. He loved bouncing ideas off of her. He loved how they just understood each other.

Makoto bent down and kissed him “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, there's a lot of theorizing, but what will turn out to be the truth in the end? Futaba is determined to find some answers, much to Anns suffering;) Anns acting skills haven't had their debut in this story so far, so it was about time;) 
> 
> And enjoy some relationship-RyuAnn. You've earned it, after suffering so many chapters of will-they-won't-they. But there were so many things that I wanted to do before it all came down to their awakening last chapter. Thanks for waiting it out and still being here;)


	39. Celebrity Hostage

The Phantom Thieves spent their day off by hiding away in the farm-house and preparing themselves for what might come. As Ren and Makoto pointed out at breakfast, there might not be a way back once they interrogated Owl and Metis.

Around midday, Ren found Futaba, Haru and Makoto sitting in the kitchen, studying Wakabas journal.

“Anything new?” Ren asked upon approaching.

Futaba shook her head “Nope… mom only started writing about her doubts about Medjed before her last expedition.”

“Any thoughts on how Medjed will react, if we show up tomorrow?” Ren brought up.

The orange-haired girl shrugged “I never watched them doing a witch-hunt before… All I know is that they’re super proud, so don’t make fun of them… Believe me, they have absolutely NO humor.” Futaba said.

Ren nodded “Good to know.”. He turned to Haru “We might have to initiate the negotiation-phase right after we finished talking to them. Are you good with coming back here with Futaba, once we’re done interrogating the two?”

Haru looked surprised. Before she could say anything, Futaba slammed her mothers notebook shut and glared at him. Ren hadn't made it a secret, that he didn't want to take Futaba to Medjed. But the only one who didn't know of his plan to tie her to a radiator if necessary, was Futaba herself.

“I’m not staying behind again!” the girl angrily said.

“It’s you they want. I can’t parade you around on the silver platter when we go there for negotiations.” Ren argued.

“I also wouldn’t be able to make my case, if I’m not even allowed to go there.” Futaba angrily replied before getting up.

“That’s why we go and make it for you!” Ren answered.

“But I don’t want you to do this for me!” Futaba shouted.

Ren got up too when he said “I know it’s not what you want, but Sojiro-”

“Sojiro isn’t here!” Futaba was yelling “I’m sick of you two always acting like I can’t do anything for myself! I thought you were my brother and not just Sojiros spy.”

“I am, but maybe Sojiro wouldn’t be so worried about you, if you hadn’t behaved like the helpless child that you now claim not to be!” Ren spat back, immediately regretting his words after they left his mouth.

Futaba looked as if he had slapped her in the face. Tears started pooling in her eyes when she clutched her mothers notebook to her chest and stormed off.

“Fuck, Futaba, I’m sorry!” Ren called out and went after her, but the girl was too fast and disappeared into her room before slamming the door in his face. He was about to open it, when he found himself locked out. Normally Futaba would always keep her door unlocked, even if she was mad, partly because she didn’t want to be pouting on her own after all. Standing in front of a locked door now, he suddenly realized that he must have really hit her hard this time. He carefully knocked on her door “Futaba… I’m sorry. Come on, let me in.”

“Go away!” Futaba yelled from the other side of the door.

“Futaba, please-”

“I said FUCK OFF, Ren!” she screamed. Ren flinched when he heard something hit the door. He was about to say “Language” but he feared that something would actually fly through then.

He walked back downstairs to drop down on a chair beside Haru, who had idly sat and watched the drama unfold.

“Taking the “Wanted”-person to the sheriffs-office to negotiate can’t be the right thing, right?” Ren eventually sighed.

“I understand your approach, but I believe that after singling Futaba out at Kaneshiros, she’s afraid to be left behind to survive again. This time, the whole issue even is about her and her mother...” Haru patiently said. “I understand, that she doesn’t want us to fight a battle that clearly involves her most.”

Ren burried his face in his hands before groaning “I know…”. He felt really bad for snapping at her. If it had been him, he would have wanted to go there and make his case too. “Maybe Makoto is right… I really am turning into Sojiro...”

Haru gently patted his arm “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Boss is a very caring man but maybe when it comes to Futaba-chan, he can be a little overprotective.”

“A little?” Ren snorted.

“I don’t know, how Futaba-chan used to be, but she’s a smart girl and I see her as equally big a piece of our group than anyone else is...” Haru said. “Without her skills, things would have gone very differently in the bank.”

Ren silently nodded. He knew that Haru was right. If you didn’t know how Futaba used to be, it was much easier to see her as an equal. But Ren had known her before. He had a full canteen thrown at his back from out of a closet, when he had to literally put out her fires. “I know.. On the other hand, I don’t regret having made the decision of sending her away to save herself, if it became necessary. I didn’t do it because it was her. I would have given the order to anyone in that position.”

Haru nodded “Maybe you should tell her that.”

Ren sighed “Can’t you do it for me? As the groups therapist?”

A small smiled curled Harus lips when she sweetly answered “As a therapist, I would prescribe you two to talk it out.”

Ren cast her a cool look before saying “It sucks that you’re right...”

Haru patted his arm again with a patient smile “I know.”

Ren slowly trotted up the stairs again. When he stood in front of Futabas door, he sat down cross-legged. “Hey Futaba…” he started, feeling reminded of all the times that he had brought her food back in LeBlanc, talking to a closed door without ever knowing if she was even listening. He scratched his head “I’m sorry, I was an ass… You’re right. I’m starting to become like the old man, when I should be the one who shows him that you don’t need my protection. But you’re my sister. A sister I thought I never wanted, but now I got one, and while I want to keep all of us safe, I want to protect you especially.” Ren took a deep breath “Back at Kaneshiros, I didn’t make this pact with the others, because I wanted to protect you. I would have done it too, if it hadn’t been you sitting outside. And I would have asked Hifumi to knock out whoever wouldn’t have been ready to follow orders. But I don’t want to take you to Medjed, because I don’t want them to see you. We don’t know what they’ll do. I know that you want to make your case, but what I’m afraid of, is that they’ll act erratically.” Minutes of silence passed until Ren said “I really hope you’re still in there… I still hate talking to doors.”

After a few more moments, Futaba spoke up from the other side of the door “I’m here...”. Ren heard the lock turn in the door before it eventually swung open, revealing Futaba sitting on the floor in the same way as he did. They continued to look at each other before Ren dared to speak again.

“I’m sorry for what I said.”

Futaba nodded “I get it… I’d probably think that I’m a failure too...”

Ren shook his head “You’re not a failure. You’ve come so incredibly far since I put out that fire in your trash-can.”

“You’re never gonna let this go, huh?”

“Probably not.” Ren smirked “But you’ve grown. And we all know that. Even Sojiro does. He can’t handle it, but he knows.”

Futaba snorted before turning thoughtful again. “I want to come to Medjed tomorrow. I want to ask them myself and I want to hear fro them, what they did to my mother.”

Ren reluctantly nodded “Fine. But we’ll talk to them on neutral ground. We won’t walk into their headquarters. Least of all you.”

Futaba nodded “Deal.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“And no going rogue, alright?”

“Fine. I don’t want to go into this container-dump anyway.” Futaba smirked “Can I mess with the two guys, if they don’t cooperate?”

One corner of his mouth twitched upwards “I might be ready to turn my back for a few minutes. You’re really going to rough ‘em up?”

“Pft, I’m gonna ask Ryuji to do it for me.” Futaba boasted.

“Smart.” Ren admitted. “Since the reason they’ll be there will be because they fell for a letter that his girlfriend wrote to them, he might want to blow off some steam...”

Futaba spread her arms in a demonstrative way “Genius, huh?”

“Such a smart girl.” Ren smirked

“Stop hitting on me.”

“I have a girlfriend.”

They both chuckled as they climbed to their feet.

“All good?” Ren asked.

Futaba nodded “Yup.”.

They hugged it out until eventually Haru showed up at the top of the stairs, a knowing smile on her face.

They left early the next morning and made their way to the abandoned barn.

“This place doesn’t particularly scream romance...” Yusuke said as he looked around the huge barn.

“It’s not supposed to!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“I don’t know what these guys are into, but I’d also consider it a huge turn-off, if my secret admirer invited me along with someone else...” Ren uttered, fully aware of the looks Makoto shot him.

Ann groaned “I still can’t believe you made me do this...”

“Don’t worry, Lady Ann! We’ll protect you!” Morgana announced.

“I think you can stop trying to impress her...” Futaba said “… I mean… since she’s already taken...”

Morganas eyes went wide “Lady Ann… Are you serious about the blonde idiot?”

“What was that?!” Ryuji growled before Ann held him back.

She squatted down to look at the kid, and gave him a sympathetic smile “I am.” she said before ruffling his hair “I’m sure that one day you’ll make a girl very happy. Maybe even one a bit more your age.”

“But… but… HIM?” Morgana acted like Ryuji wasn’t sanding right beside them.

Ann turned her head to throw a look at the blonde boy, who was now busy with skillfully checking his shotgun. A smile played on her lips when she softly said “Yeah. Him.”. While Ann was more than happy with that explanation, Morgana still looked heartbroken.

Harus voice cut through their conversation “There’s two men walking towards our location.”

Ann nodded before she got into her position as the bait, while the others pressed themselves against the walls to both sides of the entrance. Harus hunch was right, for not long after, two sets of footsteps could be heard before the door slowly slid open. Their two persons of interest were entranced enough by Ann, elegantly sitting on a table with crossed legs and toying with her hair, to take a few incautious steps inside. The rest of the Phantom Thieves slid the doors closed again.

When their two victims noticed the doors shutting behind them, they spun around, only to be met by Makotos revolver and Yusukes rifle pointed at them. When they spun around again to where Ann was sitting, they found her still lounging on the table only now with her submachine-gun out

“Wha- What’s going on?!” one of them stammered.

Ann slid off the table “This is a hold-up.”

The two scientists raised their arms immediately “Please, we don’t have anything on us...” the other one said, scared out of his mind. Ren looked them down. They really could only be described as the stereotypical scientist. Tall, slim, glasses and no muscles.

Futaba stepped out of the shadows to look at the two “We’re more interested in your memories.”

The two men looked confused as they stared at Futaba. They looked like they knew her from somewhere, but had no idea on where to place her.

“The mission you went on 4 years ago. United Future. The one where Sphinx died. What happened?” she cut straight to the point.

Their eyes grew wide and they stared at the girl with pure horror. One of them apparently drew the connection “A- Alibaba?!”

Futaba looked annoyed “Yeah, yeah, I’m Alibaba, big surprise, answer my fucking question.”. She saw Ren preparing for a “Language”, but apparently he decided to give it to her this time.

“She-… she died...” the second one, who Futaba identified as Owl, meekly said. “It was an accident!”

“You’re lying.” Futaba angrily said “Why did you throw me under the bus then?”

Both of them were quiet until eventually Metis spoke up “Because we had to.”

“Why was that?” Makoto asked from behind them, her revolver still ready.

Both of them exchanged a scared look before staying silent.

“Answer her, goddammit!” Ryuji growled before taking an intimidating step towards them, causing them to tremble.

“Because he told us to!” Owl burst out before dropping to his knees.

Futaba had Wakabas journal clutched to her chest the entire time. When she had enough of the vague answers, she walked up to the men and both whacked them on the head with the journal “Just tell us everything! I’m already tired of pulling piece by piece out of your noses!” she groaned, leaving Owl and Metis to stare at her in confusion. When they still didn’t start talking, Futaba gave them a kick-off “My mom said that it was hard to find companions for her expedition. How did you end up going with her?”

Metis started stammering “We just graduated and rarely got to go on expeditions. When we heard that Sphinx was going on one, we just volunteered. We only got to know from hear-say that United Future was actually off-limits. But that was after we signed everything.”

“If the place was off-limits, why did they let my mom go?” Futaba asked.

Metis raised his shoulders “I don’t know! I told you we were new to the field!”

Ren reluctantly nodded “Fair enough...”

Futaba took a deep breath before she asked “How did she die? What happened?”

Owl started to sweat when he started talking “We… managed to gain access to the server room. She was in there alone and we looked through the offices nearby when suddenly there was a man, all dressed in black. When we asked him what he was doing, he pointed a gun at us and asked where she was...” his voice quivered. He seemed to be traumatized by the days event too. “We didn’t carry weapons. When he managed to open the door, he herded us in and he...”

Tears started to pool in Futabas eyes. She didn’t know why. They had already realized that her mother had been executed, yet still, hearing about it from people who had to watch first hand still managed to hit hard.

Ann walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Metis dared to speak up again “We’re sorry. There was nothing we could have done.”

When Ren noticed that Futaba was unable to speak for the moment, he stepped up “What happened then?”

“At first we thought that he was going to kill us next. But he just stared at us and told us, that this can be the last death if noone comes looking. And then he just… left.” Metis explained.

Owl cleared his throat before saying “On our way back, we realized that the biggest risk was you, since you would never just accept your mothers death without looking into it. So we came up with this lie about an argument you had with her.”. Owls lip was quivering when he said “We accused you of your own mothers murder to save ourselves...”.

“We’re so sorry!” Metis burst out.

Ren felt the urge to slap both of them. “Why did Medjed buy it so easily though?” he asked instead.

Both of them shook their heads “We don’t know… Like we said, we had only finished training a bit before that, but we knew that everything needed to be documented. After we told our story, we thought that we would have to write it down too, but they told us to leave it. We… we were still shook from what happened, so we didn’t question it…”

“So Medjed didn’t ask for a report to begin with?” Futaba managed to ask.

Owl shook his head “No expedition log, no death report.”

Futaba looked at Ren “So the expedition report that we found was made by someone else.”

“We already guessed that this must have been the case, given what we heard from other sources.” Makoto said.

Futaba shook her head “But why did Medjed make it so easy for you?” she asked, desperate.

“Maybe Medjed was unhappy about your mother going there to begin with.” Yusuke uttered.

“The place was off-limits...” Morgana said.

“Could it be that Medjed actually anticipated something like this to happen?” Makoto asked with wide eyes.

“If they really guessed that someone might get murdered, they screwed you over too...” Ryuji said to the two men.

Ren looked at Owl and Metis “What would have happened to her, if she hadn’t fled?” he pointed at Futaba.

Metis swallowed “They probably would have locked her up in the excavation-site… Medjed doesn’t approve death-penalties, but the sentence for murder is lock-up for a lifetime...”

“You were ready to have a little girl locked up for the rest of her life?” Ren growled.

The two men shrunk back at his glare.

Makoto took his hand to calm him down again before saying “What did Medjed do, when they found Futaba gone?”

“When they realized that Hierophant was gone too, they did the maths really quick. We weren’t involved in the process from then on… They really wanted to find you over the first years… I thought that they had stopped looking when everyone just avoided talking about it, but then they got interested again all of a sudden” Owl said.

“The old man really did a good job hiding then...” Ren said to Futaba, who just nodded.

“Did you find out anything about United Future, while you were in there?” Futaba then asked.

The two men shrugged “We found some status-reports about something called Project Metaverse and I believe that Sphinx was able to gain access to the servers, but she did that on her own, so we don’t know what she found.” Owl said.

“She was able to do that?” Morgana looked surprised.

“The entire place was in remarkable shape… I imagine that it was easy to tap into the servers with Sphinx’ computer.” Owl replied.

Ren looked confused “How did you manage to open the door to the server room? Did you find another key?”

Metis looked confused “It was open.”

The Phantom Thieves exchanged a look. “And you found reports, you said?” Makoto asked.

They both nodded.

“Do you think someone wiped the place after?” Ryuji asked Ren.

“Why would the door be locked otherwise?” Ren replied.

“Overall, the place almost appeared too empty...” Makoto said, her finger tapping her chin.

“Oh, you’re right… All we managed to find was those brochures and flyers..” Ann noticed.

“All those offices we went through were empty too.. There were so many shelves and closets, but there was nothing in them.” Haru recalled.

Futaba looked at Owl and Metis again “So they’re still after me because they want to lock me up? But why? It’s obvious, that I’m just their scapegoat and Hierophant and I haven’t given them any trouble since we left! We would have never come looking for answers, if Medjed hadn’t started to pressure us!”

The two men didn’t have an answer to that.

Futaba groaned “Gaah, I hate this! Why couldn’t they just leave us in peace?”

Ren patted her shoulder “We’ll put an end to this.” he calmly said before looking at the two men “We’re gonna take you back to Medjed tomorrow and handle you as a bit of leverage. We promise that no harm will come to you from our side.”.

Owl turned pale “N- No! We have to return tonight! If they know that we left, we’ll be in big trouble! We left the compound unauthorized!” he said in a panicked voice “If his father finds out-”

“Owl, shut up!” Metis hissed.

Ren would have let it slide, but Futabas ears almost literally perked up. She focused on Metis “Who’s your father?” she asked.

Metis remained silent.

The girls eyes darted inbetween Owl and the silent Metis “What’s his name?” she asked with squinted eyes.

“I… I’m not telling.” Metis vaguely said.

Futaba grew impatient. When she stared at Owl, he visibly recoiled with his lips pressed together as if he was scared that words might accidentally slip out of his mouth, if he wasn't careful enough.

Ren raised an eyebrow as he observed Futaba interrogate the two now much more nervous Medjed-members. “Is this the moment where we should turn our backs?” he asked, grinning to himself when he saw the two men looking even more scared.

Futaba smirked “Maybe.” she shrugged before turning to her captives again, enjoying her moment of power. “I saw you gawking at my friend when you entered...” she said while leisurely walking up and down in front of them “Her boyfriend noticed too.” she grinned before she pointed at Ryuji, who was quick to catch her drift and cracked his knuckles. He knew his image. Sometimes it was fun to live up to it. Besides, he was a bit pissed that last night had been tainted by the gross taste of rancid lipgloss.

Makoto gave Ren an alarmed look when he motioned everyone else to turn around. “You can’t be serious!” she hissed.

“Relax. Just enjoy the show.” Ren muttered back.

Futaba exchanged a look with Ryuji before she said “So… I might be able to keep him in check if you drop us a name.” she said sweetly. Beside her, Ryuji demonstratively toyed with his shotgun while trying to keep his amusement unnoticed.

When the two started trembling but still didn’t want to talk, Futaba pointed at Metis “I did see you stare at her cleavage...”. Ryuji actually seemed a bit angry now.

Metis started sweating but still kept his mouth shut.

“For fucks sake, just spit it out!” Ryuji growled and took a step toward them. He never intended to punch them but when he raised his fist, it still had the wanted effect.

Metis recoiled “It’s Cerberus!” he almost yelled, raising his hands in defense.

“See? It’s not that hard.” Ryuji sighed when he dropped his fist again. He looked at Futaba to see her gaping at Metis.

“Like… THE Cerberus?” she asked with wide eyes.

Metis reluctantly nodded.

“Who’s that?” Morgana asked as the rest turned around again.

Futaba was jumping up and down when she couldn’t believe the sheer luck that they had “Daddy Cerberus is a huuuge deal at Medjed! One of the best, back in the old days.” she turned to Metis, as if they were having a casual chat “He’s retired by now, right?”.

“He’s not doing field-research anymore.” Metis answered, a bit confused.

Ren motioned for the others to huddle up. They stood together in a tight circle, Ryuji and Yusuke the only ones looking outwards and at their captives, their guns still pointed at them.

Futaba was still bouncing up and down when she said “We have ourselves a hostaaaage.” she giggled.

“You’re starting to scare me...” Yusuke uttered over his shoulder.

Ren squirmed when he said “It might be scary, but it’s true. We might actually have something to say, if we have the son of...”

“A Medjed-Legend.” Futaba completed.

“Is this really what we want to become? A bunch of kidnappers?” Makoto asked.

Ann winced when she said “We might not have another choice…”

“Holding the son of someone important would give us an edge in negotiations, that we haven’t been planning on before...” Haru gave to mind.

“We’re really doing this?” Morgana asked.

“Yup.” Ren said. “We’ll take them to our place for the night. While you take them there, I’ll go to Medjed and set up a meeting on neutral grounds for tomorrow.”

“I won’t let you go on your own.” Makoto said.

Ren reluctantly nodded “Fine, but it’s only us two. The rest walk Owl and Metis back to the hide-out.”

The Phantom Thieves all nodded before they set the plan into motion. They waited until nightfall, before everyone minus Ren and Makoto walked their hooded captives out of the barn.

It was turning darker and darker by the minute when Ren and Makoto crept through the forest. Ren lit the way with his flashlight.

“Is this really the right approach?” Makoto reluctantly asked.

“I know kidnapping is not something that you approve. I normally wouldn’t either. But right now, it just seems too convenient to let it slide..” Ren answered.

Makoto sighed “Just… please don’t lose your head, if things shouldn’t go the way as planned...”

Rens heart felt heavy when he realized that Makoto was scared of him escalating like he had at Kaneshiros. He shook his head “Don’t worry. I got it under control.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked.

He nodded before reaching for her hand “Yeah. I’m sure. Cause this time, I got you by my side.” He noticed Makotos cheeks turning red, even in the dark.

“Are you saying that what happened happened because it was me who got shot?” Makoto asked.

Ren sighed “How is everyone getting this much faster than I did? I had to have it explained to me by Ryuji...”. He rubbed her hand “But yeah… Turns out you’re my “weakness”, as Ryuji calls it.”

Makoto pulled him to a halt to look him in the dark-gray eyes.

“So don’t worry.” Ren softly said as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face “I’ll be fine, as long as you’re with me.”.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing, that I insisted on coming with you.” Makoto said with a small smile.

“Guess it was.” Ren whispered before leaning in to kiss her.

After their heart-to-heart, they soon arrived at the brightly illuminated container city.

“How do you want to go about with this?” Makoto asked, as they watched the small city from the distance.

“I’d say we just go and knock.” Ren shrugged.

Makoto nodded “Not the most elegant, but probably the most effective way.”

They snuck around the compound to approach from the other side, so the cameras would only took notice of them coming from the complete opposite of the direction of their hide-out and the farmers village. Their path towards the main gate was brightly illuminated by floodlighting.

“Who goes there?!” they heard a voice calling from somewhere above them, when they stood in front of the large gate.

Ren lifted his gaze, only to be blinded by all the lights. He squinted his eyes before saying “If you weren’t making empty threats, I believe that you know who we are...” he called out.

Makoto nudged him in the side before hissing “Take this serious! Futaba said that they don’t respond well to humor!”

Ren rolled his eyes. He knew she was right. He just couldn’t help it most of the time.

Something in the lighting changed on the upper balcony, for it was now showing the people standing up there. They all looked somewhat the same, yet one of them looked like he had a bit more authority than the others.

“Earlier than expected” one of the men bristled. “Where’s Alibaba?”

“Oh, she’s around. Along with some new friends we made.” Ren answered. “You might know them as Owl and Metis, although we got to know a bit about their lineage too...”. He smirked to himself when nervous bustling took place on the balcony.

“You took our people hostage?” the man growled.

Ren was about to say something smug when Makoto cut in “You threatened us and we answered. No harm will come to your associates until we have a talk on neutral grounds tomorrow.”

The man scoffed, visibly squirming under the pressure he was now under “Very well. We will hold you to that promise.”

Ren nodded “Good. We’ll meet tomorrow noon in the abandoned village near United Future. You’re allowed to bring five more people.”

“Agreed.” the man barked before leaving the balcony and therefore ending the conversation.

Ren and Makoto exchanged a look before they left in the direction that they came from.

“This went better than anticipated...” Makoto was able to take a deep breath again, after they disappeared into the woods.

“They looked pretty angry about us taking two of their guys though..” Ren said. “It’s like they were surprised, that something like this would happen...” he shook his head.

Makoto sighed before slowly reaching for his hand again “We have to be careful.. While we think that they are just a bunch of intellectuals, we don’t know if they might set up a trap for us.”

“I know. Especially since we have to take Futaba too.”

“It was the right thing to let her come.” Makoto said.

“And yet I feel like this will all blow up in our faces at some point...”

She squeezed his hand “While I’m still not happy about our new method, I have to admit that having a celebrity-hostage might give us an edge in battle.”

Ren smirked “I thought that we were just going to negotiate.”

Makoto smiled back at him “My sister taught me that negotiating is nothing but a verbal battle.”

“Damn…” he muttered “You’re childhood must have been fun.”

“Sometimes.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smirked “I’m pretty sure that with your skills, we got a good weapon on our hands.”

As they returned to their temporary hide-out, they found Owl and Metis sitting on one of the couches with tied hands and feet. On the couch opposite of them, Ryuji was sitting with his shotgun leaning against his leg on the one side, while Ann was sleeping with her head in his lap on the other. Their two captives seemed to have dozed off too.

“How’d it go?” Ryuji asked.

“We’ll meet them tomorrow in the deserted village near United Future. How was the trip back?” Ren replied.

Ryuji nodded “All good, we didn’t run across anyone on our way here.”

Makoto and Ren nodded in unison. “You need a relieve?” Ren asked.

Ryuji shook his head “I’m good for another hour or so… Noir and Morgana will take over next. You can go and get some rest in the meantime.”

The two leaders nodded before walking back upstairs, leaving Ryuji alone with the two hostages and a sleeping Ann again. The house soon feel quiet entirely, except for the regular changes of guards in the living room. All of them desperately needed the rest for what was about to come tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer and closer to Medjed and to even more answers to even more questions. Let me know your theories and your general thoughts;)


	40. Medjeds Sellout

The Phantom Thieves and their two hostages started walking towards the deserted village in the early morning. While Ren felt like he had a pretty good understanding of thugs and “normal” human beings, their opponent this time felt like an entirely new species. He could only imagine, what kind of spy-ware and other technical gadgets Medjed held in that container-compound. Sometimes he already felt like Futaba was operating on an entirely different level. He dreaded what kind of opportunities their opponents had with the right infrastructure. He was starting to become paranoid.

Makoto and Futaba walked up front with the hostages when Ren called back the others to give out some last orders without their hostages listening in. He felt completely insane, but still, the fear that Medjed might have a secret sign-language didn’t let go of him. “Ann, Yusuke, Morgana and Haru, I want you to split up and keep a low profile. Hide out in the houses or whatever… I don’t want to meet them with all our cards on our sleeve. Let them think that they’re the majority for a while… Maybe they’ll slip up easier then.”

The others nodded.

“We’ll stay in contact over the ear-pieces. Keep an eye on the outside too. Maybe they’re planning an ambush.”

“Do you really think, that they would do something like that?” Ann asked.

Ren shrugged “I have absolutely no idea. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit, but in my head, we’re going up against a bunch of geniuses.”

“Who probably don’t know how to hold a gun.” Ryuji elaborated.

“We all know what Futaba is capable of, even without wielding a gun.” Ren replied “If guns were our only problems, at least I dare to say that we know how those work.”

“You’re making them sound scary...” Ann said. “Futaba just refers to them as a bunch of nerds...”

“A bunch of nerds with god knows how many different tools and inventions to make our life hell.” Ren replied, ending their discussion.

The group split in half before they reached the town. Ren didn’t know where exactly the hidden four would take their place, but that was fine. He couldn’t accidentally give anything away, if he didn’t know. He looked at Futaba, who was still walking ahead with Makoto and their two hostages. Her mothers notebook was peeking out of her backpack. His stomach twisted, when he thought about what they could learn today. Futaba claimed that Medjed was sworn to uncovering the truth and that they took pride in their integrity and work. So who was that force in the background, that seemed to keep them on a tight leash when it came to one of the biggest mysteries? Whatever it was, Ren was eager to gather the missing pieces of this puzzle, although he didn’t know what it would do to Futaba.

They arrived at the town much earlier than agreed on, but both Ren and Makoto had decided last night, that it was better to be there earlier as to avoid giving them the opportunity to rig the place in advance. They stood in the middle of the main street for an hour until they finally noticed movement. Ren stood beside Futaba when he asked “You recognize any of these people?”

“That walking mountain is Metis’ father.” Futaba said. She wasn’t wrong. The man put Ryujis threatening aura to shame as he towered over everyone else with a natural frown on his face. His skin looked like tanned leather lined with scars and wrinkles around his eyes. Everything about him screamed toughness. Ren wondered if he would ever look as cool when he was older.

“And he’s a scientist?” Ren muttered, surprised.

“I was too young to understand back then, but I guess he really did put the “sexy” back in Science.” Futaba replied.

“That doesn’t make sense...”.

Fuaba sighed “Whatever. He was more of an adventurer than a scientist… The ladies were still digging him.” she cast a sideways glance to make sure that Metis was out of ear-shot when she whispered “I’m sure that that one’s not his only child.”

“I mean… I can see why...” Ann said from her hiding spot.

“There certainly is something about him...” Haru giggled.

“Wh-..” Ryuji sputtered.

“Oh please, you’ve gawked after so many girls, I get more than one pass.” Ann dead-panned.

“And you said that Medjed are boring stuck-ups.” Ren replied as he watched Medjeds delegation walking closer. “Anyone else you’re familiar with?”

“Hmm… two of them are carrying weapons, so I guess that those are securities…” Futaba started “The one in the middle is part of the board, so he’s a big one.”

“So that’s the one with the answers?”

Futaba nodded “Likely. The other two, I have no idea. Might be some higher-ups, but I’m not sure.” She looked troubled when she looked up at him “What if they still want to take me with them and lock me up?” she asked all of a sudden. Even if they knew that she didn’t do anything wrong, if they only wanted to find her to keep her quiet, it didn’t make a difference.

Ren gave her shoulder a light squeeze “They have no right to do that. And we won’t let them.”

Futaba nodded when Medjeds delegation came to a halt 10 feet away from them. Ryuji and Makoto stood with Owl and Metis.

The huge man named Cerberus looked at his son “Did they hurt you?” he asked. His voice rasped like sandpaper on wood.

Metis shook his head “They didn’t…”

“We told you we wouldn’t hurt them.” Ren said. “But now that we’re here… why don’t we answer some questions?”

“Alibaba.” the board-member directly addressed her, causing the girls stomach to churn. “I am called Tir. I imagine it’s you, who has the questions.”.

Futaba couldn’t hide her surprise. Had they really anticipated all of this? No… they were just toying with her. “You know that I didn’t have a hand in my mothers death.”

Tir shook his head “I had a suspicion.”

The complete lack of emotion in which he said it caught the girl by surprise “Then… WHY?” she yelled “WHY would you lock me up in the belief that I DID?”

“I have to admit that it was purely to contain information.” Tir said, on the verge of shrugging.

“So you wanted to make us believe that one of our own was a murderer so we'd deliver her to your doorstep.” Ren puzzled together.

“Precisely.”

“The chill with which you are able to tell us this is mind-blowing.” Ren dead-panned.

“Too bad, that you didn’t consider that we double check.” Makoto said.

“Bet you’re feelin’ pretty dumb now, huh?” Ryuji smirked.

“I can assure you, I don’t.” Tir answered.

“Why is United Future off limits?” Futaba asked.

“Because Medjed came to an agreement with a second party.”

“So you sold out.” Ren clarified.

“Sometimes, compromises need to be made.”

Futabas eyes turned into slits “But what about the whole “We will erradicate evil”-bullshit? Something’s obviously wrong with this place! Probably the most wrong!”she exclaimed.

“There is a saying: Live and let live.”

“Then why did you let my mom go there?” Futaba asked.

Tir remained silent.

“Did you know that she could die, when you permitted her to go?” she poked further. Every second that Tir didn’t respond made her angrier. She knew that he knew the answer. When the old man continued to stare at her with that blank expression, something snapped. With a clumsy yet swift motion, Futaba pulled Rens silver gun out his hip-holster and pointed it at Metis. At least that got their attention. Most of all Cerberus’.

“What the-” the man growled and got into motion but Ryuji – while also perplexed – was fast to point his shotgun at him to keep him at bay.

Makoto observed the scene unfold with horror. She continued securing Owl who had an equally surprised look on his face.

Futaba stared Tir straight in the eyes, the gun still pointed at Metis’ head “Answer me!” she screamed “Why did you let my mother GO?!”

Tir swallowed. “We knew that Sphinx wouldn’t have accepted it, if we refused her. Especially since she’s seen the footage that you drew from the archives – without permission, if I may say so.”. The old man folded his hands in front of his belly “We didn’t know what the exact repercussions would be, if we went against the agreement. Sphinx was determined to go. And while the board knew, that Medjed had come to an agreement, we thought that we might be able to outsmart that second party.”

“So you decided to take a gamble.” Ren figured. “You thought that you could get away with it and you let Alibabas mom play the guinea pig in case you didn’t.”

“That’s why noone wanted to join her, right? Those higher-up knew, that you were breaking the agreement before you decided to forbid Sphinx to talk about it.” Makoto said.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow at Cerberus “And you let your son go on that mission?”

The man growled “I didn’t know.”

Futaba felt sick and tears stung in her eyes when she sobbed “You made her a pawn in your stupid politics! My mom was about to uncover the truth behind the shadow infestation. Medjed could have made the biggest discovery in history, if you hadn’t decided to sell out!”. She was shaking when she asked “Are you even sorry?”

Tir didn’t move “I regret that things happened the way they did.”. His voice was without compassion though, as if he had rehearsed the line in advance for any type of sad situation that required a comment.

“But why even come up with this whole lie about Alibaba setting Sphinx up, when everyone could already guess the truth anyway.” Makoto asked.

This time it was Cerberus who spoke up “Everyone guessed that Sphinx must have faced the consequences. When Metis and Owl came up with the lie, we decided to go along with it to put the story behind us.”

Ren felt like his brain was about to catch fire. The sheer lack of emotion with which this clusterfuck of a story was conveyed was making him mad beyond belief. “Except for you didn’t just leave it behind you, but wanted to take an innocent person down with it.”

Tir answered “We knew that Alibaba would have never let this be without looking for answers. In terms of restoring peace and order to the organization, we needed to contain the party that would have kept it a topic.”

“Even if you would have caught me and locked me up, Hierophant would have never forgotten! He would never believe that I had a hand in my mothers death!” Futaba said. It was true. She had no idea why she ever doubted it.

“We were aware of Hierophants reaction. We had no doubt that he would have tried to intervene, as soon as we took you into custody. If he wouldn’t have committed a crime on his own in order to free you, we would have been forced to fabricate one.”

“You would have just locked him up with her?” Ryuji gaped.

Tir nodded “We were also prepared to take more drastic measures, should he have chosen to offer resistance.”

Futaba turned pale when the pistol in her hand started to quiver. She shoved it into Rens hand before storming off to the sides of the street to fall to her knees and retch out the meager breakfast that she had eaten today. They would have killed Sojiro, if he hadn’t been fast enough in getting her out of there. They would have been okay with locking her away her entire life, just to keep their secret safe. She felt as if she was suffocating when her body alternated between sobbing and retching.

Being unable to walk over and console her tore Ren apart. Instead, he continued to hold his gun to Metis’ head. “How did you find us?” he asked Tir.

“We have been informed about an attack on an old bank building.”

“So you care about the mafia too?”

Tir shook his head “What struck our interest was the way How it happened. There is only a handful of hackers who don’t have a history with Medjed. When we were informed that it might have been Alibaba, we sent forth an expedition to investigate.”

“We never gave away the location of our hideout. How were you able to locate us?” Makoto asked.

“Drones. Once you know who to follow, it’s easy.”

Ren had to admit, that if anyone was skilled enough to sneak after them undetected, he would just be able to follow them home. He had just hoped that the time would come a little later.

“While you are operating with code-names, finding your true identities is not a hard feat, Ren Amamiya.” one of the others spoke up for the first time. “You just need to know, where to ask.”

Ren flinched at the sound of his real name.

“The same goes for you, Makoto Niijima and Ryuji Sakamoto. I assume that Yusuke Kitagawa, Haru Okumura and Ann Takamaki along with your other young companion are somewhere nearby too.”

“What makes you think that they’re here with us?” Ren asked, keeping calm.

“Why would you have allowed us to come with one man more than you?”

Ren cursed internally. They really were smart. But then something occurred to him. He pointed at Futaba, who got back to her feet again with wobbling knees “What about her?”

A small quiver appeared on Tirs face.

Ryujis eyes went wide “You don’t know?”

“When you join Medjed, you leave behind your name and take on a code-name. Alibaba, Sphinx, Hierophant,… That’s all they know about you.” she explained as she rejoined Ren. "I've been with Medjed for almost my entire life. It's likely that my mom only told Hierophant my real name. Hierophant gave me his last name as a safety measure, in case they knew moms because she used to introduce herself with only our last name before she became Sphinx…” she took a deep breath “Maybe Medjeds paranoia actually helped me for once. Although the people who seem to want me the most are already standing in front of us.”

Makoto first looked at Ren before turning to Tir “The bank-heist took place far beyond the other side of Tokyo. Does Medjed have that many outside informants?”

“Medjed draws from many different resources and partners.”

“Partners like United Future?” Ren asked.

“We differentiate in value of information instead of brand-name.”

“But what do they have on you? Why are you giving up your integrity because they tell you to?” Futaba asked.

“Even as a collective dedicated to science, we are still obligated to protect our community.”

“So they’re threatening you?” Ryuji asked.

“We agreed to co-exist. As long as we stay out of their way, they stay out of ours.”

“Assuming that what Sphinx discovered is true, United Future is the reason for the shadow infestation. You’re okay with them just doing as they please?” Ren asked.

Tir remained silent.

“If you really didn’t mind, why let her go then?” Makoto pointed out “You must have wanted to know what United Future tried to hide, that’s why you were okay with Sphinx going in there in the first place, right?”

“Humans are flawed and while we as scientiests want to believe that we have a more objective view on life and are able to blend out our impulsiveness, we sometimes have to admit, that we are just humans after all. I admit, that the location off-limits piqued our interest. But when Owl and Metis returned alone, we decided that it was best to leave the place as is.”

“That’s why you faked the reports?” Futaba asked.

“We wanted to make sure, that absolutely noone would want to go there again in the future.”

“And what better way to achieve that, than by claiming that it’s already been searched.” Futaba completed.

Tir nodded.

Ren massaged his temple “Now that we know the truth, how do we proceed from here? You might have guessed already, that we’re not going to let you lock her up to keep your dirt under the carpet.”

Something resembling unease could be seen on Tirs face “I’m afraid, we have to insist.”

“Insist my ass.” Ryuji spat, his shotgun still pointed at Cerberus.

On instinct, Ren stepped in front of Futaba. “Forget it.” he growled. “The way I see it, we’re in a better situation than you. We got two of your guys and we know that you’re a bunch of sell-outs.”

“I’m afraid that this is the reason why you don’t leave us a choice then.” Tir said and with a flick of his head, the two guards drew their weapons.

Ren could have kissed each and every one of them, when the other four Thieves stepped into view. Ann and Yusuke were positioned inside the houses, both pointing their guns at their opponents now, while Haru and Morgana had managed to sneak around them and now stood behind Medjeds delegation, Morgana with a drawn sling-shot. “You knew that all of us were here, so I’d say you’re a bit short-handed concerning weapons too.”

Tir tried to look unimpressed when he looked at Alibaba “I assume that you haven’t told them about the legendary fighting abilities of Cerberus?” he pointed at Ryuji “You know fully well, that a boy with a shotgun won’t hold him off, especially since you’re holding his son. Are you sure, that you want the blood of your companions on your hands?”

Futaba waved her hand “Pft, please, have you looked behind him? We’re good.”

Intrigued by her statement, both Tir and Cerberus looked over their shoulders, only to find a girl with fluffy hair and the sweetest smile on her face. Over her shoulder, a large battle-axe rested. “Good day.” she said. Both of them returned to look at Ren, but what started as amusement had now turned into confusion and even a bit of unease.

“Do you really think that we haven’t thought about back-up too?” Tir asked.

“We didn’t, but I’d think about calling for them, if I were you, especially since you seem to be into “protecting your community” so much.” Ren replied. His arm started to cramp from all the gun-pointing but the fury inside of him kept him going.

“You wouldn’t have brought anyone else, you need a certain amount of people to protect your home.” Tir called their bluff.

“I’m not saying that we have more back-up waiting.” Ren replied before his voice changed to a more threatening tone “But we don’t care how many of you will come at us. We already took down a fucking mafia clan, where each and every one of them was armed to their teeth. Do you really think that we’ll stop at a bunch of scientists? Kaneshiro sealed his fate when he took one of us hostage. Do you want to seal yours?”. He didn't know where this deep and threating voice from deep inside his chest came from all of a sudden, but he decided to go with it for now.

Tir actually looked uncomfortable when his gaze darted between their rooftop-snipers and the Thieves in front of him.

Rens hands were balled into fists when he said “So call off your back-up and let’s strike a deal, before I change my mind.”

The leader nodded “Very well.” he diplomatically folded his hands again “What is your proposition?”

It felt like a weight dropped off Futabas chest. Beside her, she noticed how Ren instantly relaxed too. He took down his gun before motioning Ryuji to do the same. While this rather fast change of positions came very surprisingly, she decided to not question it for now.

“We walk away. The Phantom Thieves weren’t able to capture the – very elusive – Alibaba and that’s that.” Ren said.

Makoto continued for him “Our real names and location stay with you and your secret about United Future stays with us. We won’t tell, if you don’t. You will never come looking for us and especially not Alibaba and Hierophant ever again and we give you back Owl and Metis.”

Tir exchanged a look with his comrades before slowly nodding. “We agree to your terms. Both sides will observe secrecy considering this agreement.”

Ren nodded “Very well.” he gave Tir one last intense glare “If you go back on your word and leak our identities and location, we will be back and I will set all of your precious research on fire. And I will watch it burn and I will laugh.”. He ignored the weird looks that he received from his team-mates. What mattered more was the nervous gulp that Tir made.

“We have a deal.” Tir eventually said.

“We have a deal.” Ren repeated before signaling for Makoto to let Owl go. Their two hostages carefully walked over to the other side, looking horrified.

Futaba was clinging to Rens arm as all of them watched Medjeds delegation walk away. She couldn’t believe it. They had really managed to entirely free her and Sojiro from their past with Medjed.

When all of them reunited in the middle of the street again, they let out a collective long sigh.

“That was some intense negotiating.” Morgana said.

“I have to admit that Cerberus looked a lot scarier up close..” Haru said.

“No shit… I’m kinda glad that we didn’t have to fight him.” Ryuji said.

“Over all, this has been a far better outcome than our last mission.” Yusuke said.

“I’m glad that this is all over now.” Makoto sighed before putting a hand on Futabas shoulder “How are you feeling?”

Futaba slowly nodded “I’ll be okay. After all… I guess they just confirmed what we already suspected. They sold out and made a deal with the villains. They broke the agreement by letting my mom go, so they covered it up to safe their faces.” the girl sighed “It really was about politics… She died because she knew too much.”

“I’m sorry...” Ren put his arm around her.

A small smile appeared on her face when she said “I guess she really did what she was living for until her last breath: Searching for the truth.”

“Do you think that Medjed can be trusted on their word?” Yusuke asked.

Futaba nodded “I was standing right in front of them. They wouldn’t let us just walk off, if they already knew that they were going to break the agreement.”

“They could still just leak our location anyway, right?” Ann asked, concerned.

“Thanks to Wakabas notebook, we also have a lot to leak about Medjed. Having Ohya spread the word that the self-proclaimed eradicators of evil turned a blind eye to the freaking organization that caused the whole damn shadow-problem should rile up enough people to make their life hell, even before I come back to burn their place down.” Ren replied.

“You were really intense back there...” Morgana admitted.

“A bit too intense, even.” Makoto said.

Ren sighed “I know… but it still had the effect that I hoped for.”

“I thought it was awesome.” Ryuji grinned “It’s better to leave it a well-delivered threat than actually having to do it later.”

Ann looked around the town before saying “We should get going before the shadows show up again. If we start walking now, we might be able to get to Tokyo before nightfall.”

Everyone agreed except for Futaba, who was busy yawning. Ren already knew where this was going.

Their walk was a little slower than normal since Ren had to carry a sleeping Futaba on his back. At least this time the additional weight of their backpacks was taken off their shoulders when Yusuke and Haru volunteered to carry them. As they slowly approached the big city, Ann and Morgana scouted ahead to find a convenient place to stay the night and rest up. They eventually settled for a small apartment on the first floor of a small apartment block. As everyone was working on securing the windows and doors as to not have to stand watch, Ren put Futaba down onto the bed. He just hoped that she was up again by tomorrow. The girl could have a very strange sleeping rhythm when under stress. But who could blame her. She had been through far too much over the last days. Now that all of their questions were answered, he felt that he would be able to sleep a bit better too tonight.

Makoto had to smile when she saw Ren standing by Futabas bed. She walked up to him and massaged his shoulders. “She must have drained all her batteries, as she would call it.”

Ren smirked and nodded “She’s not the only one.” he whispered. “I’m just relieved that we were able to settle things like we did.” he turned around and locked his arms around her waist “So, any thoughts on our verbal battle?”

Makoto nodded before saying “Your negotiation skills still leave a lot to be desired...”

Ren smirked when he muttered into her ear “Maybe you can tutor me some time.”

Makoto gave him a raised eyebrow before saying “I believe that would be advisable.”

Ren cast a last look at his sleeping sister “We should let her sleep. I just hope that she’s up by tomorrow.”. He took Makotos hand and led her out into the living room, where the rest of the Phantom Thieves was sitting.

“Am I the only one who felt like the conclusion to this was a little… underwhelming?” Yusuke asked after Ren and Makoto sat down.

“They did back away from wanting Futaba fast...” Ann agreed.

“Ren made a convincing point though...” Ryuji grinned.

“Let’s just be grateful for now. We protected Futaba-chan and Boss.” Haru concluded.

“And we are in the possession of a crucial bit of information, that even Medjed doesn’t seem to have.” Makoto said.

They all went quiet for a moment before Ann said “But did we really want to know?”

“Would you have preferred to live a lie?” Morgana asked.

Ann shrugged “Not a lie… But now we are one of the only people who know that the reason for the Shadow infestation wasn’t just a force of nature that came upon us, but actually something that a group of people planned to happen...”

Yusuke cleared his throat “I have to agree that being able to believe that it wasn’t humanity itself, that brought this fate upon us, is a far less dire thought...”

“And since the place has been wiped, we wouldn’t even know where to investigate further...” Morgana said. “All we know is that Futabas mother found out that United Future was responsible. But how do you even break down the barrier between our world and the underworld?”

“I mean, I’m down for busting bad guys as much as the next guy, but...” Ryuji pointed out.

Haru reluctantly nodded “United Future seems to be too big an opponent for us...”

“We also said that about Kaneshiro...” Ren pointed out. When everyone responded with raises eyebrows, he quickly added “Just saying. Please don’t let yourself get abducted...”

Makoto was aware of the sideways-jab, but she knew that she deserved it.

The group fell silent again, before Yusuke spoke up “While we did manage to obtain a lot of new, disturbing information, it still feels like we are walking away with more mysteries...”

“I agree...” Ren reluctantly said “Still better than getting shot though...”

Ryuji was the first to chuckle at his remark.

Makoto got up “We should get some sleep. We have a long walk ahead.”

They looked around the living room until Ryuji eventually sighed “Let me guess, we don’t have enough beds?”

“There’s only a double bed in the bed room.” Makoto said.

Ann got up too before saying “Us girls should be able to squeeze together...” She bent down to give Ryuji a kiss on the cheek before walking into the other room.

“Good night, everyone.” Haru said before she and Makoto retreated to the other room as well.

After the door closed, the guys started to set up the pull-up couch. Morgana decided to take advanted of his body size and made himself a bed out of the three big cushions of the sofas back-rest.

“I feel like a sardine...” Yusuke uttered as Ryuji turned off the flashlight.

“Still better than getting shot.” Ren replied. He stared at the ceiling for a bit and let the day pass by in front of his eyes. They had only come here to clear Futabas name and yet they stumbled over so many new things. But Morgana were right. Since United Future cleaned the place, they had no idea where to continue looking and they seemed to be far too big a force to be going up against. He didn't realize when his eyes fell shut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes the Medjed-arc! While the showdown against Kaneshiro was something like a real war, this one was more of an information-war with the Phantom Thieves finding out a few things about the world that they live in along with clearing Futabas name. I hope you enjoyed it. I guess that Futabas back-story was the most different from the original and it really took me a while to figure out how to make a Medjed-arc in this setting. Overall, I think I'm satisfied with how it turned out. This is the first time that the Thieves unknowingly get in contact with the "big evil" of the story and while - as they also point out - the conclusion sends them home with more mysteries than answers, everything will start to make a bit more sense later on. 
> 
> I want to thank all of you for giving this story a chance and then for sticking around to see where all of this is going. Seeing how every new chapter gets a consistent number of Hits makes me incredibly happy and I feel honored, that so many people seem to enjoy my story so much, that they're ready to catch up with it twice a week:) So thank you for all your support, either by commenting (please do, I love hearing your thoughts), by leaving Kudos or by just returning every new chapter:)


	41. Time Doesn’t Stop When The Protagonists Are Gone

Futaba didn’t wake up the next morning. It didn’t matter that while being squeezed into a bed with three others, she almost fell out twice during the night. When Ann and later Ren tried to wake her up in the morning, it was to no avail. She was in full on sleep-coma, as she sometimes would call it, although it’s been a while since she’s been in so much emotional stress that she needed to sleep for days at once.

Ren could already imagine how much his back would hurt by the end of the day, when he picked her up and somehow arranged her limp body onto his back. It felt like carrying a bunch of wet clothes. At least the sun wasn’t as relentless as it had been a few days ago.

The air was still comfortably chilly when they left the apartment building. Lucky for Ren, his team-mates were ready to take over carrying their bonus luggage. The walk home was still a lot slower than planned, so they had to take another break when they reached the other end of Tokyo.

Sojiro Sakura wasn’t a guy to show his worry. He handled it by being grumpier than usual and by getting angry, making empty threats that wouldn’t change a thing anyway, if the people in question were really dead. He had watched the kids go on expeditions many times. Since there wasn’t really a way to know when they would return, he had gotten used to the slight feeling of unease, as soon as the third or fourth day passed by. The entire house being much quieter than usual didn’t help in taking his mind off of things. He knew that they would be okay. Even when he still was threatening Ren about looking after Futaba, he knew that the kid would never let anything happen to her. That’s why he didn’t insist on going with them. While he would have loved to give Medjed a piece of his mind, he knew that it would do more bad than good. When his concentration snapped back to his actual task, he quickly drew away the watering can after almost drowning one of Harus cucumber plants.

The remaining Thieves had split the others chores. While Haru only trusted Sojiro to take care of her plants, the chicken-feeding duty was handed to Shinya and the other around-the-house-tasks were split between Hifumi and Mishima.

When Sojiro walked into the kitchen, he saw Hifumi doing the dishes from breakfast. The girl was quiet, she didn’t often initiate conversations, but Sojiro could tell that she was a kind soul, ever since he met her at Madarames gallery, when she had been nothing but a scared child, deadly focused on Shogi to blend out all the horrible things happening around her. Living with them had really changed her. While she got along best with Makoto, she also seemed to be quite fond of Futaba and vice versa, since the orange-haired girl referred to her as her “Strat-partner”. He sighed when he dropped down on a chair. “It’s getting a bit lonely around here, huh?”

Hifumi was taken by surprise by his sudden remark. She turned around to look at him “You’re right… It’s almost starting to get boring.” she said with a guarded smile.

Sojiro chuckled “Am I not enough of a Shogi-opponent for you anymore?”. They had to admit that with only the four of them at home, evenings tended to get boring too.

Hifumi smiled back at him “I don’t mean to offend, but your moves tend to be very alike, each round that we play.”

“I can’t be worse than Mishima though.” Sojiro said.

Hifumi pushed a strand of hair behind her ear “You are a lot quicker with making decisions.”. Indeed, while Mishima knew the rules of Shogi and how it was played, his biggest problem was his fear of making decisions. Shogi-matches with him turned into hour-long ordeals, simply because the young boy spends an eternity making moves before recalling them and sulking over what to do next. There was still something that Hifumi liked about his thoughtful and overly careful style. At least he didn’t throw tantrums or got angry after losing, like some other kid in this house.

“I’m sure you didn’t think you’d be wrapped up in all of this stuff, when you decided to come with us...” Sojiro said when he recalled Futaba telling him that Hifumi was forced to get her hands bloody too during their escape from the bank.

Hifumi focused on drying a plate when she thought of her answer “To be honest, I think I wouldn’t know where else to go. When you took down Madarame and freed all of us… I thought that the only thing I could do was play Shogi. I thought that it was my identity and my only ability. If I wouldn’t have gone with you, I would have never realized how many other things I’m capable of.” she smiled. “I think I found my place, now that I’m here.”

Sojiro smiled back at her. Ren and the others really had a gift for opening other peoples minds. “And we’re glad to have you.” he said before getting up again.

He walked into the living room to find Shinya perched over Hifumis Shogi-board, only the pieces seemed to be placed for a strategy of his own. “Watcha up to, kid?” he asked.

Shinyas head darted up. There was a bit of anger but also embarrassment in his face before he forced himself to look neutral “Nothing.” he replied. His voice always carried a little bit of defiance in it, streaked with a little bit of pouting, like he was already anticipating to be scolded or belittled.

Sojiro shrugged “Okay...” he replied. While he was used to having Morgana around, he hadn’t been quite able to read the second little kid of the gang. He always seemed to be at war with something, that noone else was able to see. He was about to leave the living room again when the kid decided to talk after all.

“I’m… trying to come up with a strategy...” he quietly mumbled.

“You’ll have to speak up, kid. My ears are not what they used to be.” Sojiro replied.

“I said, I’m trying to come up with a strategy.” Shinya repeated.

Sojiro sat down at the table and looked at the board. There was a single piece on the one side, that was surrounded by many others. “Looks like a tough situation...” he noted.

“But it’s doable…. Right?” Shinya asked. “The lonely one should be able to take everyone down, if he just gets stronger and quicker than all of them.”

Sojiro scratched his head when saying “The others are a lot bigger in numbers alone though… How strong are they?”

“Not very. Average kid strength.” Shinya replied.

“Is the lonely one here supposed to be you?” Sojiro asked.

Shinya made a face before quietly mumbling “Uhuh...”

“What?”

“YES!” Shinya almost yelled at him now, visibly embarrassed of having to say it out loud.

“And who are the others?” Sojiro asked.

“Some kids from the other village…”

“I didn’t know that there were so many kids there..”

Shinya sighed before answering through gritted teeth “They’re not just children… Some of them are older kids too.”

“And why are they all pitted against you?” Sojiro asked.

“Jealousy?” Shinya replied, although it was obvious that even he didn’t believe his words. When Sojiro just waited and continued to look at him, he faltered eventually “They’re always making fun of me…”

“Why’s that?”

The kid gritted his teeth again “Last time I was there, one of them pushed me… Haru saw and she reprimanded him in front of everyone. Now they keep calling me a mommas-boy… She’s not even my mom!” he pouted.

Sojiro sighed and shook his head. Kids sure could be idiots. “Well you better not be mad at Haru. She only wanted to help you.”

Shinya crossed his arms and huffed “I know… But she should have just left me be. Now I have to go to war with them and show them that I’m not a wimp.”. He pointed to the board “That’s why I’m working on my strategy now.”

“Well I don’t know anything about strategy and childrens wars… Maybe Umbra can help you.” Sojiro scratched his head.

Shinya sighed “No! She would only say that I should make an undetected approach and wait for the right moment to strike from the shadows. But that’s what cowards do! Real fighters need to confront their enemies head on!”

Sojiro raised an eyebrow “I don’t know, kid.. If these are the real numbers you’re up against, it might be wise to listen to her.”

Shinya frowned “I have to do this on my own! I don’t need anyones help. I’ll figure it out by myself. I’ll show them, that I’m tough.”

Sojiro raised his hands and got out of the chair “Whatever you say...” he said. That kid was far too proud. The old man had no doubt that if he wanted to face all of them head-on, he would get himself the beating of a lifetime. But he had learned that sometimes there just was no getting through to kids, especially if they were as strong-headed as Shinya and others he knew.

As he walked out the house to water the few flowers that they had in the front-yard, he spotted Mishima approaching from his trip outside, carrying a big bundle of something in his hands. He noticed a smug look on his face, as the gate slowly started to swing shut behind him.

“Are the others back?” Mishima asked.

“Not yet...” Sojiro said.

“That’s a shame. I hope they return soon. We should get rid of this by today or tomorrow.” he grinned when he opened to wrapping paper a bit to reveal pieces of fresh meat.

While he couldn’t help but be excited about the look of some high-quality meat, Sojiro couldn’t help but frown “Where did you get that?” he looked the young man up and down. “And is that a new jacket too?”

Mishima nodded “I walked around a bit and was recognized by some of the people we helped before. I was planning on buying the meat, but then I realized that I didn’t have anything on me to trade. So I asked if they were willing to donate it to us. When I told them about all the things that happened at Kaneshiros bank, they were more than willing to support us. One of them even gave me his jacket, when I said that mine was a bit tattered after all the sneaking around...” Mishima was almost boasting.

Sojiros eyebrows furrowed before growling “You can’t just walk around, boasting about our deeds and take everything from them! They would be able to make quite a lot of money with meat like this!”

Mishima looked surprised when he sputtered “B- But we helped them too… Don’t we deserve some tokens of their gratitude?”

“You idiot. These kids don’t bust their asses because they’re looking for retribution.” he pointed at him “We don’t need their luxuries, and you shouldn’t go around talking about everything that happened so freely either. You can’t just go around and ask for them to give you things out of pity and of bad conscience.”. The kid in front of him seemed to shrink by the second. “You go and give those good people back their things, you hear me?”

“Y- Yes, Boss….” Mishima stammered before hurrying out the gate again.

The old man sighed. It wasn’t the first time that Mishima was more than ready to boast with his status on the Phantom Thieves. Since he was their contact person, he was probably the most widely known of them but what started to worry the old man was, that he seemed to be more than ready to abuse his popularity and therefore his power.

The rest of their day passed by as quiet as all the days before. Mishima returned in the evening, avoiding Sojiros eye-contact like a beaten puppy before he locked himself in his room. Sojiro played another round of Shogi with Hifumi, this time concentrating on alternating his strategy, but the girl still defeated him with ease with the power of the Togo-Kingdom, as she liked to call it.

They had waited for another day, when the rest of the Phantom Thieves finally returned during the last hours of light of the day. When Sojiro walked out to great them, the first thing he noticed was Futaba slumping on Ryujis back, her head dangling over his shoulder. Judging by the others unbothered faces, he was quick to figure out that she was just asleep up there. All of them looked far too tired to talk, so he quietly followed them inside. He took the sleeping Futaba off of Ryujis back and carried her upstairs himself. He carefully put her down on her bed before drawing the blanket over her. When she didn’t look like waking up soon, he walked back downstairs to find everyone gathered in the living room. “Long walk, huh?” he said.

Ren nodded “Especially with one of us asleep the entire way...”

Makoto added “We’re sorry for taking so long, but we had to make an additional stop on the way back...”

“I hope that you didn’t run into trouble while we were gone?” Haru asked.

Sojiro shook his head “I think we did just fine. It was bit quiet though.”. He scratched his goatee before asking “And Futaba…?”

“Drained batteries...” Ren replied, knowing that Sojiro was familiar with the term. “She fell asleep as soon as we walked away from our stand-off with Medjed.”

Sojiro nodded “So everything is done now?”

They all nodded in unison “They won’t bother us any longer.” Makoto said.

“That’s a relief...” Sojiro said before asking “So Wakaba…?”

“I think it’s best if Futaba tells you everything, once she’s back up again.” Ren replied.

The old man nodded before saying “You guys must be starving. I’ll go prepare dinner.”

Ryuji let out a loud groan when he kicked off his shoes and leaned back in his seat “God, it’s good to be back...”

“I can’t wait for that dinner… It’s been a while since we last got something warm to eat...” Yusuke said with a rumbling stomach.

“I’m just looking forward to not having to carry anyone any time soon...” Ren sighed.

“Hear, hear...” Ryuji agreed.

After a replenishing dinner, Sojiro carried a plate upstairs and placed it on the bedside table beside the still sleeping Futaba. He sighed as he sat down at the corner of her bed and looked at her, huddled into the blanket, breathing evenly. How often had he watched her like this, after she had helped her mother with something, days and nights without a break, only to then completely collapse and sleep for days without interruption. It was mostly the case right before Wakaba had to go on a mission, when both of the Isshikis were busy with preparations.

Futaba wasn’t dreaming. Falling into a state like this always meant that her brain completely ceased to think of anything but keeping her alive. The first thing she took in after her hibernation was the warm and comforting smell of Sojiros stew, that wafted into her nose. She slowly opened her eyes to a bowl of steaming food in front of her, before she noticed Sojiro sitting at her side, a warm smile on his face.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” he said.

Futaba yawned as she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes “How long was I out this time?”

“According to Ren it must be the third day.”

“I could go on, but I think my body needs something to eat.” Futaba said.

“That’s why I brought you dinner.”

“Thanks...” she said before grabbing the bowl. After the first spoon-full, a fuzzy warmth spread inside her stomach.

“How are you feeling?” Sojiro asked. While Ren told him to talk to Futaba about everything that happened at Medjed, he was somehow reluctant to bring it up straight on.

Futaba reluctantly nodded before asking “Did Ren tell you everything yet?”

Sojiro shook his head.

The girl reluctantly swallowed her next bite “I found Moms notebook...” she started before putting her bowl aside to reach for her backpack, that someone had placed beside her bed. She handed it to him.

Seeing the cartoon Sphinx tugged at his heart. He had been there when she drew her first drafts before finally settling on one design to then draw on the notebook.

When Futaba saw that he just held it, she continued “The place that I sent her to was the real deal. She found out that this organization/political party/whatever was responsible for the shadow infestation. Do you remember something called United Future?”

“I might recall them from some posters.. but that was 50 years ago.”

Futaba pushed around the food in her bowl “It seems that they’re still active and trying to keep their fuck-up – language, I know – under covers. One of them killed her and threatened her companions into silence.”

“So Medjed didn’t know that it was someone else?”

Futaba bristled “Oh, they did. Turns out that the reason why that drone footage was in the archives without being investigated was because Mejded had to strike a deal with United Future to stay clear of their property. When Mom wanted to go there, they a) couldn’t deny her and b) saw an opportunity to maybe sneak in undetected and get that juicy intel anyway.”

Sojiro listened to his daughter with wide eyes.

“When the other two returned and came up with the lie, they already guessed the real reason but decided to go with their story anyway because they knew that I would start investigating.” she gulped before eventually looking back up at Sojiro. “If you hadn’t taken me away from there, they would have locked both us up, just to keep quiet.”

Sojiros stomach was in knots. They both were here now just because he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Thinking about Medjed wanting to lock her up her entire life had somehow stopped upsetting her, but when she looked at Sojiro, her father, she still couldn’t stop the tears stinging in her eyes when she recalled Tir telling them, that they would have been ready to kill him too, if need be. She put her bowl aside and lunged across the bed to wrap her arms around his neck.

He continued to sit and hold her for minutes, until she eventually let go of him again. “When we met up with them, they still wanted to take me in, but Ren threatened them.” she continued.

“He did What?” Sojiro was alarmed.

“We… might have taken some of them hostage. Hey! Did you know that one of her companions was The Cerberus' son?”

“Back up, you took someone hostage?!” Sojiros voice rose.

Futaba sheepishly scratched her head “Hehe… yeah… Your old pal from the farming village says Hi though.”

Sojiro sighed and shook his head. “The most important thing is, that we’re all safe now...”

Futaba nodded “Yeah. As long as they keep quiet, we will too.”

Sojiro shook his head in disbelieve. “Maybe I should have come with you guys after all...”

“I guess it was better that you didn’t…” Futaba said. “You would have been much too upset and that would have been bad for your heart.”

“I’m not that old...”

“Still...” Futaba took back her bowl and concentrated on pushing around the food again “We would have never learned the truth, if Mom hadn’t figured out that Medjed was hiding something from her beforehand. She wrote all of it down in her book until her very last moments...” she gulped before flipping the notebook open to the last page.

“Futaba...” Sojiro muttered with worry when he came upon the last three words, that Wakaba must have written in a hurry when she realized that she was out of time.

“It’s okay… I think I’m out of tears for now.”

He shook his head “I’m so sorry, that you had to go through all of this. It should have been me, who fixes this mess.”

“No. I’m really done now with leaving it to others to fix my problems. I couldn’t have done it on my own. But I had Ren and the others with me. They might not always know what I need, but neither do I.” she shrugged “But I guess we did pretty good nonetheless. I got to confront Medjed, and that’s all I wanted. I don’t want to be hiding behind you and Ren anymore to watch you fix things for me. And I don’t know what could have been related to myself more, than my own mothers murder-story.” a small smile appeared on her face when she said “Maybe it was her, that gave me strength.”

“I’m proud of you, kid. And I’m sure Wakaba is too.” Sojiro said.

Futaba nodded “Thanks. I think so too. I even went back to a crime scene to look for answers. Exactly like mom would have done.”

Sojiro decided that it was best for his heart not to ask what exactly she meant by that.

Futaba smirked when she pushed the empty bowl into his hands “Thanks for bringing me dinner. I really needed to fuel up my energy.”

Sojiro smiled “So you’re awake now?”

“Nope. I’m going straight back to sleep.” when she saw Sojiros worried face she added “But I think I should be up for breakfast tomorrow.”

The old man tussled her hair before leaving the room. That not-so-little girl really was something.

He slowly walked downstairs, when he heard loud groaning coming from the living room. Judging from the voice, he guessed that it was Ryuji. His eyebrows were already raised when he turned to look inside. In the middle of the living room floor, Ryuji was laying face-down, while Ann walked up and down his back with bare feet. Around them, the others reactions reached from horrified over disturbed up to curious and amused.

“What the hell are they doing?” Sojiro asked as he walked up beside Ren and Makoto with crossed arms.

“They claim it to be a massage, but I’m not so sure...” Ren replied.

“It is!” Ryuji protested from the floor.

Ann smirked at Ren “Your back must be pretty sore too after carrying Futaba for two days.”

“I can’t deny that...” Ren reluctantly replied.

“Then you can go next.” Ann smiled. “Or I can teach Makoto, if that’s what you prefer.”

“I don’t know, I think I’m generally the type that doesn’t like to be stepped on.” Ren replied.

“Don’t mock it until you try it.” Ryuji replied, his face showing both relaxation and pain.

“Yeah! Come on! I’ll go easy on ya!” Ann grinned before digging her toes into the tense muscles beneath the blonde boys shoulder blades, causing him to let out another sigh.

Yusuke chuckled “I have to admit, this is starting to pique my interest...”

“Fine, I guess you can go after Ren then.” Ann sighed.

“Lady Ann, can you step on me too?” Morgana asked.

“Oh, hell no!” Ryuji replied.

“I’m afraid that would be too much...” Ann turned him down, leaving the kid pouting. She made another walk up and down Ryujis back before stepping down “I think you’re done.” she announced.

Ryuji slowly climbed back to his feet and stretched his back. “Aaaah… much better.” he groaned “Thanks.”

Ann grinned and pointed at Ren “You’re up next.”

“I think I’ll pass…” Ren skeptically said.

Ryuji smirked before imitating chicken noises. The two boys soon started going along with him.

Ren rolled his eyes “Fine.”. He turned to Makoto “Avenge me, if I die.”.

Makoto gave him a kiss on the cheek and watched him get down on the floor.

“Ready?” Ann asked with a grin.

“No...” Ren replied but Ann knew him too long, so she stepped onto his back anyway. While skeptical at first, Ren had to admit that the blonde girl knew what she was doing, when she walked around on him surefooted, hitting all the right muscles that had turned into knots over the last days.

“Soo, whaddaya say?” Ryuji grinned as he was squatting beside him.

“I have to admit, it’s not too bad.” Ren replied.

“Right?” Ann asked from above him.

“I have to ask, did you learn this technique only to get close to Ryuji or was there another reason?”

He wasn’t able to see it, but Anns face turned red in an instant.

Ryuji chuckled “You did?”

Ann dug her heel into Rens muscles “You shouldn’t mess with the one standing on your back!” she warned.

But Ren pushed through the torture and smelled his chances to mess with the two blondes. He waited for Ryuji to look at him again before he asked “So is the whole dominatrix-act only her thing or is it yours too?”. On the couches, both Makoto and Haru were quick to cover the two younger boys’ ears.

While Ryuji only managed to sputter with a bright-red head, Ann found her voice again “I don’t know why you’re so interested in the things that we’re into. Are you looking for inspiration for you and Makoto?” she asked sweetly.

Ren saw Makotos red face out of the corner of his eye “No comment.” he said.

“Thought so.” Ann replied with a satisfied grin before she looked at Makoto. “Although my offer still stands. I can teach you where to step, if you’d like.”

“I think I’ll leave it to the professionals” Makoto replied, visibly uncomfortable.

Ann shrugged before stepping down again “All done. How does it feel?”

Ren climbed back to his feet and twisted his back a couple of times “Better.” he admitted.

“Next!” Ann called out.

“I’d like to give it a try too.” Yusuke got up and placed himself on the floor without hesitation.

“You better not have a foot-fetish.” Ryuji warned the artist.

“Why am I the first that you’re telling this?” Yusuke asked, his face unchanged when Ann stepped onto him.

Ryuji shrugged “I dunno. You’re weird.”

“You’re so fragile… I’m almost scared of breaking your ribs...” Ann remarked as she stood on the narrow mans back.

“Oh, please don’t let my slender posture mislead you.” Yusuke replied.

Ann continued to carefully walk up and down, although she now did it with much more constraints. Yusuke didn’t have no muscles at all, but something about his body made him appear rather fragile.

“May I get a massage too?” Haru asked with a smile, leaving the rest gaping at her.

Ann shrugged “Sure.”

As Haru positioned herself on the floor, Ann carefully stood on her shoulder blades. “Oh my god, Haru, you're super tense!” she exclaimed before she carefully started to move around.

“Well… a lot happened over the last week.” Haru pointed out “Besides, carrying around my axe on my back does leave its toll after a few days.”

Ann didn’t go easy on the brown-haired girl, when she dug her heels and toes into the knotted and tense muscles in her back. Haru never even complained or made any noise. By the time the blonde girl was done, she looked like she had almost fallen asleep.

“You are one tough cookie...” Sojiro admitted.

Haru beamed at Ann “Thank you so much. I’m going to sleep so well tonight.”

“You’re welcome.” Ann smiled in return.

“I wish you would have been able to massage me too, Lady Ann. I would have loved to feel your feet on my back.” Morgana said.

Ren chuckled at Ryuji, who was already staring at the kid with narrowed eyes “Maybe Morgana is the one with the undiscovered hidden foot-fetish...”

“I’m watching you...” Ryuji pointed at Morgana.

“What’s your problem, blondie?” Morgana replied.

“Ugh, stop fighting you two.” Ann interrupted them.

“Exactly.” Ren replied before smirking “You saw Ryujis back, you don’t want to make her angry.”

Morganas eyes went wide “You mean it was Lady Ann, who did that?!”

Ren ignored the constant poking in the ribs from Makoto, most likely trying to tell him to stop making so many unfitting remarks in front of two kids.

Both Anns and Ruyjis heads had turned red again when Ann struggled for a kid-friendly answer “Well…. You see… It wasn’t because I was mad at him...”

“Did I miss something?” Sojiro asked.

“Ann and Ryuji are an item now.” Ren explained.

A smirk appeared on Sojiros face “So they finally figured things out...”

“Yeah, but it was a really painful and awkward process.” Ren remarked.

“Hey!” Ryuji called out. “It’s not like you weren’t entertained by my misery!”

Sojiro shook his head with a smile “Well, I’m happy for you two.”

Ryuji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck when he cast Ann a look “Heh… Thanks...”

“Are there any changes with Futaba-chan, Boss?” Haru asked.

“She was up for a bit to eat and tell me what happened.” he leaned against the door frame “I want to thank you for looking out – no, helping – her find the truth. I know that you all did your best to support her. After hearing what happened to Wakaba, I don’t want to imagine what it would have done to her, if you hadn’t helped her become a stronger person over the last years.”

The Phantom Thieves smiled at him before Makoto said “There’s no need to thank us. We were happy to help.”

“Yeah, you gotta stop acting like you hired us to be her babysitters. We’re a family.” Ryuji said.

“So… the shadows…” Sojiro started.

“Apparently Wakaba found the truth within United Futures’ servers, which cost her her life.” Ren said.

“Futaba said that she must have had a laptop with her… I wonder what became of that.” Ann suddenly recalled.

“I suppose the killer must have disposed of it while cleaning the place...” Makoto said.

“I can’t believe that a bunch of wannabe-politicans are responsible for the downfall of society.” Sojiro shook his head. “And to think that Medjed took a step back from investigating this is even more painful...”

“By the way… you never really told us what your job at Medjed was.” Yusuke pointed out.

Sojiro sighed “It’s complicated… It all started with me falling for a smart girl, who wanted to work there...”

“Was that Futabas Mom?” Morgana asked.

“Duh.” Ryuji replied with rolling eyes.

“When they agreed to take her and Futaba in, she convinced the board that I could be useful too, even if it was only for cooking. They asked me to do all sorts of stuff. Sometimes I would go on missions outside, but most of the time I would cook for the camp...”

“How did you get along with them? The ones we met seemed hella annoying.” Ryuji said.

Sojiro chuckled “That’s why I mostly stuck with Wakaba and Futaba.”

“Well, they shouldn’t cause us trouble anymore.” Morgana said.

Haru seemed reluctant for a moment before saying “I don’t know about you, but after finding out all these things about United Future, doesn’t it feel… wrong… to just walk away from this?”

“I can’t say that I didn’t think about it…” Ren admitted.

“But it’s safe to assume that even if there were other incriminating locations, they would be cleaned after the incident with Wakaba too.” Makoto pointed out.

“Besides, and I can’t stress this enough, they have a killer on the loose.” Ren pointed out “Probably not just one, if they manage to keep the entirety of Medjed under their thumb.”

“If the remainings of United Future control Medjed, wouldn’t it also be possible for them to force Medjed into releasing our data, if they realize that we’re onto them?” Yusuke pointed out.

“That’s a valid point.” Makoto said. “Over all, we were able to answer a lot of our questions, but there are still so many holes in Medjeds story… But as sad as it is… We can’t investigate this any further.”

Everyone nodded in agreement before the whole room fell quiet. Ren was the first to get up when he said “I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to reconnect with my mattress again.” he said.

Ryuji grinned “Me too.”

“That futon from last night will haunt my dreams.” Yusuke said, getting back to his feet too.

“We’re back home and that’s all that counts. Now we have plenty of time to lay low and relax. And hey, maybe we can even pick up work as the Phantom Thieves again!” Morgana was motivated.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Ann agreed.

“It might be okay to start reaching out to people again.” Makoto said.

“Mishima told Ohya after all, that it’s us who’s going to find the people that need our help.” Ryuji grinned.

The normally so shy Mishima frowned for what felt like the first time, since they met him “I told you, that I was misquoted! I gave her the stupid interview, you should be thankful.”

Ryuji, along with everyone else, was too perplexed to say anything when Mishima angrily walked out the living room. “Um…” the blonde boy eventually said, completely confused.

Sojiro sighed “I think our leader needs to have heart-to-heart talk with him in the next days. I’m starting to worry that the kid’s losing sight of what we stand for.”

Ren nodded “I’ll look into it. But not today.” he looked at Ryuji “You think you can sleep in the same room as him without murdering him in his sleep?”

“I’m way too confused to do anything right now...” Ryuji said, perplexed.

“What’s wrong with him? It was just a joke...” even Morgana took Ryujis side for once.

“I think I’ve never seen him upset before...” Haru noticed.

“I’m sure Ren will be able to find out what’s on his mind.” Ann smiled.

Ren sighed “Fine. But first, I’m going to sleep for a minimum of 9 hours.” To avoid any other troubles brewing, he quickly kissed Makoto good night before walking off to his bedroom. Apparently it only took almost one week of absence to get their whole organization to crumble. Ren just hoped that it was something that he could fix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly creative chapter-title, I'm aware ;D
> 
> So for this inbetween-arc-time we'll dive into some confidant problems and their return to their "smaller missions". There's still a bunch of fun and fluffy-chapters coming up before we're diving into the Haru-centered arc (which I'm also really excited about ;)


	42. Anger Issues And Inferiority Complex

Falling onto his beloved mattress felt like diving into a cloud. Ryuji never regretted fighting for Madarames mattress back then, and he was reminded of it every night he went to sleep on it. While his time on the battered mattress back at the farm-house would remain in his memories for many other reasons, going back to what could only be considered as luxury was an indescribably good feeling. Except for now, he was missing a certain other blonde beside him. After a night of regenerating sleep, he slowly got out of bed to find himself alone in their room. Following Mishimas sudden outburst and Rens departure to bed last night, he had remained downstairs for a while longer. It wasn’t like he felt bad for his remark. It hadn’t even been an extremely ill-willed joke on his behalf. It wasn’t even a direct criticism to him. While normally, Ryuji thought that he was having nothing from anybody – except probably from Ann – it had still felt weird to just walk upstairs and go to sleep in the same room with a guy that was obviously mad for some reason that he didn’t know. He wasn’t one to shy away from confrontation either, but this time it involved one of their own. He didn’t want to cause any more bad air by adding gasoline to the fire. When he found Mishima gone this morning, he felt a bit relieved.

He got dressed and stepped out of his room, only to run across Ann in the hallway.

“Did you fix things with Mishima again?” Ann asked after a brief kiss.

Ryuji shook his head “I haven’t talked to him yet.” he sighed “I don’t even know what he’s mad about. It’s not like I said something mean, it was just a joke. Even Morgana saw that.”

“He really was acting strange...” Ann agreed with him.

“Did you sleep alright?” Ryuji changed the topic.

Ann shrugged “Probably not as good as you on your luxury mattress.”. Her gaze softened when she said “I missed you.”.

“I missed ya too.” Ryuji replied. They shared another kiss before Ryujis rumbling stomach interrupted the moment. “Breakfast?” he asked with a small smile.

“Breakfast.” Ann nodded.

As the two blondes entered the kitchen, they found almost all of the Phantom Thieves gathered around the breakfast table. The bothered or worried looks that seemed to have been their constant companions over the last week were gone for once, when everyone enjoyed their first real breakfast in days.

“Mmmm… I never thought I’d be this happy to smell porridge.” Ann hummed as she sat down.

“I’ve used up all our reserves today, so I think I will go pay the village a visit later.” Haru announced when she placed two bowls in front of Ann and Ryuji.

“Ooh, I’m coming too. I gotta stock up on shells again. Iwai should be set up by now, right?” Ryuji asked.

“Probably. Although I could imagine that it took some time to transport his arsenal...” Ren answered.

“I’m coming too.” Shinya announced.

“Very well.” Haru smiled.

“Hey, has anyone seen Mishima yet?” Ryuji asked.

“I caught him leaving this morning.” Yusuke said “When I asked, he said that he had to take care of something.”

Sojiro shook his head “I’m worried. I think the fame is starting to go to his head.”

“But are we really that famous?” Morgana asked. “Our attack on Kaneshiros bank was already a few weeks ago.”

“There remains to be a lot of talk about the Phantom Thieves. Recently, the question that seems to engage the people the most is who their next target will be.” Hifumi answered.

Ryuji smirked “Then what are we waiting for?”

“Do you have someone in particular in mind?” Makoto asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blonde boy sighed “Not really...”

“It really sucks that they will never know, what a week we just had...” Ann said. “It would be bad if they thought that we just sat around and did nothing...”

“And you think that Mishima is getting hungry for fame?” Ren turned back to Sojiro.

Sojiro could only shrug before he told them about what happened two days ago.

“Thanks for sending him back to return it all.” Ren said. “Making others feel guilty because we helped them is a pathetic move...”

“What could have possibly caused him to change like this?” Haru asked.

“Guilt-tripping people into giving presents is the same despicable technique that Madarame applied..” Yusuke said.

Everyone fell quiet “What are we going to do, if he doesn’t come around? We can’t have him be our middle-man, if we can’t trust him.” Morgana eventually said.

“We can’t really throw him out either…” Ryuji said “You saw how mad he was yesterday. What if he blabs all our secrets?”

Ren shook his head “Noone’s talking about kicking anyone out yet. I’ll get to the bottom of it, as soon as he comes back.”

“It’s like we can’t leave you alone or something.” everyones heads shot up when Futaba walked into the kitchen.

“Futaba-chan, you’re awake again!” Haru smiled and shuffled to the kitchen to fill a bowl for her.

“Yup, I’m back. What did I miss?” the girl said as she threw herself into a chair.

“Nothing much.” Morgana replied. “We were just catching up on everything that happened last week too.”

“Feeling recharged again?” Ren asked.

Futaba nodded “Didn’t even hear Anns snoring tonight.”

“You must have been pretty fast asleep then...” Ryuji muttered, causing the blonde girl to gasp.

“You shouldn’t be the one talk...” Makoto replied. Sharing a single sleeping space with the entire group back in that empty village for the first time after a very long time made her realize how she hadn’t missed it at all.

After their late breakfast Haru, Shinya and Ruyji set out to walk to the neighbouring village that the inhabitants had so fittingly called Seiiki. Sanctuary. Before the whole drama with Medjed started, Ren had been able to talk with the villagers about taking in Iwai and Kaoru. It didn’t need much convincing from their leader. Everyone even seemed a bit excited to have a gun-expert move to their town. Ren didn’t tell them Iwais entire back-story, but they were more than happy to welcome someone to their town, that would be able to keep them safe. While the fencing used to be around a single crossing, surrounding only four houses, they had started to expand it over the last weeks to make more room for new inhabitants since Iwai and Kaoru weren’t the only ones interested in moving to the small settlement

It’s been a while, since Ryuji last stepped foot into the town. Compared to last time, the streets were almost bustling with new faces, busy with rebuilding houses. “I think I see Kaoru back there, I’ll go say Hi and catch up with you again when I got my stuff.” Ryuji said before making a turn.

Haru knew exactly where she had to go when she steered towards the provisions house. The kind lady was standing in the door when she noticed Haru approaching. “Miss Noir, we haven’t seen you in so long.” she greeted her with a warm smile. “We were starting to get worried. There’s been so many rumors.”

“Rumors?” Haru asked as she followed the woman inside.

“Well, you know.. the Phantom Thieves are the talk of the town. Everyone who passes through here is spinning a different tale. Some claim that the Phantom Thieves have already been eliminated by their remaining enemies, some say that they have fled the country…” the woman said as she led her to the kitchen.

“I can assure you that everything is alright. We deliberately had to lay low for a while until the commotion passes.” Haru explained. Since a few of their villagers had already helped Mishima guard the house while all of them were gone at the bank-heist, they trusted these people enough, especially after they had sworn to keep their location a secret.

“Oh, I feel like you guys will be all over peoples minds for a long time. They are treating you like heroes. Some of them even claim that the Phantom Thieves will rid us of the shadows.”

Haru got uneasy. The Phantom Thieves did know a bit more about the shadows now, but that was something that noone else could ever know. “Well… that’s a bit much, don’t you think?” she squirmed.

“That’s what I keep telling all those people too! It’s nice to see that there’s still someone who cares enough to act, but you can’t just hope that all your problems will be fixed by a group of vigilantes.” the woman shook her head. “You’re just a bunch of teenagers. The deeds you have done should have already been too much for you to handle. It seems the public is starting to have ridiculously high hopes for you..”

“That’s not comforting at all...” Haru sighed.

“Don’t you worry, miss. Your secret is safe with us and we will always subtly but sternly defend you.” the woman smiled before saying “But let’s get back to business. I assume that you’ve come for some more rolled oats?”

Haru smiled “That’s right. I’ve brought some eggs in return. Our chickens have been rather productive over the last week.”.

“Oh my. I’m sure we’re going to find a bit more for you then. I think we have some apples.”

“We’d be happy to take them, but only if you don’t have any use for them.” Haru replied.

“Oh, we’ll manage.” the woman smiled.

“I saw that your expansion is coming along great. How are you getting by?” Haru asked.

“There’s been a lot more trading going on now. Also, ever since Iwai and Kaoru moved here, we actually have a small group that goes out hunting occasionally.” the woman smiled “It’s so nice to have them here. At first, I was a little scared of Iwai but deep down he is such a kind man.”

Haru smiled “He really is. I’m glad that everything worked out so well.”

“It really did. There’s also a lot of people coming to town now to buy and upgrade their weapons too. We’re so happy that Mister Joker introduced them to us.”. The woman handed her a bunch of apples along with two small bags of rolled oats. “After hearing all those horrifying stories of Kaneshiros bank, I’m so happy to hear first-hand, that all of you are okay.”

“We’ll be alright. Please don’t worry about us.” Haru smiled. “And thank you for keeping our secret.”

The woman smiled and lightly squeezed her arm.

Iwais new gun-shop was about as small as his cabin back in the woods had been. Only now it had a second floor for living, so the entire ground floor was part show-room and part workshop were Iwai worked on the guns behind the counter.

“The place looks insane.” Ryuji exclaimed when he stepped inside and admired all the weapons hanging at the wall again.

Iwai looked up from his workbench and raised his plastic protection goggles. He smirked “Turned out alright, huh?”

“Hell yeah.” the blonde boy grinned as he leaned against the makeshift counter.

“You need something, blondie?” Iwai asked.

“Got some more shotgun shells?”

“Should have some laying around back here...” the man said as he got off his chair and started rummaging around in some boxes.

“Did you settle in alright?” Ryuji asked in the meantime.

“Think so. The people here were surprisingly welcoming.”

Ryuji smirked “Told ya that Joker knows how to convince a crowd.”

“Shouldn’t have doubted you.” Iwai replied when he slammed a box of shotgun ammunition on the counter. “It’s on the house this time. How’s the bat working?”

“Whoah…. Thanks.” Ryuji was surprised “The bat’s working great. All the other weapons too.”

“Glad to hear it.” Sojiro replied. “I came across the old man last week. He said something about all of you being out?”

“Yeah… we did an expedition to the other end of Tokyo… Was good to get out and to some place where people aren’t talking about the Phantom Thieves...” Ryuji said.

“Makes sense… Rumors have been running hot.” Iwai leaned against his table. “I was surprised to hear that the people here know about you so well...”

“Yeah… we kinda had to let them in on our location too, since we needed some help keeping the homebase safe while we were at the bank… They know that we’re the Phantom Thieves from back with Madarame, so...” Ryuji explained.

“There’s some weird newspapers going around too...”

Ryuji scratched his head and smirked “We’re getting pretty popular, huh?”

Iwai shrugged “Knock yourselves out, as long as my name doesn’t show up...”

“How’s Kaoru doing?”

A smile appeared on Iwais face “I think he’s settling in pretty well. He made some new friends already, he’s helping out a lot all over the town… The people love him.”

“That’s awesome.” Ryuji smiled.

Iwai nodded. “Tell the gang I said Hi. And come by, if you need anything weapon-related.”

As Haru stepped out of the house again, the bags under her arms, she spotted Shinya waiting in the middle of the street. “Did you do what you came for?” Haru asked as she approached him.

“No…” Shinya muttered while angrily kicking at a stone. He hadn’t found the kids that he wanted to teach a lesson to.

“I think I see Ryuji back there. Shall we get going?” Haru asked with smile.

Shinya nodded, his face still fixed on the ground as he slowly started walking with Haru.

“Hey, look who’s on a stroll with his mommy again.” he heard someone calling out behind him.

Shinya turned around, a sneer on his face “Shut up!” he growled.

"Let’s just ignore them.” Haru tried to calm him down.

“Yeah! Listen to your mom. That’s what little kids should do after all.” another kid called out.

A third one started giggling “Not so tough as you always claim, are you?”

Shinya spun around “I’ll show you who’s weak!” he yelled before he pulled his gun. “I’m a better marksman than all of you. I’ll show you.”. He didn’t even know what he wanted to achieve by pulling his weapon. But now that he did, he felt powerful when he saw all those kids faces changing. He noticed that beside him Haru looked equally shocked but he actually enjoyed it. Finally he was in control. He wasn’t that little boy anymore, that everyone laughed at. They had to listen to him now.

Harus initial shock was quickly replaced by reaction, when she reached down and pulled the gun from the boys hand. The other kids were quick to run away, leaving only her and Shinya standing in the middle of the street, while everyone around quickly pretended to mind their own business.

Shinya glared at Haru “How dare you?!” he yelled. “I was about to teach them a lesson! They weren’t laughing at me for once, but you had to fuck it up again! You’re not my mother! What I’m doing is none of your business!”.

“HEY!” Shinya flinched when he heard Ryujis voice bellowing down the street.

The little boy let out an annoyed grunt before running off.

When Ryuji caught up to Haru, she looked perplexed. She definitely wasn’t used to being yelled at. She was a far too gentle soul for that. The fluffy-haired girl looked like her brain was having a hard time processing what just happened and if things were her fault. Because that’s just the kind of person Haru Okumura was. She always looked for the fault in herself first. Seeing Harus hurt and confused face made Ryuji angry. “You did nothing wrong.” he tried to reassure her before running after Shinya.

Shinya was leaning against the backside of a house. He had finally been able to shut everyone up, but Haru had to intervene and make him the weak one again. His arms were crossed in front of his chest when he kicked another stone. She would come apologize to him any second now. She must realize that she ruined everything for him. He was about to walk a bit further when someone grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up like a cat. “Let go of me!” Shinya grunted in annoyance as he flailed his arms and legs.

“What the fuck was that?” Ryuji growled when he put him down again.

“I fought back!” Shinya replied. “They’re always making fun of me!”

“You can’t just pull a gun on people just because you’re annoyed by ‘em!” Ryuji said. “Do you have any idea what a bad light that throws on us?!”

“But it finally got them to respect me!” Shinya pouted.

“They didn’t respect you! You just scared them into submission!”

“They’re still going to think twice before making fun of me next time. I wasn’t planning on hurting them! I was about to figure things out, but then She intervened and messed everything up.” Shinya protested.

“Hey, you don’t get to talk to her like that! She did the right thing. When a maniac starts waving around with a weapon, you take that weapon from him.” Ryuji growled.

“So you say that I should just let myself be disrespected by all these noobs?”

“I’m saying that you gotta learn to ignore them. When I was young, I was made fun of too.” Ryuji sighed before he sat down. He motioned the kid to sit down too, to which he reluctantly obliged.

“And you didn’t fight back?”

“I did, but never with guns!” Ryuji exclaimed. “I got into a lot of fights. Back then, I thought it was the only right thing to do because I thought that just ignoring it would mean that I was weak. So I fought everyone who made fun of me. I came home with scrapes and wounds so many times. Sometimes, my mom cried at the sight of me because of how beaten up I was.”

“Did you continue fighting?”

Ryuji shook his head “At some point, I realized that it wasn’t worth making my mom cry. Since my dad left and she provided for me on her own, others were always gossiping about her too. But she never got angry about it, she just endured it. I used to think that it was stupid, because if you ignored them, they would just think that what they did was okay. So I thought that I had to fight both of our battles. But she was right… It’s so much better, once you stop caring about what others think. Because you’ll never get everyone to like you.” he looked at Shinya “I wasn’t alone, back then. I had my mom, I had Ann and I had other kids that I got along with. And you’re not alone either. You have us. And you have Noir. She only means well and she only wants to protect you.” he got back to his feet. “So we’re gonna go back and you’re gonna apologize to her. And if I ever see you talk to her like that again, you’re gonna have a fight with me. Without guns.”

Shinya swallowed before getting up. He reluctantly nodded.

“And next time you see those kids, you’re going to apologize for pointing a gun at them.” Ryuji added as they started walking back.

“WHAT?!” Shinya called out.

“I mean it. You’re going up to them and apologize. Being a General is an honorable rank. You should start acting up to it.”

“Good for you then, Skull.” Shinya snorted.

“Watch it, kid.” Ryuji growled “You’re lucky that I like you. Do you have any idea what would happen if Ren and Makoto get to know that you just pointed your gun at a bunch of kids in the middle of the street?”

Shinya swallowed “Sorry...” he stammered.

As the two returned, they saw Haru chatting with a few villagers, struggling to calm down a few irritated and disturbed faces. “No, I can assure you that he just had a bad day. The gun wasn’t even loaded, see?” she politely said before showing them the gun, that was now missing a magazine.

Shinya tugged at Ryujis arm and muttered “But it was-”

“Shut it, you idiot!” Ryuji hissed back.

When Haru noticed Ryuji and Shinya returning, she smiled and said “Oh, there they are. Again, we are so sorry about what happened. We’ll be on our way.”

As Ryuji and Shinya caught up with her, Ryuji noticed a bunch of kids standing behind their parents, still looking scared when they saw Shinya. He nudged the kid in the side. When he didn’t respond to the first time, he did it once more with more force.

Shinya ground his teeth before grudgingly saying “I’m sorry for pointing my gun at you… It was wrong and I won’t do it again.” he looked up at Ryuji, who gave him a reassuring nod. He turned to Haru “And I’m sorry for snapping at you. You were right to take the gun from me. And I know that you’re only looking out for everyone. Thank you for caring about me enough to actually try and protect me.” he took turns in looking at Haru and Ryuji “Both of you.”

Haru smiled “It’s okay.” when she noticed all the looks on them she said “Let’s go home.”

As they made their way back to LeBlanc2, Shinya was walking up ahead when Haru hooked her arm into Ryujis “I assume my thanks are in order for handling the situation with Shinya. I believe the apology he issued was more because he had to, than because he wanted to...”

Ryuji raised his shoulders “No comment.”. He scratched the back of his neck “I’m pretty sure that the gun wasn’t empty when you took it from him though..” when he noticed Harus evading looks, he grinned “Where’d you hide it?”

A small smile played on Harus lips when she admitted “I dropped it into one of the oat-bags.”

Ryuji grinned “You’re pretty sneaky...”

She giggled.

“I… think we should skip telling Ren and Makoto though...” Ryuji said after a while.

“I’m willing to agree. But are you sure that he won’t try something like this again?” Haru asked.

“I hope I talked some sense into him...” Ryuji said. “I’m starting to wonder if this was how my mother felt whenever I did something stupid...”

Haru giggled “Did you give him some parental advice?”

“I dunno… Maybe?”

“I could imagine that.” Haru said with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll be a great father one day.”

Ryujis head turned red “It’s.. It’s a bit early to think about this, don’t you think?”. He rubbed the back of his neck “But thanks...”. He looked at the boy walking ahead of them, who occasionally slashed out at low-hanging branches with a stick. “Guess he reminds me of me a bit.. I used to be so angry when I was younger. I wish someone could have told me back then, that things would get better...”

Haru smiled “Traveling back in time to visit your old self sounds like a nice idea.”

“What would you tell your past self?” Ryuji asked.

“Hmm….” Haru thought for a moment “I guess that I would tell my younger self to stay strong and endure it.”

“For real? What about fighting back or something?”.

Haru shook her head “I would have never been able to leave on my own. So I would tell myself to hold on a little longer, until my saviors arrive.”

“Huh...” Ryuji replied. “You’re making it sound like some princess-story...”

Haru giggled “I guess you’re right. But you have to admit, that it has some resemblances...”

“Isn’t it normally the prince coming to save the day?” Ryuji asked.

“Well… you were my knights in shining armor.” Haru smiled. “And we rolled off into the sunset together in a white van.”

“That would make your dad the dragon, huh?”

“Hm.. I suppose it does.” Haru said “And Sugimura would be…”

“An asshole.”

Haru giggled again “He probably really wasn’t more than that.”

Mishima remained gone until the afternoon. Ren wasn’t exactly excited to talk with him but judging by the stories that Sojiro told, a conversation was desperately needed. And so he was sitting in the living room, like a father whose son was out partying too long. Makoto was sitting beside him, her legs draped over his lap as she was lounging in the corner of the couch. He only realized that he was drumming his fingers on Makotos thighs when she eventually looked up from her book and cast him a raised eyebrow. “Sorry...” Ren muttered before raising his hands.

“You know that it’s necessary to do this.” Makoto said.

“That’s really not the issue...” Ren sighed “I never even asked to be the leader in the first place. So far, I never had to have any “clearing conversations” with anyone. How do you even do that?”

Makoto put her book away and sat up from her relaxed position in the corner of her couch. “You just have to openly address the issue. If he wants to continue being our contact-person, then we need to be able to trust him completely. We can’t have him slander our reputation. We worked hard on it and I won’t let us sit still and watch him drag our hard work through the mud, just to live some power-fantasy.” apparently she noticed how angry she had sounded towards the end. She relaxed her face a little before saying “I’ve been working for egotists for far too long. I don’t want to be associated with them again, especially not when it’s not even true.”

“You wanna do it, then?” Ren asked, more a plea than anything else.

Makoto crossed her arms in front of her chest “I think it’s time for you to play the bad cop for once.”

A smirk flickered on his face when he replied “But you’re so good at it.”

Her eyelids dropped as she gave him an annoyed look.

Ren carefully placed his finger underneath her chin and led her face towards his to give her a kiss. “You know that this only comes from the most positive place.” he muttered when her face was right in front of his.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” Makoto replied before leaning over to whisper into his ear “And it’s not working.”

Ren sighed when he gently pushed her away from him and got up from the couch. “Damn your smarts, woman...” he grumbled. When he heard the gates open outside, he gave her one last look. “If that’s Mishima, I’ll have to go out there and have a serious talk with him. I hope your happy.”

Makoto shrugged with a small smile “I wouldn’t say that I’m unhappy...”

“Why do all of you enjoy watching me suffer so much?” he groaned.

Makoto got up and took her book. When she passed Ren, she put a kiss on his cheek “I’ll be reading in your room. You can come find me once you’re done.”

Ren forced himself to focus on the task at hand when he peeled his eyes off of Makoto as she walked upstairs. He decided to intercept Mishima in front of the house. The other boy was about to open the door, when Ren was faster than him.

“Oh! Hi, Ren!” Mishima said, his usual nervous self again.

“Hey… Mishima.” Ren started, already uncomfortable with the situation. He wasn’t used to calling his own team to order like this. He took a deep breath and thought about what Makoto would do. He took a firm stance when he said “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

Ren and Mishima walked along the street leading to LeBlanc2. The black-haired boy was calm and he looked like yesterday evening had never happened. Ren cleared his throat before saying “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday...”

“Oh… I know, I flew a bit off the handle right?… Haha...” Mishima awkwardly scratched his head. “I know that the interview was super important for us… And Ohya really put out the right message, huh? I’ve already seen enough people who don’t believe in the Phantom Thieves and just say that they’re a bunch of bad guys, taking over all the other businesses for themselves...” he looked angry “You have no idea, how many counter-articles have popped up ever since Ohya started writing about us. I’ve been so busy taking them off over the last week, that I barely managed to sleep at night...”

Ren hoped that his face didn’t give away that he felt like listening to a mad man. “It’s only natural, that not everyone is on our side. Don’t get too worked up about it.”

“Oh, I’m not. It’s nice of you to worry about me though. After I snapped last night, I took it a bit slower today. I even met up with a girl.” he grinned with something of a forced confidence.

“You did?” Ren asked.

“Yup. Turns out a bunch of girls become interested in you, when they realize that you’re a part of the Phantom Thieves. You should give it a try too!

Ren raised an eyebrow “You know I’m with Makoto, right?”

“Oh… haha… right! But seriously, you could have so many girls! At the same time even! If they’re already freaking out about me, then imagine their reaction to the leader of the Phantom Thieves!” Mishima rambled.

“I’m good for now.” Ren replied. While he didn’t completely agree with Mishima using his status to impress the girls, he also didn’t feel like he could say much to stop him from doing it.

Mishima shrugged “So I met up with this girl today. And on my way back, I came upon a bunch of people that recognized me. And they all started complaining, complaining, complaining...” Mishima rolled his eyes and started making different voices “Oh, shadows are attacking us at nights! Some rebels are stealing our food! My mother went missing yesterday!”

Sirens blared in Rens head, but he tried to keep calm “And what did you do?”

Mishima snorted “I told ‘em, that I’ll pass it on to the Phantom Thieves.” he nudged Ren in the side “But I say relax a bit first.. They’re all from small villages and neighborhoods that aren’t wealthy...”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Ren stopped abruptly. “I was thinking hard about how to put this nicely but quite frankly, you’re starting to behave like an asshole.”

Mishima stopped and turned around to look at him. Something of a crazy smile appeared on his face “Oh really? What about all the people who only want to talk to me, so I can give all of you a message. They only treat me like your stupid errand boy. I’m a part of the Phantom Thieves too and I deserve the same respect as you!”

Ren couldn’t hide his confusion “That’s the problem?”

“The Phantom Thieves wouldn’t be where they are now, if it wasn’t for me! I made them famous! It was me, and me alone!” Mishima seemed to talk himself into a rage. “You don’t understand how it feels to be a Zero. I’ve been one my entire life. But then you came and you gave me a purpose! People were happy to see me on the streets and they were so grateful for me and how I was able to convince the fantastic Phantom Thieves to help them, but now, everyone just comes to me and makes their demands!”

“And that’s why you pressure people into giving you presents? Because you think that they aren’t grateful enough?!” Ren asked.

“Is it so wrong to want something in return, if you can’t even ask for peoples gratitude anymore?!” Mishima yelled. “Do you think that I’m going down a “bad path” now?” he mocked him. “Am I not good enough for the “honorable Phantom Thieves” anymore? Will I be your next target?” he seethed.

“I don’t know. Do you think you’re good enough by your own standards?” Ren asked. “Do you really need to bully the people that you were trying to help into giving you presents so that you won’t feel like a Zero? You were never a Zero to us. Kamoshida was a Zero, who needed to torture teenagers to feel bigger. Madarame was a Zero who tricked so many people into giving him stuff for free only for him to indulge in his greed. And Kaneshiro thought that he needed to make others feel like Zeros to hide that he was one too. You used to embody what we were about. Simple people who wanted to do their best to help others. We still are nothing else.”

Mishima stared at him, the gears visibly grinding in his head “Have… I become the villain?” he quietly asked.

Ren shook his head “You still have a choice.”. He turned on his heel and walked back to the house. When Ren had put enough distance between them, he let out a deep breath. It seemed like being Hermes had been able to change the once so kindhearted and loyal Mishima into something entirely different. Now all Ren could do was hope that his words were able to turn him back.

At least Makoto kept her word. When he entered his room, she was still laying on his bed with her book in hand. She looked up when he entered. “How did it go?” she sat up.

Ren dropped down on the bed beside her and let out a loud sigh “It was tough… I just hope I got through to him…”. He laid down on his back and recapped his entire conversation to Makoto.

“To think that someone like Mishima is capable of thinking like this...” Makoto shook her head.

“Right? I definitely didn’t think that it could get much worse after he told me about polyamory, but he really exceeded my expectations...” Ren crossed his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. “It almost seemed like he was possessed... I just hope that he comes around again and remembers what he really was about in the beginning…” Ren muttered. “Although I have to say, that his girl-game really sounds impressive...”

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him “Are you jealous?” she asked, but there was a warning vibrating in her voice.

Ren smirked “What would you say if I told you that the first thing I said was that I was with you?”

“I’d say that that was the right choice.” Makoto icily replied.

Ren rolled to his side so he was facing her “I’d still only pick you, even if there was a horde of girls after me.”

Makoto rolled over to look at him too when she replied “I guess that would be sweet of you.”

Ren raised an eyebrow at her “You guess?”. He grinned at her “I have to give it to you though, I was only able to do the deep conversation because I channeled my inner Makoto.”.

Makoto smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “You did?” she asked with a small blush.

“Yup. And then I called him an asshole.”

“I hope that that wasn’t your “inner Makoto”...”

“Nah, that felt like a 100 percent me.” he scratched his head “I tried to be diplomatic, but it slipped out...”

“I guess I shouldn’t berate you about impulse control after shooting a hole into the ceiling at Jinbocho...”

“I was ready to bring that up in my defense.”

They looked into each others eyes before both started to chuckle.

Talking to Makoto had always been special. She was smart. And while he loved talking to every one of the Phantom Thieves, talking to Makoto felt different. She questioned and she challenged him while being fully aware of her own flaws and all of this in a way that could drive him crazy with admiration for her. He often remembered the time where he sat on the lawn with Ryuji, admitting that he liked her because she had “Brains for days”. It was true. Beside of that stoic yet kind look on her face, her brain was the most attractive part about her. He had known that she was the right one for him ever since she gave him her signature raised eyebrows over the rim of a book for the first time, after he had made some remark that he thought witty. “I really couldn’t care less about other girls.” Ren eventually said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I played Shinyas confidant, I couldn't help but think that this kid could completely lose it and that you probably shouldn't hand him a weapon... But who better to help him with his issues than another impulsive guy we all know? ;)
> 
> While a bit different in this story, I always felt that Mishimas confidant was one of the most relatable. I'd probably be bitter too, if I couldn't help with saving the world because I don't get to have magic powers... It would have been cool, if it turned out that Mishima had a Persona too, but that would have gone against the entire point of his confidant. 
> 
> We'll see if Ren and his "inner Makoto" were able to change Mishimas heart in the next Chapter;)


	43. Get A Room!

After Rens talk, Mishima returned home late that night and returned to his room without saying anything. When everyone woke up the next morning, his mattress was already empty again.

“I’m starting to worry about Mishima…” Haru pointed out during breakfast. “I just got downstairs when he was leaving this morning...”

“But his stuff is still here, right?” Morgana asked.

Yusuke nodded “Do you think that he would just leave without saying anything?”

“And do you really think that he would just walk away and spill our secrets?” Ann asked.

“If he does, we still have his poster-collection of anime-girls as leverage...” Ryuji said.

“Careful to not get them confused with yours.” Ren quipped.

“I saw him leaving with a bunch of tools...” Haru mentioned.

“He better not be stealing from us...” Sojiro grumbled.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions for now.” Ren said, still hoping deep down that their talk yesterday got Mishima to rethink his actions. “We’ll wait ‘till tonight. If he’s still gone by then, we can start thinking of what to do.”

After clearing the table, the gang each followed their own activities for the day. Hearing that Mishima set out with some of their tools, Futaba decided to check her basement to see, if any of her equipment and tech-tools went missing too. When she saw Prometheus resting on her workbench, she decided to tinker a bit with the air-circulation. As she was unscrewing the cover, she remembered all the times that she had peeked over her mothers shoulder while she tinkered on her own computers. Medjed had their own computers, but her mother always claimed that she wanted her data and thoughts on a device that she trusted. Necronomicon was an old and battered stationary PC, that Futaba had decked in stickers to make it look cooler. While already having to write reports for Medjed, her mother always kept her personal thoughts on Necronomicon. When her mother decided that it was about time to have a computer that she could take on missions with her, she started building Mimir. It was the first time that Futaba had actually gotten to help with building. The Necronomicon had been sacred to her mother and noone was allowed to boot it, except for her. It pained Futaba to think about what Medjed must have done to it. Sojiro was right, Wakaba kept the security tight, but now that they knew that Medjed was under pressure to not mess up with United Future, she guessed that they maybe just trashed the computer, after being unable to crack it.

She wanted to reach for her computer tool-kit when she found the place that it was usually sitting on empty. She sighed as she got up and walked upstairs. Maybe she had taken it to her room for something else. She didn’t think much when she trotted down the hallway. She lazily pushed open the door to their room, calling out “Hey Ann, have you seen my-”

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ann sitting on their dresser, her legs wrapped around Ryujis waist and her arms slung around his neck as they did what could only be described as trying to suck each others faces off.

When Ann was the first to notice Futaba standing in the door, she quickly pushed Ryuji away. “Oh, hey Futaba!” she tried to act casual as she tugged her clothes back into place “What’s up?” she crossed her legs in an attempt to make her sitting on top of their dresser like the most normal thing around here.

Futaba looked at Ryuji, who was equally dumbfounded and embarrassed while trying to play it cool when he crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the second chest of drawers. Lucky for Futaba, she was already able to spot her tool-kit on her desk. She awkwardly walked past them and took her tools. “You could lock the door next time...” she muttered when she walked back to the door.

“We tried...” Ann awkwardly replied “It doesn’t lock.”

Ann and Ryuji shared a look before Ryuji said “I told you, that we should have put up a chair or something...”

“You could have just done it, but you seemed to forget it pretty quick...” she argued with a knowing wink in his direction that Futaba still noticed.

Ryuji swallowed “Well… yeah…” he tried to argue but already lost his train of thought again.

“Just…. Stay away from my stuff….” Futaba said before pulling the door closed behind her. _People are weird…_ she thought to herself. Who would have thought that she would ever find herself facing something that she could only refer to as sitcom-situations. The only thing missing was the canned laughter. She found Yusuke and Hifumi sitting in the living room, playing another round of Shogi. “Well, I think I’m traumatized...” she dramatically announced, imagining a laugh-track in the background.

“Did something happen?” Hifumi asked.

“I think Ann and Ryuji were about to pull off their clothes again.” Futaba dropped down on the sofa.

“Incidents like these seem to occur often ever since we returned.” Yusuke uttered.

“It was a first for me.” Futaba replied.

“I interrupted them twice yesterday… Maybe that’s the reason why they changed to your room instead.”

Futaba groaned “Well thanks for that, Inari...”

All three of their heads whipped around when the door opened and revealed Mishima. “Um… hey guys… Do you know where Ren is?”

Futaba shrugged “I dunno, but definitely do not go into my room to look for him.”

Hifumi slightly shook her head before turning to Mishima “I believe he’s in the backyard.”

“Okay… thanks...” Mishima meekly said before walking through to the garden. He found Ren sharpening his knife. “Um… Ren?” he carefully asked.

Ren was incredibly relieved to hear Mishimas voice before the end of the day. He put down his knife and looked at the boy whose demeanor was back to his usual meek self. “Hey. What’s going on?”

“Can we… take a walk again? I want to show you something.”

Ren nodded and got up. They walked out of the house and down the road in silence. The slender boy stared at the ground in front of him all the while. He had always been pale, but today his skin reached a shade of a sickly gray. The leader started to worry about Mishimas intentions, when they eventually stopped in the middle of the street. He couldn’t help but flinch when Mishima turned around to look at him.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday...” he began while nervously fidgeting with his fingers. “So… I built this...” he said before pointing to the side of the road, where a wooden board was propped up on two wooden legs. “It’s a bulletin board. People can post their problems and I’ll collect them every day and bring them home. That way, people won’t have to wait for me to come along by chance.”

Ren looked at the board before saying “That’s a great idea.”

Mishima looked a bit proud when a small smile tugged at his lips. His face turned sad again before he said “You were right. I did abuse my power. I was just so happy about finally being needed by people. You guys are the heroes, who would come in to save the day while I'm just a coward who starts shaking at every little sight of danger. But I found my calling, which was supporting you. It’s not like people aren’t grateful anymore, but at some point I felt that we deserved more than a “simple thanks” and that’s when I started taking gifts that they offered...” Mishima said “I’ll go around and apologize to people over the next days and I’ll return all of the gifts I accepted too.”

“That’s good to hear.” Ren said “I’m glad to have the old Mishima back.”

Mishima nodded “It… feels good to be back. I didn’t even realize how much I changed until you talked to me yesterday. So… Thank you.”

Ren shook his head. “You did a lot for us and you’re a vital part of our group. You’re appreciated. Don’t forget that.”

Mishima gulped, uncomfortable by all the serious talking, and nodded.

“Come on. Let’s go home.” Ren said.

“I guess I gotta tell all those girls off too now...” Mishima reluctantly said after a while.

“Well….” Ren started “I mean… you aren’t lying to them about who you are...”

Mishima stared at him “You mean that I could continue going out of with all of them?”

“Maybe settle for one?” Ren squirmed. Advising Mishima to keep dating a bunch of girls at the same time was a bit much for him.

Mishima seemed to think about it for a while before saying “I don’t know… I think I started playing this character when I realized that girls thought that I was attractive… Maybe they wouldn’t even like me anymore, now that I found back to my old, boring self.”. The black-haired boy sighed “I guess I want someone to like me as Mishima too...”

Ren smiled “I think that would be the right approach.”

“But do you really think that there's someone out there like that?” Mishima whined.

“Wasn’t it the real Mishima that started us as the Phantom Thieves?” Ren asked in return.

Mishimas eyes went wide before he eventually said “You’re right! That was me! I wasn’t bad Hermes in the beginning!”

“You weren’t. If you really wanna call it that.”

“Maybe they’ll still like me, even if I won’t be mean to them anymore.”

Ren raised an eyebrow at him “You were?”

Mishima stammered “Uhm… aren’t you supposed to do that to seem interesting?”

Ren sighed “Just… be yourself. Seemed to work for me and even Ryuji...”

They returned to LeBlanc2 and split paths when they each walked into their rooms. Ren had to smile when he found Makoto laying on his bed again “Too much commotion downstairs?”

“Futaba keeps hammering on something in the cellar...” Makoto sighed. “Where have you been?”

“With Mishima.” Ren replied when he sat down on the bed beside her “Looks like I really got through to him.” he proudly announced.

Makoto smiled when she sat up behind him and started to rub his shoulders “You did?”

Ren nodded while letting out a relaxed sigh “Yup. He even put up a bulletin board for future requests now. Seems like he really saw his errors...” he smirked “And all because I talked to him.”

“See?” Makoto muttered behind him “It was a good thing, that you politely yet sternly addressed the issue.”. She leaned over his shoulder and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Guess it was.” Ren replied. “He’s also going to date only one girl from here on out.”

“Really?” Makoto muttered into his ear.

“Not to brag, but I might have changed his life with my solid advice.”

“You’re overdoing it...”

Ren smirked when he turned around and pushed her onto the bed. “Okay, the last one was a bit over the top. You still seem impressed though.” he said as he was kneeling over her.

“I have to admit that it’s a bit attractive.” Makoto whispered as she ran a finger across his chest.

“A bit?” Ren asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Makoto sighed and rolled her eyes “Fine. More than a bit.”. She wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him towards her.

Ren grinned before pulling back for a moment “Because I’m such a good leader?”

Makoto loosened her grasp when she sighed “Do I really have to say it?”

“Just looking for confirmation.”

“Just take off your shirt...”

“Can’t argue with that.” Ren said as he followed her orders.

“We should block the door.” Makoto muttered as he moved in to kiss her neck.

“Noone’s gonna be looking for us.” Ren muttered.

“You always say that and there’s always someone that is.” Makoto replied.

“Which means that it’s about time that I’m right, don’t you agree?”

Downstairs, the living room started to fill up when the Phantom Thieves returned from their daily activities.

“Look what I found today!” Shinya said to Morgana when he produced three throwing knives from his pocket.

“You found more?” Morgana gaped.

Shinya proudly nodded before asking “Wanna practice in the yard?”

Morgana nodded enthusiastically as he almost jumped to his feet “I’ll get the other three from upstairs.”

“Be careful!” Haru pointed out like the good mother she was.

Morgana took two stairs at a time as he sprinted upstairs. He pushed the door open without thinking and was already standing in the middle of the room, when he noticed Ren laying in bed, a blanket drawn up to underneath his chin. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you were here.”

Ren yawned before answering “Yeah… I was just taking a nap...”

“Shinya found some more throwing knives! We’re gonna practice throwing them in the yard, you wanna come with us?” Morgana asked.

Ren let out another yawn “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay! Do you know where Makoto is? She said she wanted to give it a try too.”

“No idea.”

Morgana walked to his part of the closet and took out the throwing knives, that he had carefully wrapped up in a piece of cloth beforehand. For someone who claimed to have been asleep, Ren seemed awfully tense. The kid didn’t pay it any mind when he left the room and closed the door behind him again.

Ren purposely avoided the glare that Makoto shot him when she emerged from beneath the blanket that she had been hiding under, tightly squeezed against him as to not look suspicious.

“I can’t believe I listened to you...” she said with annoyance.

“Hey, at least I heard him approach before he barged through the door.” Ren replied. “And he didn’t suspect anything.”

Makoto huffed.

“Maybe you’re even starting to enjoy the danger?” Ren smirked.

“Speak for yourself.”

Ren placed a kiss on her forehead “Oh come on, don’t be mad.”

“Get up and block the door.”

“I’m pretty sure that noone will come now. For real, this time.”. When Makotos eyes narrowed, Ren smirked “You’re not even using your hot commanding voice.”

“Maybe being walked in on by a kid is the end of anything hot.” Makoto replied.

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it, I’ll do it...” Ren reluctantly agreed before climbing out of bed to place a chair in an angle in front of the door. “Better?” he asked.

“Obviously.” Makoto said with a still raised eyebrow as she flattened her hair and reached for her shirt.

Ren smiled when he sat down at the edge of the bed and reached for his own clothes “Morgana had no idea that you were there. Why would he have asked for you if he had?”

“You’re completely missing the real issue here.” Makoto said as she climbed out of his bed.

Ren sighed “I’m just joking." he theatrically put a hand up to his temple before saying "I know that it’s not what you’d call ideal, but I’m far too young to build a house and sneaking away to the hunting shack every time just takes a lot of time and I’m pretty sure that everyone is suspicious of us by now. Noone goes on strolls that often.”. He raised an eyebrow when he caught Makotos look “Wow, I didn’t think it was anatomically possible to roll your eyes while furrowing your brow.”

“I just think that we should try harder to not be detected.” Makoto sighed when she sat down in his lap.

Ren smirked “As far as I remember, it was you who couldn’t hold back at my leading charm.” he put an arm around her waist while leaning back on the other one. “You have to admit, that it was your fault this time.”

Makotos intense stare faltered for a bit when she said “I will admit to no such thing.”

“You still know it’s true.” Ren smirked before putting a kiss on her lips. He let out a another theatrical sigh “Seems like I’m just too attractive for my own good.”

Makoto actually laughed before she got up. “Come on, I’m sure there’s people waiting for us by now.”

Ren smiled when he took her hand. They had almost reached the door when he realized “Why did I even have to block the door now?”

Makoto shrugged with a grin “Just to make my point.”.

When the two leaders walked into the living room, they were greeted by everyone minus Sojiro, who Ren assumed to be in the kitchen. Futaba and Morgana stood in the middle of the room. They looked like they were giving a speech but when Ren and Makoto entered, everything fell quiet.

“What’s wrong?” Makoto asked, immediately suspicious.

“Sit down!” Morgana said.

“This is an intervention.” Futaba said. “About certain people who should take “get a room” more serious on the privacy-side.”

“Are we talking about Ann and Ryuji?” Ren asked, to both of the blondes embarrassment. He smirked “Was about time.”

“Funny you should say that.” Futaba replied, not sounding amused at all.

Morgana pointed his finger “This is also about you two!”

“HA!” Ryuji pointed at Ren, clearly enjoying himself a bit more now.

“You may take a seat.” Futaba pointed the two to a spot on the bench beside Ann and Ryuji.

“Are we doing a trial again?” Ren asked.

“Quiet on the defendants couch!” Futaba called to order. She started parading up and down in front of them “All of us have fallen witness to either one or both of you doing your “love professions” and we decided that we have enough.”

“Oh come on, you’re overreacting a bit, don’t you think?” Ren asked.

“EXHIBIT A” Futaba cut through his argument and pointed to herself “Me!”

Ren raised an eyebrow “You cannot seriously label yourself a victim, when it was You who stalked us in the first place.”

“I’m not talking about that!” Futaba waved aside “I’m talking about one day later, when you were supposed to fix a hole in the window.”. She turned her back to the audience and wrapped her arms around herself, imitating making out with the air.

“Oh… that...” Ren had to admit.

Morgana took over from her “Continuing with Exhibit B: Haru Okumura”

Haru looked like she didn’t entirely get the purpose of this intervention “I… I didn’t see much.. But it was a surprise to walk in on...”

Makotos face turned a bright red.

Ryuji grinned “Why are we even sitting here? Sounds like this is only about Ren and Makoto.”

Ann whacked him over the back of the head.

“The list goes on.” Futaba said before she looked at Ryuji and Ann “Which leads us to you two!”

“Can we just take a moment to point out that we have encountered them half-naked already after their first night?” Ren raised his hand.

“Dude, shut up!” Ruyji whined through gritted teeth while both Ann and Makoto could only shake their heads in disbelieve.

Futaba shook her head “Even thought it’s been only a few days, we’ve had many complaints about you two.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes “You only caught us making out, what’s so bad about it?”

“Have you thought about the children?” Futaba dramatically asked.

“You’re one year younger than us.” Ryuji argued.

Futaba facepalmed before she pointed at Shinya and Morgana.

“Seriously? You’re having such a hard time when you see people kiss?” Ren asked.

“Well…. Yeah….” Morgana pouted.

“And does this also affect me and Makoto or is it rather just because you don’t want to see Ann kissing anyone that isn't you?” Ren asked, causing the kid to turn red all over.

“That’s your effing problem?” Ryuji called out.

Morgana spun around and glared at Ryuji “You shouldn’t be kissing Lady Ann with those filthy lips of yours!”

Ryuji would have lunged off the couch if Ann hadn’t clung to his arm for dear life.

Morgana was about to fight with unfair means when he wanted to run at the couch, but was then held back by Futaba. “This is not why we are doing this!” she yelled at the kid. “We just wanted to mess with them a little!”

“Wait WHAT?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

Futaba sighed “Yeah… We’re happy for all of you. So we were talking and we decided that it was about time to switch up the rooms...”

The four defendants gaped at their team-mates.

Yusuke cleared his throat before saying “Mishima and I will take in Shinya and Morgana.”

“And Futaba-chan is going to move in with us.” Haru smiled.

“You guys...” Ann stammered.

Futaba nodded “It’s better for all of us.” she dramatically said. “But you better not break up because you can’t handle living together.”

After dinner, the Phantom Thieves helped together with moving stuff across rooms. Futaba stood by her bed and packed up her figurines that she had displayed on the bedside table. She wondered whether she got to display them in their new room too, before she realized that she was about to have an entire bedside-table to herself across the hallway.

Something tugged at Anns heart when she watched her little sister pack her things to move out. She wasn’t unhappy about Ryuji moving it with her at all, especially since she would finally be able to investigate first-hand what the fuss was all about concerning Ryuijs mattress. Yet still, she had lived with Futaba for over two years now and the orange-haired girl had told her on many occasions about how much of a pushover Haru and Makoto could be. She couldn’t even say she disagreed, since she was fully aware of how different Futabas and her styles of living were compared to the always organized Makoto and Haru.

“Futaba, are you sure that you’re okay with this?” Ann carefully asked when she sat down on her bed. “If you’re uncomfortable with moving, then you only have to say it and we think of something else...”

“I’d be uncomfortable with staying here.” Futaba joked before shaking her head “It’s really okay, so don’t worry. I’ll be more than okay with Haru and Hifumi.”

Ann smiled before crushing the girl into a hug “Thanks.” she whispered. “I’m gonna miss rooming with you a bit...”

Futaba snickered into her fluffy blonde hair “I guess I’ll miss rooming with you too.”

“If you ever need a room to chill-out on your own, you come here, okay?”

“I will never open this door on my own again, after I moved out from here.” Futaba snickered.

Ann snorted “Come on, it’s not like you walked in on something traumatizing.”

Futaba shook her head “I’ll live. I knew that it was bound to happen at some point.”. When she saw Anns confused look out of the corner of her eye, she added “Seriously, the first evening you stayed with us, you were already almost completely on top of him because he cheated at playing cards.”

Ann was about to stammer something before deciding against it. It had been obvious for a long time, she was ready to admit it now.

“I mean it though, if you should ever break up, we’re not switching back rooms. You’re gonna have to share a bed with him, even if you want to claw his eyes out in a non-romantic way.” Futaba whispered.

“I think we’ll be fine.” Ann whispered back.

“Yeah.” Ryuji said with a smile as he was leaning in the doorframe and watching the two girls hug. When they released each other, he asked “You need any help with carrying stuff?”

Futaba shook her head “Nope, I’m good.” she grabbed her last box of trinkets and figurines and marched through the door. “Have fun you two!”

“You got your mattress?” Ann asked with a grin.

“Nah… I felt bad and gave it to Morgana.” Ryuji replied.

Anns face dropped “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m not.” he reached behind him and pulled the mattress into their new room.

“You’re so not funny.” Ann huffed when they pushed the mattress up onto her bed together.

“And there’s more where that came from.” Ryuji grinned “You’re living with me now.”

Ann couldn’t contain a giggle. She still liked the thought of it.

Across the hallways was a girl who wasn’t entirely sure yet. Makoto had no doubt that living with Ren would work out. He wouldn’t be their leader if he didn’t live organized. At least that’s what she hoped. She stood in front of her closet and stacked her clothes to be transported.

“Are you okay, Mako-chan?” Haru asked.

“Yes!” Makoto was quick to exclaim “Yes. Everything is fine.” she forced a smile.

“Are you nervous about moving in with Ren?” Haru continued to dig further.

Makoto sighed and turned around to look at her friend “To be honest, I’ve always been a bit wary of moving. When I moved to LeBlanc, I was incredibly nervous too.”. Of course she would have never dared to admit it back then. But sharing your most private space with two complete strangers had felt like stepping into a minefield. Until then, she had only ever had to share a room with her sister. It had taken some time to adjust to the “unique” living styles of Futaba and Ann, but after one or two months, she had felt like she had reached a point where she was able to tolerate particular things laying around in the room. But she hadn’t known them back then. She had felt no remorse when she thought to herself, that those two girls were a bunch of slobs. But now, it was her boyfriend. Whom she loved. What if they differed too much and what if she would realize that she’d rather not live with him after all? She couldn’t move out again then, because how would that look?

As Makoto stood there in front of their closet, brooding over something that she didn’t say out loud, Haru smiled a patient smile “I wouldn’t overthink it. Ren and you are soulmates. I’m sure that there’s no reason to be nervous about.”

Makoto nodded before grabbing her stack of neatly folded clothes and walking it to Rens room. As she pushed the door open with her foot, she saw him cleaning the now empty part of the closet. Morganas and Shinyas stuff and the two beds were already in the room across the hallway.

Ren smiled when he looked at her “Here you go. All cleaned out too.”

Makoto smiled at his thoughtfulness. She placed her stack on the bed before assessing her new closet-situation and making mental notes on how to make the most of it. As she started placing her short-sleeved shirts into the compartment of her choice, her gaze fell onto Rens side of the closet, where she found rows and rows of carefully and by her standards perfectly folded clothes. He was still standing beside her when she turned to look at him “You… fold your clothes the same way I do...” she said, perplexed. She had never seen anyone else do it like her before. A young Makoto had taught that technique to herself one boring evening to optimize space.

A smirk appeared on Rens face when he answered “I shared a room with three others for almost two years. I never had a lot of space for my stuff back at LeBlanc so I had to ada-” he couldn’t talk further when Makoto pressed a kiss onto his lips, her doubts and worries about not being able to live with him blown away with a single look into his side of the closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Mishima launches the Phan-Site. In a way. And I can tell you that this will come with some new adventures;)
> 
> The rest just turned into some silly ship- and group-shenanigans. It's the between-arc-phase. You know how it goes. Next time we're going to tackle the beach-trip without a beach;)
> 
> As always, tell me your thoughts!


	44. A Normal Peoples Day

“Uhhh, it’s sooo HOT!” Ryuji groaned as he laid in the middle of the front-yard where the house still cast a shadow on the lawn. The sun had been relentless over the last days and by now the inside of the house had started to warm up too, making it almost unbearable to stay inside both during the days and the nights.

“At least you can lay around topless...” Ann answered from the bench as she looked at his bare chest while fanning herself some air.

“Hey, I’m not keeping you from anything...” Ryuji replied.

Ann rolled her eyes and leaned forward to smack him.

“Stop touching me! Your hands are too hot!” Ryuji groaned, too exhausted to move away from her attacks.

“This place lacks a pool...” Morgana sighed.

“The tub is more like a cooking pot by now...” Futaba added as she seemed to melt off the bench.

“I’m too old for this heat...” Sojiro groaned and wiped his forehead with a piece of cloth.

“Makoto, how are you not dead yet?” Futaba asked as she looked at the second-in-command, dressed in tight black pants that almost reached her ankles.

“I can’t believe that you don’t own anything shorter than this...” Ann said.

Makoto nervously brushed back a strand of hair when she replied “Oh… I’m okay.”

“The sweat on your brow indicates otherwise.” Yusuke observed.

While the girls shot him raised eyebrows at the outrage of calling out a sweating girl, Ren just chuckled.

“Can’t believe that Mishima went out today… Can’t be much cooler in the woods, right?” Ryuji asked.

“Hifumi seemed very motivated to get out too...” Yusuke noted.

“Probably because we’re all starting to smell.” Futaba dead-panned.

“Speak for yourself.” Yusuke sounded offended.

“Imagine if we could go to the beach...” Ann hummed.

“That sounds lovely.” Haru smiled, trying her hardest to stay her elegant self while sweating rivers.

“We settled in the wrong part of the country for that...” Sojiro sighed.

Even as the sun started to go down, the weather didn’t seem to cool off. The Phantom Thieves were still lounging in the front-yard, almost gasping for air, when the gates opened to reveal Hifumi and Mishima.

“You didn’t burn!” Futaba lazily cheered.

The two seemed confused by her remark.

“There’s nothing in your hands?” Ren asked when he noticed that Mishima hadn’t returned with a stack of paper, like he usually did ever since he but up the bulletin-board.

Their messenger shook his head “No new appeals today.”

“We did come across something interesting though.” Hifumi added. “We ran across Iwai and he told us that Seiiki is building a pool in the city-center.”

Ann hadn’t been this quick on her feet for days when she jumped up from the bench “How cool!”

Mishima nodded “Apparently they were transporting water for days now, but it should be done by tomorrow. He invited us over too.”

Futaba whirled to look at Ren “Can we go?”

Ren shrugged “Why not...”

Ann grinned “Wohoo! Pool Party!” she turned to Makoto “I knew that we should have taken those bikinis with us back on our shopping trip with Eiko...”

Haru giggled “I assume that you already own enough bathing suits….”

“Well yeah… But still!” Ann replied “What about you?”

While all the other girls said that they already had one, Futaba realized that she wasn’t equipped with a bathing suit. All of them had been clothed for their bath in the pond in Inokashira park and she had never had an occasion where a bikini was duly needed. She was only one year younger, yet she still felt like a little girl sometimes compared to the others, even if it was just something as trivial as swimsuits.

After dinner,Haru and Hifumi remained downstairs, giving Futaba the opportunity to roam around their room and wrecking her head over what to do about her swimsuit-disaster. She already knew where it would end up, but she still feverishly tried to come up with something to say that wouldn’t be too embarrassing for her. Maybe starting to resocialize with only Ren around wasn’t good to her in terms of “girl-things”. She let out an annoyed “Uuuugh...” before ripping the door open and walking across the hallway. After a few silent arguments with herself, she forced herself to knock on the door.

As soon as Ann opened, the orange-haired girl just started talking “IneedyourhelpIdon’thaveaswimsuit.”

When the blonde girl finished processing the stream of words that the girl had just thrown at her, a smile spread on her face. She reached for Futabas wrist and dragged her inside “Then you’ve come to the right place!”.

Futaba only then realized that she had just walked in on a fully evolved girls-night when she spotted Hifumi, Makoto and Haru already sitting in the room.

Ann pulled out her bursting drawers before announcing “Girls! We’re going to find Futaba a bikini.”

“Wh- What?! That’s far too much skin!” Futaba nervously exclaimed.

“Oh please, you’re skin could definitely use a bit of exposure to sun.” Ann waved her comment aside before carelessly throwing out all the clothes that she wasn’t looking for at the moment, much to Makotos visible horror.

“Uuuuugh….” Futaba hissed under her breath “I changed my mind. I’m good. I just won’t join you tomorrow!” she wanted to run to the door again when Haru gently grabbed her wrist.

“Futaba-chan, why don’t you just give it a try. I’m sure Ann will find something great for you.” she said in her calm voice that everyone felt bad saying No to.

Futaba sighed in defeat when she dropped down besides the others on what used to be her bed.

A few moments passed before the blonde girl eventually called out in triumph “Got one!”. She held up a two-piece-set. “I think this one never fitted me in the first place. No idea why I took that with me.”.

Futaba skeptically looked at the yellow bikini with little strawberries printed on it. At least Ann had picked something not too revealing for the chest-area.

Haru smiled “You should try it on, Futaba!”

“Right now?!” Futaba almost yelled.

Ann shrugged “Of course! We gotta see if it fits!”

“Gaaah….” Futaba winced before ripping the biking out of the blondes hands “Fine! But you have to turn around!”

On the other side of the door, the guys were playing a round of hallway-bowling. On the guys’ side of the house, Mishima was busy with setting up the makeshift-pins while on the girls’ side Ryuji was getting ready for his turn with the soccer-ball ready in his hand.

“I’m tellin’ ya, this is the day that your record is going down! I feel it in my leg.” Ryuji grinned at Ren when Mishima made his way back over to them.

“The bad one?” Ren quipped. When Ryuji shot him an annoyed look he added “Your words mean nothing if your deeds don’t follow.”

“Then watch me!” Ryuji said while getting into position. With his eyes dead-set on the pins ahead he swung his arm, ready for the best round of his life when suddenly-

“ANN HOW CAN YOU WEAR STUFF LIKE THIS?!” Futabas exasperated voice rang out from behind their door.

The obvious confusion about what the orange-haired girl was referring to and the question what his girlfriend was wearing right now threw his focus out the window and caused him to drop the ball. At least he wasn’t the only one confused by the commotion in his room, since all of the guys exchanged uncertain looks.

“It looks super cute on you!” they heard Ann exclaim.

“But it’s so…. Revealing….” Futaba stammered, her voice much quieter than seconds ago.

“You look great Futaba-chan.”

“It does fit you very well.” Hifumis voice added.

“Could you hold still for a moment?” Makoto asked.

“Stop tugging at me...” Futaba meekly protested.

“Oh wait, we still have to adjust these...” Ann could be heard before a short squeal from Futaba pierced all of their ears.

“Watch where you’re touching!” Futaba shrieked.

“What is going on in there?” Yusuke quietly asked.

“Should we make sure that they’re all right?” Mishima carefully asked.

“Not if you want to keep your eyes...” Ren replied before manually shutting Ryujis jaw again.

Anns voice rang out from the other room again “And voila! All done.”

“Gaah… I feel so naked… What kind of person invented the bikini?!” Futaba grudgingly replied.

A collective “Aaaah.” went through the crowd of guys as they finally realized what all of this was about.

“Futaba in a bikini...” Yusuke muttered.

“Quit perving.” Ryuji jabbed him in the ribs.

“It looks great on you!” Ann repeated on the other side of the door. “Pushes the right things too.”

“Huh...” Futaba said “It really does...”

“Then it’s settled.” they heard Haru say.

“You really want me to go out in this tomorrow?” Futaba reluctantly asked.

“You won’t be the only one!” Makoto reassured her.

“O- Okay...” Futaba replied “Can I take it off now?”

“Sure.” Ann replied “AND IF ANY OF YOU OUT THERE PEEKS I’LL RIP YOUR EYES OUT!”

“We’ve been compromised.” Mishima gulped.

“Retreat!” Ryuji called out before scrambling away, shortly followed by his three mates.

Futaba only reluctantly peeled herself into the bikini provided to her by Ann the next day. She let out a huge sigh as she looked at herself in the mirror. This was exactly the kind of thing that she considered as too girly. Ann looked for a good cut in clothes. Futaba liked stuff as long as the print was cool. She wouldn’t call strawberries cool, but it seemed pretty unrealistic that Ann would ever take a bikini with tetris-blocks on it. She tugged at the bikini one more time before throwing her other clothes on. The rest was already waiting downstairs.

Sojiro hadn’t been too fond of the idea of having to walk all the way to Seiiki, so he volunteered to stay behind and look after the house. Futaba had come up with a small device that was able to send a distress signal to a receiver that she had handed to Ren.

“Now don’t get sunburned...” Sojiro advised as they stood gathered in the hallway.

“Yeah Yusuke… Your skin is still peeling from the last time...” Morgana uttered.

“I will try.” Yusuke nodded, his thin white jacket already zipped up.

The group set out on a walk through the forest until they eventually reached the gates of Seiiki, that continuously was moved closer – but still at a safe-enough distance – to their home. As they were granted entrance, they could already see the huge makeshift frame pool in the middle of the crossing. Two rows of beach-chairs stood beside it while a few propped up canvas’ offered some shade.

“This is sooo cool! This must be what a public pool was like back in the days!” Ann giggled as she excitedly tugged at Ryujis arm.

They found themselves some seats where they dropped off their towels and luggage before getting ready to hit the pool. Futaba nervously eyed the rest, as each and every one of them stripped down to their swimming clothes. Of course Ann didn’t have a problem with doing that. Sometimes she even looked like she enjoyed giving Ryuji googly eyes. She was a bit more surprised to see Makoto and Haru doing the same. Futaba froze when she noticed Ann looking at her.

“Come on, Oracle!” she smiled “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Futaba flinched when she saw how all of their eyes were on her all of a sudden. “Hurgh….” she groaned “Stop staring at me...” she protested “I’ll do it, but you have to stop staring.”

Makoto looked at the guys “You heard her. Turn around.”

“No, I mean ALL of you!” Futaba pointed at Makoto. “And form a circle around me.”

The girls shared a look before shrugging. They motioned the guys to turn as they did the same.

“You are wearing your swimsuit already, are you?” Yusuke asked, confused.

“Fox!” Ann hissed.

Futaba internally rolled her eyes. She could have been naked and it still would have felt the same. She wished that she could just hide, but now she had dug her own grave by having herself rounded up by all the Phantom Thieves.

“Oookaaaay… I’m ready...” she reluctantly said after a while.

“Finally!” Ryuji groaned.

“I was already dreading another sunburn...” Yusuke uttered as all of them slowly dispersed and turned around again.

“Yeah… can we go no- Whoah!” Morgana exclaimed when his eyes fell on Futabas head, that was now wrapped in what looked like a plastic bag.

“Yup. All good! Let’s go hit the pool!” Futabas muffled voice announced.

Ann shook her head with a small smile as she had her arm propped on Ryujis shoulder.

Makoto just sighed “There’s nothing good with that...” she calmly said as she stepped up to the half-mummy. “You’ll suffocate yourself….” she muttered while slowly unwrapping the girls head again.

As the last round of wrapping was removed, the girls hair spilled down her back. She nervously scratched the back of her head as she looked into the others faces.

“All right then, let’s go.” Ryuji clapped his hands after some weird silence before taking the lead towards the pool. Futaba could have hugged him for not paying any attention to her uncomfortable attire, if she hadn’t felt so naked.

One after the other, they climbed the ladder to let themselves fall into the pool with loud groans of relaxation. There were a bunch of kids playing but besides those, they had the pool to themselves for now.

Shinya noticed some of the kids as his past enemies. After receiving his lecture from Ryuji and being forced to publicly apologize to them, he never wanted to see them again. They would probably just make fun of him even more, after that pathetic display he had given them the last time. He was about to talk Morgana into going to the other end of the pool, when one of the kids suddenly approached them.

“Who’s your friend?” the boy asked Shinya.

“I’m Morgana!” the boy confidently replied.

The boy scoffed “What kind of a name is that?”. When the two young Phantom Thieves didn’t give an immediate answer, he just shrugged “Whatever… we’re having a contest on who’s able to hold his breath the longest. You wanna join?”

Shinya couldn’t help but be surprised “B- But… we’re enemies...” he replied.

The boy raised an eyebrow “We’re not “enemies”… We just didn’t like you because you behaved like a jerk.” he crossed his arms in front of his chest “But maybe we’ve not been the kindest to you either… So let’s leave that behind and do a new start.”

Shinya was a bit baffled but Morgana decided to speak for him “Sounds good. We’re in!”

While the two kids went off to play with the others, Haru, Yusuke and Hifumi were floating on their backs, enjoying the cool water and life in general.

“It’s small moments like these, that make life beautiful.” Yusuke uttered with his eyes closed as he focused on the muffled noises through the water.

“Hmm… I have to agree.” Haru replied with a smile as she enjoyed the feeling of her hair flowing freely through the water. “It’s like sitting in front of the fireplace while a snowstorm is going on outside, only reversed.”. The only fond memories she could remember of her later days on the Okumura-estate had been the small moments like these, when it felt like the world outside stood still and she was alone with herself. Only now she didn’t necessarily need to be alone to feel happy anymore. Enjoying the moment with Yusuke and Hifumi was equally nice.

“You’re looking good.” Ren said to Futaba when he noticed her standing still, her arms wrapped around herself.

“Stop hitting on me! Your girlfriend is standing right there.” Futaba replied aghast while pointing at Makoto, who stood at the side and had a chat with Mishima.

“I’m not hitting on you.” Ren rolled his eyes.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth when she said “But thanks. Who would have thought that I would wear a bikini. With strawberries on them...”

Ren chuckled “I would have been surprised if Panther had one with Pacman or something...”. It was difficult to call everyone by their codenames, but it still was necessary.

“Right?!” she exclaimed. “But it would have been so cool! Although I would prefer one with Tetris-blocks.”

“Nice.” Ren nodded in agreement. “But that really doesn’t sound like Panther...”

Futaba chuckled “And that’s okay… She seems like she has no clue about game-culture at all…"

“To be fair, I think that noone is as well-informed about the extinct medium of video-games like you are.” Ren replied.

“I guess that’s my quirk...” Futaba said.

“Are you doing okay with living with Noir and Umbra?”

Futaba nodded “It’s not like I haven’t lived with Noir before. And Umbra is cool too. She’s smart and the way I think about video-games and the way she thinks about Shogi are basically the same.”

“So you’re calling her a fanatic?”

“Have you heard her talk about Shogi-strategies?”

Ren could only nod “I see your point.”

“But that’s what makes it cool! When I moved into LeBlanc with dad, I thought that I was the only person who was weird like this. I never had a bunch of friends at Medjed either, so I thought that I just.. wasn’t meant to belong anywhere. But all of these people that you dragged home with you… some of them are like me. Just on different topics. And some of them aren’t, but it somehow works. I was rooming with the girliest girl that I could imagine for over 2 years now and I was actually a bit sad when that era came to an end last week.” she looked at Ann, who was giggling like crazy about what must have been the fact that in the water she was actually able to carry Ryuji on her arms. Ryuji just looked weirded out by the situation he now found himself in but that was ignored by Ann.

“I actually felt a bit bad when I brought them home and just told Panther that she could room with you...” Ren admitted.

“I’m glad to hear that. You just gave my room to a stranger… What if she had been super lame?”

“That was your only fear?”

Futaba shook her head “Not the only one… but I had a pretty good feeling about her from the start, when she just entered and dropped her half-open bag on the ground and didn’t look at it for a week.”

“Wow, how did Queen put up with you for so long?”

“No idea… I wouldn’t be surprised if she got a stomach ulcer or something in the process...” she turned to him and grinned “What I’m trying to say is, that it wasn’t just you who helped me find out how to function in the “real world”. All of the people that you dragged home… they all taught me something different. And I’m really grateful for everything that all of you did for me. Not just now with Medjed, but also all the little things that you might think aren’t that important. Because some things you thought were normal weren’t normal to me. But you helped me overcome them. For gods sake, I’m standing in a pool in the middle of a crossing wearing a strawberry-bikini.”

“Can’t get over those strawberries, huh?” Ren smirked.

“When was the last time you saw strawberries? They’re extinct!” she chuckled when she noticed Ren grinning at her “For real though… I thought that I would never be able to be happy again.. And especially not as happy as I am now.”

“Aww.” Ren grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Ew, don’t touch me! We’re almost naked!” Futaba said with disgust before pushing him away.

Ren sighed but before he could answer, the two blondes approached them, both of them wearing a grin on their face. “Yo! We demand a rematch for the lake!” Ryuji announced.

Ren grinned when he gave Futaba a look “Ready to kick some ass?”

Futaba looked nervous “In This?!” she whispered, distraught. “Panther will have an advantage, she’s on a much higher level with this equipment!”

Ann had apparently picked up on her muttered conversation with Ren “So at least you won’t get the idea to jump at me again.” she grinned.

“Hurgh...” Futaba ground her teeth “Nope, I smell foul play. She’s out for revenge!” she said with narrowed eyes. Her eyes fell on Makoto, who was just walking towards them. She raised her voice on purpose to make sure that she heard it “Boy, I wish we had SOMEONE to fill in for me!”

Ren smirked and slowly shook his head when he followed her thoughts. When Makoto looked a bit confused, he turned around and smiled his most charming smile “What do you say? You wanna give it a try and help me win the honorable way this time?”

Makoto looked around and spotted all the potential audience. “Well… I...” she stammered.

The two blondes shared a smirk before Ryuji turned back to them with a shrug “It’s okay. We’ll just do it another ti- Oh wait, what am I hearing?” he looked like he was straining his ears “Hm, I’m not sure but I think I can hear the chickens at LeBlanc2. They’re saying…. Bock, bock, bock!” he called out the last part, imitating their pets.

“That was a long build-up...” Ren stated.

Beside Ryuji Ann was giggling behind a raised hand.

“This is too childish for me.” Makoto said with a raised eyebrow.

Ann hung her harm from Ryujis shoulder again when she said “Oh come on, Queen…. It’ll be fun” she smirked “At least for me, when I wipe the pools floor with you.”. Competition had always been something that got Makoto going and Ann was more than aware that she was pushing a dangerous couple of buttons.

Makotos so reluctant mimic turned serious when she focused her stare on Ann. “Oh really?” she asked in that both toenail-curling and yet sweet voice, that she would always get when she was about to verbally rip someone apart. She smiled “Because of what I saw, I can say that you have a strong base with Skull but when it comes to your technique… Even if Oracle hadn’t jumped at you, ultimately they would have won.”

Ann gasped with a grin before answering “Then bring it!”. She climbed onto Ryujis shoulders without waiting for him to help her. After finding a good spot, she looked down at Ryuji “She basically insulted us both right now. Why didn’t you say anything?” she eventually asked while tapping her finger on the top of his head.

Ruyji shrugged with her sitting on his shoulders “I dunno, she called me strong.” he grinned.

When Makoto approached Ren, he couldn’t help but grin “Ready?” he asked. When Makoto stoically nodded he wanted to lean forward to give her one last kiss only to have his face pushed away by her.

“We don’t have time for this.” she said.

Ren could only sigh “Skull and Panther look like they’re having fun together….”

Makoto managed to give him a weak smile when she patted his cheek “Oh but we’ll have fun. After we crush them.”. She took another step towards him “Now help me up.”

Ren couldn’t help but grin. “You’re lucky that I think it’s hot when you’re obsessed like this...”

Makoto arranged herself on his shoulders while saying “I would be flustered now but we have more important things to do.”

As the two teams stood in front of each other, Ann grinned at Makoto “Ready?”

Makotos glare was icy. If you didn’t know her, one could actually think that she was dead-serious about this. She simply nodded.

“Then on your marks...” Futaba counted from the ground “Get set…. GO!”

As Ren and Ryuji met in the middle, the leader grabbed the blonde boy by the elbows.

“Pretty sad that you’re gonna lose the first time you’re fighting alongside your girlfriend.” Ryuji taunted.

Ren smirked in return “I could say the same about you.”. He huffed when he gave Ryuji what he would consider a good shove. The blonde boy just took a step back and grinned.

“Even Queen said I’m strong. You think your chicken arms can just push me over?” he grinned before taking a step towards him.

Ren had to admit that by comparison, Ryujis upper arms were much more... everything.. than his. Over all, the blonde boys entire build was more focused on lifting and carrying things while Ren liked to think of himself as something of a muscular cat - agile and nimble. He was so concentrated on keeping Ryuijs arms away from him, that he was already too late when he realized the blonde boys foot shooting forward under water to hook around his ankle. Apparently Ryuji didn’t skip leg day, for he was able to pull Rens foot out from under him with no visual effort. He heard a small squeal from Makoto before his ears were underwater. When both of them resurfaced again, Ann was still sitting on Ryujis shoulders, cheering loudly while Ryuji just had a smug look on his face.

Ren and Makoto exchanged a look. “Sorry...” Ren apologized.

Makoto gave him a smile while pushing a wet strand of hair out of his face. She started laughing.

“So, I take it that you had fun?” Ren asked with a smirk.

Makoto nodded “Yes… But I guess our opponents were too strong for now.”

Ren reluctantly nodded before addressing the two blondes “Welp, congrats you tw- nevermind, they’re already making out again...” he changed mid-sentence when he actually turned his head to find the two blondes entangled in each others arms.

“Queens technique was quite promising but you..” Futaba stabbed a finger at Ren “that was a rookie-mistake. Getting your foot pulled out? Seriously?”

“I’m sorry, Coach...” Ren committed to the act.

“Oh, you will be sorry!” Futaba flourished in her role as the coach. “You’ll give me 60 knee bends when we get home.”

Ren sighed “Yes, Coach.”

Futaba gave him another disappointed look before she let her gaze wander across the pool. Yusuke, Haru and Hifumi were still drifting around on the water-surface and Shinya and Morgana were playing catch with a bunch of other kids. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to pull under Inari.”

“Oh no...” Makoto slowly shook her head.

“He will not be amused...” Ren said.

The Phantom Thieves enjoyed the rest of the day at the pool. At one point, someone busted out a volleyball, which ended up in a match of boys vs. girls. The guys soon had to admit defeat when there was no way to counter Makotos deadly slams. It was nice to not be noticed for a day. Of course everyone seemed aware of who they were, but noone talked them up except for the occasional Hello. It was as if they were normal guests for once and Ren enjoyed every moment of it. He hadn’t noticed that he had drifted off to sleep until Makoto said something to him that made him realize that he needed to open his eyes. He was laying in one of the beach-chairs, his and Makotos hand connected while she was lounging in the chair beside him. On his other side, Yusuke had decided to escape the sun for a bit, but was far too late once more since his chest was already bright red from floating in the pool for hours. Ann and Ryuji were laying on a large blanket. What had started out as both of them laying on their backs to tan themselves had now turned into them sleeping in a tight embrace, their arms wrapped around each other and their legs entangled. Ren could already hear Ann complaining about white streaks later. Haru, Hifumi and Mishima sat on another blanket and played cards while Shinya and Morgana still ran around with the kids from Seiiki.

The sun started to go down when the Thieves packed up their stuff and began their way home, but not before thanking the villagers for the invitation and the great community-service. Back at LeBlanc2 they found Sojiro in the backyard, tending to something that could have been described as an open campfire.

“Since you guys had a day at the pool, I thought why not do another summer-classic.” the old man smiled as he pointed to skewers of vegetables and occasional pieces of meat that he had traded yesterday.

Futabas smile almost reached her ears “Are we sleeping outside too?”

The old man chuckled “I sure won’t, but you guys can do whatever you want. But let’s eat first. I got something else for you after dinner.” he said while placing the first skewers on the rack above the fire.

While the food cooked on the open fire, the group gathered some blankets and small pillows to sit on. They enjoyed their dinner under the setting sun, sitting around the campfire and just chatting about meaningless things. After so many tough days of finding out a horrible truth of what had gotten humanity into this situation in the first place, it felt nice to just forget about it for one day. Nobody dared to say it, but after getting caught up in tough situations for months in a row, everyone already had a suspicion that the stressful days were far from over.

After Makoto and Ann returned from carrying the dishes inside, Sojiro revealed a cardboard box.

“Uuuuh! You got presents for us?!” Futaba asked like a kid only waiting to tear through her christmas gifts.

“In a way...” Sojiro chuckled “Why don’t you open it?”

He didn’t need to tell Futaba twice. He wasn’t even done with his sentence yet when the girl ripped open the box. “Fireworks?!” she exclaimed.

“I traded them a few days ago… Could be possible, that they’re not working anymore though.” Sojiro called to mind.

“Only one way to find out!” Ryuji grinned, the fireworks apparently more intriguing than his girlfriend since he took his arm away from her shoulders to inspect the box with Futaba.

It was pitch-dark by the time that Ryuji, Futaba, Ren and Yusuke were done setting up an arrangement of fireworks on the lawn. They would have been ready much faster, but whenever Yusuke was involved in arranging something one had to bring an extra hour, no matter whether you cared about a pleasing arrangement of the fireworks’ packaging by color. When Ren and Ryuji were done with setting up a fuse to trigger a chain reaction of both big and smaller fireworks, the group huddled together on the lawn. Everyones eyes were fixed on the small spark that slowly traveled from Makotos lighter to the first little volcano. Their eyelids collectively dropped when nothing happened.

“What a disappointment...” Yusuke was the first to utter.

“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, they must be over 50 years old...” Makoto replied.

“I’m sure nothing works after 50 years.” Morgana said.

“Hey!” Sojiro grumbled.

“Well that was a bust...” Ren sighed.

“We’re not done yet!” Futaba was still optimistic when she shoved the two sparkles into Rens face. “Light me up!”

Ren raised an eyebrow at her “What? You gonna put up a show on your own?”

“Well someone’s gotta keep you entertained.” Futaba replied.

Ren shrugged as he followed her orders. To his surprise, the two sparklers actually took the fire and started sizzling immediately.

Futaba giggled excitedly before she took off running in circles around the lawn, swinging the sparklers around.

An odd feeling of warmth spread in all of them as they grinned and laughed at Futaba soaring through the garden, the sparklers in her hand creating a warm and somehow magical atmosphere that moved Ryuji back to Ann and Makoto into Rens arms.

Futaba couldn’t help but smile as she looked into the happy and loving faces of her family, whose eyes seemed to glimmer even more from the reflection of the sparklers in her hands. “And now for the big finale!” she announced after completing another lap. “Super move!” she called out before twirling in a circle, both her arms stretched out to the sides as her audience clapped and cheered. She probably looked stupid and they probably looked ridiculous for cheering on a crazy girl that ran around with 50-year-old pyrotechnics. But who cared? They had been shown so many times that life could be cruel and that it stopped for noone. So why not enjoy the moment for once, no matter how stupid?

“Bravo!” Sojiro clapped the loudest before making a sharp whistle with his fingers.

“Better than the fireworks!” Ann called over everyones applause.

“I want an autograph!” Shinya exclaimed.

“I want to carry your child!” Ren shouted over everyone else, ignoring Makotos facepalm.

“Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night!” Futaba announced while bowing several times.

She really was there all night, for except for Sojiro, everyone else decided to sleep in the backyard, except for they didn’t go to sleep for a long time. The campfire was almost completely burned down when they passed around a flashlight to tell scary stories.

“My story will be incredibly scary, so I’m warning those with a weak spirit!” Morgana dramatically announced when it was his turn. When everyone just rolled their eyes, he continued “There once was a marvelous and beautiful girl. She was the most marvelous and most beautiful of them all, even.”

A collective groan went through the round.

“Was her name Ann?” Shinya sighed.

“N- No!” Morgana stammered. “Her name was…. Lady… Onn.”

“Lady Onn?” Hifumi repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“Exactly. Lady Onn. Her hair was the most beautiful color of… black and her eyes were the prettiest shade of… green.”

“Black hair, green eyes… Classic.” Ren said.

“What do you mean by the “most beautiful color of black”?” Yusuke asked. “I will need you to elaborate on that.”

“She had black hair and it was beautiful!” Morgana snapped before calmly continuing “Anyway, one day she was hit by a curse in form of an evil man. His hair was… yellow...”

“You’re not even trying anymore...” Futaba sighed.

“Oh, wait, I remember… it was… brown.”

Another groan went through the group.

“I wonder what his name was.” Haru said.

“His name was Suckamoto.” Morgana replied.

Ren snorted. Ryujis face turned red.

“What was that?” he growled.

“I’m just telling a story here!” Morgana defended himself. “Anyway, his name was Suckamoto. With S, U, C, K-”

“You little shitbag-” Ryuji said through clenched teeth as Ann gently patted his shoulder while wheezing with laughter.

“How long have you been sitting on that pun?” Ren asked, his eyes watering a little. Suckamoto… He had to give it to the kid, it was a good one.

Morgana proudly grinned “A month.”

Futaba sighed before ripping the flashlight out of the kids hand, much to Morganas dismay “Okay, you ruined it. I guess it’s time to hit the grass. The sun will start to rise soon and we don’t wanna look like zombies tomorrow.”

“Yes, mom...” Ren imitated her usual reply to whenever Makoto or Haru said something like this.

“Oh, not you though. You still owe me 60 knee bends for that shameful loss earlier.” Futaba grinned. When Rens face dropped, she grinned “Ah, I’m feeling generous. You can do them tomorrow.”. She found herself a place on a blanket with Haru and Hifumi. She still had to smile as she looked at the clear sky. “Good night, everyone.” she called out.

“Good night.” Ann replied from somewhere a few blankets farther away. She already had to giggle before adding “Good night, Suckamoto.”, causing the others to erupt in giggles and snorts too.

“Oh Ha Ha!” Ryuji replied, annoyed. “I’m so gonna get you back for that you little jerk!”

“It was a story!” Morgana clung to his alibi.

“My ass!”

“You ignorant monkey, you’d be too dumb to understand art even if it hit you in the face”

“Oh yeah? Well why don’t you come over here and explain it to me then, wise-ass?” the hotheaded blonde challenged.

“With pleasure!” Morgana spat.

“Oh my god, we get it, just shut up you two!” Ann called out.

Both Ryuji and Morgana were sitting and glaring at each other when a smirk appeared on Ryujis face “Ya hear that? Lady Ann wants you to stop!”

“Because she’s a civilized human being!” Morgana replied.

“No, because she wants to sleep!” Ann yelled.

“All of us do, by the way!” Ren added.

“He started it!” Morgana pouted.

“The hell I started! Your stupid st- _hmpf_ ” Ryuji was silenced mid-sentence when Ann clamped a hand over his mouth and pulled him back down to bed.

Morgana cackled “Haha, I wi- OW!” he exclaimed when he was hit in the head with a pillow thrown by Futaba.

When a few moments of complete silence passed, Ren said “Let’s try this again: Good night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a piece of sweet and fun group-fluff inspired by the beach-trip but with extras! I just love writing these. It makes me happy. And I hope they make you happy too. We all know what arc comes next, so I'd say we deserve some happy moments before that;)


	45. Back In Business

Their day at the pool was the last day of relaxation that they got over the next week. The word about Mishimas bulletin board apparently spread fast for every night he came back from his tour with what seemed like a bigger stack than the day before. Since the Phantom Thieves thought themselves to be back in the business again and since Ohya pumped out article after article, they felt obligated to finish as many requests as possible each day. They sat together every evening after dinner to go through the stack of assignments and to make a battle-plan for the next day. Mishima had taken it upon himself to take the chair in these assemblies and to read out all the requests.

It was another evening after dinner when the Phantom Thieves gathered in the living room to wait for Mishima to read them the next days tasks. They had remodeled the downstairs bathroom to be an office for administrative issues. As their manager, it was mostly Mishimas domain, where he would store old requests, logs and other things.

The stack that Hermes was carrying in from his office and to the table in the living room caused everyone in the room to groan. The stack made a loud _Thump_ upon hitting the tabletop, shortly followed by Mishima, flopping down in the chair behind it. “Okay, here’s what we have.” he announced.

“How do all of these even fit onto the board?” Shinya asked.

Mishima scratched his head “They are posting over each other...”

“How are we even supposed to get all of them done in one day?” Ann whined.

“If this stack is like any of those from previous days, we might stumble across a lot of unsolvable quests and love professions too.” Yusuke uttered.

Hifumi nodded “There has been an increased amount of unrealistically high expectations and blind admiration from the public lately.”

“I have to say that it’s starting to become a bit scary...” Haru admitted “The people seem to think that we are able to solve all their problems, no matter what.”

“It’s as if they’re obsessed with our every move.” Makoto agreed.

“Maybe Ohya should tone it down a bit on the articles.. Ever since she took over that “newspaper” of hers, it feels like she’s publishing about you even more..” Sojiro uttered from his reading chair.

“I don’t know if it’s really just because of Ohyas articles anymore...” Ren said.

“By taking down Kaneshiro and allowing the story to spread and the myth to form, we might have lost control.” Hifumi said.

“This is bigger than us. Literally.” Futaba said.

“I mean, it’s great that we’re able to help so many people, but the expectations are just too high….” Ann said.

“They have to know that we’re just a bunch of teenagers, right?” Ryuji sighed.

Mishima cleared his throat before saying “I know that we’ve been getting a lot of notes lately, but some of the things that people need help with sound really important. So let’s get the stack done for today.”. When everyone nodded, he took the first request “Dear Phantom Thieves, I have an itching foot and I’m at my wits end, please help me.”

“Amputate!” Futaba called out.

Mishima sighed “Okay, maybe not that one… I’ll write some responses on those later…”. He put the piece of paper aside and took the next “Hey Phantom Thieves, my friends are always making fun of me for being alone. Sometimes they play some horrible pranks on me too. I finally want it to stop...” he started to read.

“We should step in if someone is getting bullied.” Ann was motivated.

Mishima sighed when he read the last line out loud “I’m sure if I had a hot boyfriend, they would leave me be. Would any of your guys be willing to marry me to shut them up? Pretty please!!!”

“Oh...” Ann changed her mind.

“Well, Yusuke? Mishima? Now’s your chance!” Ren smirked.

“That’s what they ask of us? Are you serious?” Ryuji sighed.

“We shouldn’t be talking off of our high horse. I’m sure that her problems are valid but I have to agree, that this is not part of our service...” Makoto rubbed her temple.

“Yeah.. Mishima you should answer that she shouldn’t marry someone just to shut up her friends...” Ann said.

“Next!” Futaba demanded.

“Okay… next we have… this!” Mishima said. “This sounds promising: More and more shadows roam around our village and they come closer every night. We can’t fend them off on our own. Please help us!”

“Now that sounds like a job for us!” Morgana called out.

Mishima nodded “The coordinates are about two hours away from here. Who’s feeling up for battling some shadows?”

“I’ll go!” Haru was immediately down to play.

“Me too! Maybe I’ll finally get to try out my whip.” Ann grinned.

“I’ll tag along too. Three should be enough, right?” Ren said.

Mishima nodded before making a note. “Okay, Noir, Panther and Joker will take this one!”. He grabbed the next one from the stack “Dear Phantom Thieves, our settlements rulers are an incompetent bunch of assholes. Please overthrow them so a new power can rise and we won’t have to look at these degenerated sons of-” he broke off mid-sentence “The rest is just insults...”

“Colorful.” Ren remarked.

“They want us to overthrow their leaders?” Haru asked.

“That’s a new one...” Sojiro sighed.

“It starts to feel like the people see us as hitmen for hire..” Yusuke bristled.

“It’s not like we didn’t overthrow Kaneshiro...” Ren admitted.

“But we can’t just go around and do that everywhere anyone requests it.” Makoto said.

“Yeah… I get being angry at the system but...” Ryuji muttered.

“.. we shouldn’t meddle with things that we don’t know both sides of.” Haru completed.

“Generally, I don’t feel like we should start getting political… I’m more than ready to help clear out shadows but overthrowing governments...” Ren was reluctant.

“After seeing what politics did to my mom, I vote on keeping a safe distance from that minefield too...” Futaba agreed.

“Futaba-chan...” Haru softly muttered.

“No, it’s okay. I… just don’t want this to happen to anyone of us. One is enough...”

They all nodded before Ren said “I guess it’s unanimous then. We won’t meddle with political structures.” he turned to Mishima “What else do we have?”

“Hmm...” Mishima said while flipping through a few pages that he had read in advance while the others had been discussing “Love profession to Yusuke, a request to stalk someones ex, a multi-page manuscript for a fan-fiction...”

“Wait what?” Ann grinned “A love profession? To Yusuke?”

“That’s what got you?” Futaba asked “I wanna read that fic!”

Mishima handed them the two posts in question.

“Dear Mr. Fox,” Ann started reading “I know you probably won’t remember me, but you walked past me on the street a couple of times and I couldn’t help but lose myself in your breathtaking symmetrical face. Everyday, my heart hopes that I run across you when I walk my daily route.” Ann looked at Yusuke “Awww! Yusuke, you got a secret admirer!”

“That was about as cheesy as the pretended one you wrote for those Medjed-nerds...” Ryuji bristled before Ann whacked him over the head with a scoff.

“I wouldn’t call it particularly secret either, since she has talked to me on various occasions now.” Yusuke uttered “While I feel flattered by her compliments about my facial symmetry, I feel that touching it goes a step too far.”

“Pft… creepy...” Ryuji grinned.

“Not as creepy as this!” Futaba exclaimed in outrage, waving around the manuscript of the fan fiction. “They’re shipping me with INARI?!”

While everyone else hid their amusement behind their hands, Ren openly chuckled.

“Oh you got some answering to do too, since you’re dating Ann in this!” Futaba smugly replied.

“What?!” Ann shrieked.

Ren was visibly confused before shaking his head “It feels uncomfortable to be written about like some character of fiction...”

Futaba got up and slammed the manuscript onto Mishimas desk “I want you to write them back and set the records straight on the REAL couples here! Tell them to make the changes and that I want to have the new version on the board within a week!”

“But what about creative freedom?” Mishima asked.

“A very good point!” Yusuke agreed. “If the author got the impression that there was something of a …” he struggled to bring out the word “romantic… tension between me and Futaba, it is their creative interpretation and not to be berated.”

“For gods sake Inari, can’t you take my side for ONCE?” Futaba groaned before dropping down on the floor again.

“I have my integrity, even if I strongly disagree with whatever the author saw in us...”

Futaba grumbled something incomprehensible.

“I think I found something better!” Mishima said as he held up another note. “I request an escort to a possible shadow-infested ruin to look for materials.”

“Now we’re talking again.” Ryuji grinned “I’m in!”

“I can come with you.” Makoto said.

“If the place in question really is only possibly infested with shadows, do you think you’re good as a duo?” Mishima asked.

Ryuji grinned “Leave it to us. I think we’ll be good, right, Fist of the Phantom Star?”

Makoto shot him a look “I told you to stop calling me that.” she rolled her eyes before turning to Mishima “We should be fine.”

Mishima nodded while writing it down “The next one is oddly specific. Someone is asking to draw them a map.”

“You’re making a name for yourself.” Morgana grinned as he looked at Yusuke.

“Who would have thought that that drives the girls wild...” Ryuji said.

“Well, not everyone is into loud and dense guys.” Ann shrugged with a smirk.

Ryuji made a face at her.

“I guess that calls for Hifumi and Yusuke. It’s not far from here, so maybe you can get a few other small tasks done for nearby settlements too. There’s someone who found a door with an electronic lock...” Mishima said.

“Then I’ll join too!” Futaba announced. “Prometheus will get this done in no time!”

Mishima nodded again “Great!” he took another bundle of papers. “Oh… it’s another fiction...” his sentence remained half-finished for Futaba had already ripped it out his hands. The boy shrugged before continuing through the stack. After doing a quick scan and dividing it into two stacks, he handed out some smaller assignments in the surroundings of each teams given location to work off since they would already be there. When only the “Spam”-stack remained, he leaned back in his chair “And we’re done.”

“What about us?” Morgana asked.

“Oh… well I guess you’ll be on home-duty.” Mishima said.

“What? But I already had to stay home two days ago!” Morgana protested.

“You can go hunting.” Sojiro proposed “Would make for a nice dinner when everyone comes back.”

“Why is it always us that have to stay behind?” Shinya complained.

“It just happened for tomorrow. I’m sure there will be new tasks that you’ll come along the day after that.” Haru tried to calm them down.

“This sucks...” Morgana pouted.

“Hey, everyone here has to carry their weight. Going hunting is important for our system too.” Sojiro reprimanded.

The two kids grumbled with crossed arms and pouting faces.

“I like that one!” Futaba announced after reading a few pages of the new fiction. “It’s something of an alternate universe where we’re also fighting shadows, but we fight with our manifested true selves that can do magic!” she recapped. “Pretty creative. Gotta love an alternate universe.”

“That does sound cool.” Ann agreed.

Mishima got up from his seat and took the Spam-stack “And that’s it for tonight. It was a long meeting.” he yawned as he noticed that it was already dark outside.

Ren got up from his spot on the floor and stretched his back “Okay guys, we got a lot on our plates tomorrow. Make sure to get enough rest.”

“Good night everyone!” Makoto called out as both her and Ren left for their room upstairs.

“You’re already going to sleep? Boring!” Morgana called out. “Hey, does anyone play a round of Tycoon?”

“I’m in!” Shinya said.

“Lady Ann, what-” Morgana was about to ask before realizing that she had already disappeared upstairs with Ryuji. As he looked around the room, he saw Hifumi and Yusuke sitting at the table and starting a round of Shogi. Mishima had already disappeared into his “office”.

“I’ll join you.” Haru smiled at him.

“Okay, only one more to go! Futaba!” Morgana called out.

“Nope. Reading.” Futaba said without raising her eyes before she walked out the living room.

“Ugh...” Morgana sighed “Boss?”

The old man smiled “Fine. But just one round.”

The Phantom Thieves got up early the next morning and immediately set out after breakfast. They started walking together before group after group broke off to go their own ways. Yusukes team was the first to take a turn before eventually it was time for Ryuji and Makoto to take a different path too.

“Be careful, okay?” Ryuji said after Ann said goodbye with a kiss.

“You too.” Ann smiled.

“Don’t rough the shadows up too hard, okay?” Ren told Makoto with a smirk and kiss to the cheek.

Makoto smiled back “Same goes for you.” when Ren and his group turned around to walk away, she called after him “And maybe don’t add anything to the image that you are dating someone else.”

Ren turned his head around and theatrically rolled his eyes “Fiiiine, guess Ann and I will skip the victory french kiss for today.”. He chuckled when Ryuji flipped him the finger and Ann looked mortified beside him.

“Can I ask you something?” Makoto asked after walking with Ryuji for a bit.

“Sure.” Ryuji shrugged.

“Are you bothered by that fiction?”

“Nah… I’d probably be if they paired her with anyone else, but Ren’s my best friend. I know him and I know that he and Ann are close, but that’s it.” he said. “Is it bothering you?”

Makoto nervously brushed back a strand of hair “Well… it’s not a nice thing to hear that someone thinks that your boyfriend would look good with someone else, even if the person doesn’t know us.”

“I really wouldn’t worry too much. People are pulling those assumptions out of their asses sometimes… Was the same with me and Ann...”

“You are making a very bad example...” Makoto replied coolly.

“Huh… guess you’re right.” Ryuji noticed. Apparently the years-old reflex of denying anything romantic was still somewhat stuck in his head. “But what about Futaba and Yusuke? I really can’t see those two together without killing each other...”

“One could say the same about you and Ann.” Makoto pointed out.

“Ugh.. you’re not making this easy...” Ryuji sighed “Look, all of us know that you are the one for Ren and that’s what really counts, isn’t it?”

Makoto nodded “You’re right. I shouldn’t let this bother me too much.” she said before blushing when she realized that Ryuji had called her “the one” for Ren.

After a bit of walking, the two met up with their contractor, who was more than happy to see them. His place of interest wasn’t swarming with shadows, but both Makoto and Ryuji were able to blow off some steam when they worked together to defeat two of them, with Ryuji knocking them to the ground with his bat only to be showered with hits from Makotos fists. After deeming the abandoned suburb safe, they told the small expedition group to start searching for what they were looking for while they themselves took a look at the place too.

Makoto walked through a half-collapsed house when she noticed the almost completely intact garage. She didn’t bother with picking the lock and gave the brittle wooden door a good kick, sending it flying inwards. While she didn’t come across any provisions, a big tarp caught her attention, covering something in the middle of the garage. With a tingle in her fingers, she carefully grabbed the edge and pulled it off before she had to gasp. In front of her stood a silver motorcycle, polished to a sheen that had faded a bit by now, but it was obvious that the previous owner had cared a lot for it. She carefully slid a finger across the front before she found the key still in the ignition. Her heart fluttered a bit when she gave the key a turn, only to hear the engine roar to life after a year-long sleep. After making sure that noone was around to see her, she hopped up and down in celebration. She found two sets of helmets in the garage before she managed to open the garage door and push the motorcycle out into the street.

Ryuji was going through a different ruin when he heard the roar of an engine on the street. It didn’t sound like a car, but it was still a cause to be alarmed. He cursed under his breath before barging out of the house, his mind already focused on getting everyone of their group together and leaving before they ran into real trouble. His eyes went wide when he saw Makoto standing there with a silver motorcycle. The way she was leaning against it looked badass as always. “Whoah!” he exclaimed as he walked closer “Dude, that’s awesome!”

Makoto couldn’t contain her smile “I know, right?!” she said, her voice in a pitch that wasn’t usually hers.

“We’re taking this, right?” Ryuji asked with a wide grin.

“I mean… we’d be stupid not to...” Makoto said with a smirk.

They escorted their assigned group back to their village with Makoto pushing the motorcycle and Ryuji carrying the two helmets. After dropping them off in front of their settlement and after shaking many grateful hands, Makoto turned the key in the ignition of the motorcycle once again. A shiver ran down her spine when the engine roared to life. She took the helmet that Ryuji handed her and swung her leg over the machine. A smile crept up her face when she felt the throttle vibrating in her hand. She looked at Ryuji “Let’s go.”

Ryuji was someone who didn’t look uncomfortable often. He put the second helmet on and reluctantly climbed onto the back. “Soo.. this is weird...” he eventually pointed out “but where am I supposed to hold on?”

“Just wrap your hands around my waist.” Makoto said. She was surprised after saying it. Having anyone except for her boyfriend be this close to her would have felt weird under any other circumstance but for some reason she didn’t worry.

“Are… you sure?” Ryuji asked, apparently much more uncomfortable with the situation than her.

Makoto turned her head as much as possible before she said “Are you scared that someone might start shipping us?”

“No.” Ryuji stubbornly replied before it took him visual effort to place his arms around Makotos middle, looping his arms around her without actually touching her.

Makoto sighed “Just don’t fall off...”. The engine roared when she turned the throttle. Ryujis awkward arm-position was soon in the past when he clung to her, screaming, as they sped down the bumpy road and towards their next job.

“Seriously? A map of the forest trails?” Futaba groaned as she trotted behind Hifumi and Yusuke. “I thought that this would be fun, like that time when we spotted out the bank.”

“Map-making is wandering around most of the time.” Yusuke said. “And still it is very important to be precise.”

“Yeah… wouldn’t want anyone to make a turn into nowhere...” Futaba mumbled.

“100 steps ahead before a turn to the right at a...” Hifumi narrowed her eyes “60 degree angle.”

Yusuke nodded while making the appropriate marks on his large sketch-pad.

“Isn’t it a bit weird that the others are off fighting shadows while we’re creeping through a forest while counting our steps?” Futaba asked.

“I would guess that I still have a reputation from when we first moved here and I offered my services...” Yusuke said.

“Your big breakthrough.” Futaba said.

“Something like that.” Yusuke said “Although when I first offered to draw things for people, I certainly hadn’t thought that they would ask me to draw maps...”

“Cartography seems like a different line of work...” Hifumi said.

“It turned out that it didn’t matter to the people. They were happy enough that someone would do it. And some of them even asked me to do a painting for them since they were so satisfied with the map I drew them.” Yusuke said.

“Relatable. I’d be more than happy to give that boring work to someone else too...” Futaba replied.

“Just look at it as a beautiful walk through the forest.” Yusuke said.

“We already took a beautiful walk to get here and we’ll take a beautiful walk back home.” Futaba replied.

“You lack patience.” Yusuke stated as he was walking and drawing at the same time

“Wait ‘til you see me watch a program install.”

Both Yusuke and Hifumi stopped abruptly, causing the orange-haired girl to bump into the tall guys back. She was about to protest when Yusuke raised a finger and motioned her to be quiet. Futaba peeked out from behind his back, only to see a deer standing in front of them at a few feet distance, staring.

“Awww!” Futaba whispered.

“Some things require calm and patience.” Yusuke whispered before squatting down and extending his hand, offering the animal some nuts from his trail-mix. “Two virtues that you are unaware of.”

“Seriously? You’re burning me in a moment like this?” Futaba hissed, causing the deer to prick his ears and draw back his head.

“I implore you to be quiet!” Yusuke urged, his voice much less shrill and therefore less frightening to the animal.

The three continued to stand in the middle of the forest as step by step the deer walked closer to them. As it carefully craned its neck to take a nut out of Yusukes hand, everyone held their breath.

“Come here, you give it a try.” Yusuke muttered to Futaba.

Futaba had never moved so slowly and carefully in her life when she reached for a hand of nuts out of her bag before slowly squatting down. The deer looked a bit bothered, but still enjoyed the food in Yusukes hand enough to not run away again.

After Yusukes hand was empty, the deer carefully turned to Futabas. “It’s lips are so soft!!!” she whispered excitedly, working hard on keeping her voice low. She watched the majestic creature with wide eyes when suddenly a squirrel hopped onto her arm from the side, making use of the offered buffet too. “Yusuke look! I’m like a Disney princess!” she whispered.

“See what beauty comes with patience?” Yusuke asked.

“You’re really making this a lesson?”

“I am.”

“It’s hard to disagree with you now...” Futaba grudgingly had to admit.

The deer took off again soon after Futabas hand was empty, but the squirrel stuck around for bit longer as it tried to nibble on Futabas hand.

“You think it will come with us?” Futaba asked as she held back a giggle when the squirrel moved up and down her arm with its tiny feet.

“I believe that it will run off as soon as you get up.” Hifumi said.

“No need to crush my dreams so early.” Futaba sighed, discarding her imagination of a trained squirrel that she could send into air-ducts to retrieve things. “Okay little squirrel. Time for you to go back to your friends.” she said with a heavy heart as she slowly started to get up again.

The squirrel hopped off of her and climbed up the nearest tree as the three Phantom Thieves returned to their task. As Hifumi counted steps and guessed the angles of the path ahead, followed by Yusuke who put all of it to paper, Futaba decided to give being patient a try when she quietly followed and took in how many animals surrounded them all the time, watching the humans passing by in plain sight. She had never noticed them because she was too focused on what was dead-ahead instead of – as Yusuke liked to do – let her gaze wander to find the beauty in the world.

It was around midday when Ren, Haru and Ann reached the village that had requested their help with getting rid of some shadows. They were greeted by a 30-something woman, who had a child clinging to her hand.

“I didn’t think that you would come this quickly...” she was wide-eyed.

“Your note sounded urgent.” Ren replied.

“Can you point us to where the shadows are coming from?” Haru asked.

The woman nodded and pointed to a place farther south “It’s normal for them to roam around at the edge of the woods over there, but recently they started to come closer to us… A lot of our people are out working in a different place during the weeks to keep all of us fed and adequately provided, so we don’t have enough power to fend them off on our own.”

“We’ll take care of it.” Ann said with a smile.

The three turned around and walked into the indicated direction.

“There have been more requests about roaming shadows recently, don’t you agree?” Haru asked.

“I guess...” Ann shrugged “But over all, there’s more and more new settlements popping up too… Maybe the shadows have always walked there, only now there’s people who decided to settle on their routes...”

“Almost makes me shed a tear for the shadows.” Ren said with a smirk.

“Those guys back there didn’t even have a gate or anything… It must be horrible to live there, having to fear that shadows could just attack any moment.” Ann shuddered “They didn’t even seem to have guns...”

“Weapons have gotten scarce, it seems. Iwai said that it gets more difficult to find weapons to restore and resell, especially since he’s done with clearing out Kaneshiros old yakuza town...” Haru said.

“Thinking about it, they must have had some kind of deal.. How else would they have managed to have every one of them armed with at least a pistol?” Ren noted.

“Is Okumura Industries the only one left producing weapons?” Ann asked.

“Well...” Haru started. Talking about the family business was never something she particularly enjoyed “I remember that there used to be other, smaller armorers but it just doesn’t compare to a whole factory...”

“Wait, you don’t really think that Harus father knowingly supplied Kaneshiro, right?” Ann asked Ren.

“It’s just a thought that occurred to me later on…” Ren said.

Harus back tensed up. She wouldn’t even be surprised, if her father had done something like this. The most important thing for an Okumura was profit after all. How often had he preached their family-motto to her, whenever she had dared to utter something that went against what seemed to be his only joy in life: making money. She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. This always happened when she thought about her past too much. How she would cry herself to sleep almost every night over how powerless she was. How she almost hadn’t been able to reach to bathroom in time to throw up after her father had introduced her to Sugimura, announcing then and there that he was the one she was going to marry. Haru flinched when she suddenly felt an arm looping through hers.

“Everything okay, Noir?” Ann asked with a smile.

Haru nodded and forced to smile back “Yes. Please excuse me for spacing out.”

“No worries.” Ann replied “Sorry for bringing up your dad…”

Haru shook her head “He did work hard to have the Okumura name come up whenever someone talks about guns.” she reluctantly added “It’s just… whenever someone mentions him, I can’t help but be scared again. I thought that I would be over it by now...”

Ann squeezed her arm with hers “I know how it feels when a memory haunts you, even after years. I can’t imagine how horrible it must be if the person that so terrifies you is your own father...”

Haru just nodded.

Ann smiled and playfully nudged her in the side “I know what will take your mind off of things though.”. When Haru only gave her a questioning look, she clarified “Beating up some shadows?”

“Oh!” Haru couldn’t help but smile. “You are right, that usually puts me in a better mood.”

“See?” Ann grinned “I’m sure that we’ll find some creepy shadows to mess around with.”

The three soon found the possible shadow nest in an abandoned parking garage.

“I never really got why there’s shadows so far away from Tokyo too...” Ann said as they stood in front of the garage and preparing their weapons.

“Futaba explained it to me once.” Ren said as he slid the magazine into his gun “While the “main portal” is somewhere in the Tokyo underground, apparently certain types of shadows venture out and nest outside. Whether they actually breed or if they’re able to “summon” others isn’t clear...”

Haru shouldered her axe when she said “All that matters is that we are going to kill them.” she was back to smiling her honest and sweet smile.

“Exactly.” Ann grinned.

Ren released the safety on his gun before smirking at the two girls “Alright then, let’s do it.”

As they reached the third underground level of the garage, they could already hear the bustling of something bigger than rats.

When Ren pointed his flashlight at the far corner, they spotted three fairy-like shadows and a demon-like male figure with two katanas. He cast a look at his two team-mates, who were already itching to get to fighting.

“Up for some target practice, Joker?” Ann asked with a smirk.

“Never hurts.” Ren replied “So you two wanna take on the horned devil?”

“Two katanas might actually be a challenge for my axe.” Haru smiled.

“Off you go then.” Ren grinned while aiming his gun at the first fairy.

Ann and Haru shared a nod before taking off, sprinting towards the shadow. As they moved closer, they saw that behind the demon hid a shadow that looked like a horse walking on two feet.

“I got the horse! Have fun!” Ann called out while unrolling her whip.

Haru nodded. When she was in reach of her opponent, she swung her axe to bury it into the shadows rib-cage, only this one blocked her by crossing his katanas, catching her weapon before impact. Haru smiled. She loved when they offered resistance. The girl pulled free her axe and blocked the two following strikes from the demon. She was able to land a surprise hit when she brought down the butt of her weapon into the shadows face, but it was quick to recover and counter-attack. They continued their back and forth until eventually Ann showed up beside her.

“You need some support?” she asked with a grin.

“This one just won’t hold still.” Haru smiled while blocking another blow.

“I’ll do something about that.” Ann replied before disappearing into the background again. While Haru kept the shadow busy with attacking and blocking, the blonde girl crept towards the shadows back. When the right moment opened up, she slashed her whip around the demons feet and with a tug in the right direction sent him slamming to the ground. She secured the shadow by placing a foot on its chest “You’re done.” she said with a smile, although the shadow probably couldn’t understand a word she said.

Haru walked up to the shadows faceless head. “Good night.” she said with a smile and raised her axe above her head before bringing it down to separate the shadows head from its torso. The lifeless body immediately dissolved from underneath Anns shoe.

“All done?” Ren asked when he caught up to the two.

Haru nodded “Shadows annihilated.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

After reporting back to the woman and completing their other tasks in the surrounding, the three started their long walk back home. They reconnected with Hifumi, Futaba and Yusuke on their way and by the time Futaba was done with telling her story about a squirrel sitting on her arm, they were almost at their home-gates.

“Huh, Ryuji and Makoto aren’t with you?” Mishima asked as he welcomed them back on the porch.

“Aren’t they back yet?” Ann asked, slightly worried given how late it had already gotten.

A roaring engine drowned Yusukes answer. Short after, the group saw the gates swing open and a silver motorcycle drove into sight. Steering was a slender female figure dressed in black while a bulkier male with flashier attire clung to her waist. When the motorcycle came to a stop in front of them, the passenger clumsily climbed off the back. After a few wobbly steps, he pulled the helmet off of his head to reveal a blonde mop of hair.

Makotos dismount was far more elegant. She even flipped her hair after removing her helmet, which apparently only managed to turn Ren speechless while the others were still perplexed by those two riding in on a motorcycle.

Ryuji pumped a fist into the air “Woooohoooo! That was awesome!”. He offered his fist to Makoto, who reluctantly bumped it with hers.

“Why is your voice so coarse?” Yusuke asked.

“Because he was screaming for the first few miles.” Makoto replied.

Ann and Futaba chuckled, much to Ryujis dismay “I’m sure all of you would have. She drives like a maniac on this thing!”

They all walked inside, leaving behind Makoto who was still leaning against her motorcycle and Ren, who couldn’t peel his eyes off of her.

“What’s wrong?” Makoto asked eventually.

Ren shook his head “Nothing, really… I’m just taking in… this...” he said while pointing at her and her newest toy.

Makoto smiled “Are you really surprised that I’m also into motorcycles?”

Ren shook his head. After seeing how much Makoto was into cars, he had been able to guess that it must be because of the engines and not because of the number of wheels.

Makoto smirked “Would you like to go for a ride some time?”

“Yes please.” Ren gulped.

She grinned as she pushed herself away from the cycle and walked towards him. “That can be arranged if you promise not to scream into my ear.” she said while tapping his chest.

“Oh, I will scream.”

Makoto scoffed and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Especially if your driving is as advertised by Ryuji.”

Makoto shook her head “Sometimes he really doesn’t live up to the image that he acquired.” she drew a finger along his chest “But who knows, maybe you can surprise me.”

Ren put his arm around her and pressed a kiss onto her lips “I’ll do my best.”

Makoto put her arms around his neck “How was your route?”

“Oh, you know, the usual, beat some shadows, slapped some ass, made out with both Haru and Ann to get rid of my monogamous image...”

Makoto gave him a playful shove.

Ren smiled at her “Seriously though, you didn’t take that fiction serious, right?”

Makoto shook her head “I did for a bit… but then I talked to Ryuji about it and he made some pretty good points...”. After thinking about it some more, she had concluded that having your boyfriends best friend call you The One must mean a lot more than any story.

Ren smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face “I assume that he wasn’t bothered too much either, given that he hasn’t punched me in the face yet...”

“He was surprisingly mature about it.” Makoto said. Given the experience that Ryuji apparently gained the ability to rip out trees when it came to Ann, him actually being the one to tell her to take things easy when it concerned him as much as her was nothing but surprising.

They shared another kiss before resting their foreheads against each other “While I do enjoy watching you with your newest trophy, I think we should go inside and get some dinner.” Ren eventually muttered.

Makoto smiled and nodded “I can assure you that it won’t be the last time that you will see me like this.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise of taking me for a ride.” Ren said.

“If you do plan on screaming, I think my ears need a bit of recovery after what they had to endure today.” Makoto replied before pressing another kiss onto his lips. “But I’m looking forward to taking you.”

Ren grinned before taking her hand and leading her inside. He could only chuckle when he caught Makoto turning around twice on the way to the front door, checking on her motorcycle just one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves are back in business and more popular than ever! I'm not referring to any particular fics in mind, I just wanted to have some fun. I would have liked to return the favor and mention a certain fic as an easter-egg (if the slow, slow burn hasn't scared you away yet, you know who you are ;D), but after thinking long and hard, the two universes were just too different to make a connection to. So sorry! Just so you know, I still can't get over the fact that someone mentioned my story in their own. Honored to this day.
> 
> I hope it became clear that I'm not trying to invalidate the mentioned ships. I personally don't really "see" Yutaba and ShuAnn and that's how it translates to how I write the characters. But to each their own and I hope it came through that all of this was in good humor and that I haven't lost a bunch of readers with this;)
> 
> On another note, I just wanted to mix up the characters a bit this chapter. It never really translates in the games, but I think that Ryuji and Makoto would bond pretty well with both of them being badass and all. Ryuji and Makotos Showtime in P5R was really disappointing to me because while it looked cool, it also had the whole "I'm better"-image for Makoto while Ryuji was only portrayed to be struggling to keep up with her to in the end bow down to her and her being dismissive. I think their Showtime could have been a great chance to show that these two can be pals, but they missed the mark for me.
> 
> Instead, I came up with something of a Showtime for Haru and Ann;) The ominous Okumura Industries pops up again as well.
> 
> Also yeah, Makoto has a motorcycle now;)


	46. The Earth Was Quaking

The woods were peaceful except for a roar that cut through the silence. The shiny silver motorcycle that Makoto now called Anat rushed along the street-remains, carrying two passengers dressed in black. If Makoto hadn’t been so adamant about it, Ren would have ditched the helmet to feel the wind whipping through his hair instead, but since she had threatened to not take him, he was forced to oblige. He did see Ryujis struggle though, Makoto became a daredevil as soon as she swung her leg over the machine. He could feel that she was in control at all times, but still, the speed at which they were now hurtling over the partly bumpy road did make him uneasy a bit. But the fun he had was able to blur that out most of the time.

Makoto came to a halt next to a small clearing in the forest, where the grass was green and no roots poked through to make it uncomfortable. She parked Anat and led Ren by his hand. When she noticed Rens confused look, she said “I thought that we could do a little picnic here before we go to the hunting shack?”

Ren smirked at the mention of the little cabin “Straight down to business, huh?”

Makoto scoffed at him.

He squeezed her hand “This is a really nice place. You know how to romance after all.”. He took down his backpack and unpacked the blanket they had brought along with a couple of boxes of snacks.

“I learn.” Makoto smiled and decided to keep the fact, that she had asked Ann and Haru for advice in advance, a secret for now.

Ren seemed impressed as he spread the blanket on the ground before sitting down on it “You keep surprising me.”

Makoto sat down with him and opened a box of homemade potato-chips “I’m starting to feel like you had very low expectations for me concerning the romance-department...”

Ren struggled for words “Well… I wouldn’t put it like that...”

Makoto sighed “It’s fine. I guess I deserved it, given that I gave you a study-guide as a present for our first month together.”

“Hey, I would have loved it, if we attended school..” Ren replied “But sadly, I believe that all the books on “social studies” have become outdated when crazy politicians decided to open up the gates to hell.” he reached for the box in Makotos hand and popped a chip into his mouth.

Makoto took another chip before asking “Have you ever wondered about what happened to the other countries?”

Ren shrugged “Not really. Things are already bad enough here and there’s no way of getting off this island...”

“It occurred to me a bit later… but did United Futures actions cause shadow infestations across the world?”

“You mean as in there’s a gateway to the metaverse in every bigger city?” Ren asked.

“Maybe… But how would a party – and a small one at that – be able to cause something huge like this all over the world?” Makoto wondered.

“We don’t even understand what happened in Tokyo, so making guesses about the entire world seems a bit much. Who knows, maybe it’s just Japan that’s so fucked up.”

Makoto shook her head “I’m afraid that this must be a threat to the entire world. If Japan was the only country suffering from this, then surely someone would have come to help, even if it was just to evacuate the people.”

“I’m really starting to fear that this is your idea of pillow-talk...”

Makoto sighed “I’m sorry… That truly dampened the mood...”

“It definitely wasn’t a turn-on...” Ren said “.. but I still enjoy being here with you.”

Makoto smiled at him “Very well. I will hold back with my theories for now and just… go with the flow.”

Amused, Ren raised an eyebrow “Go with the flow? You?”

“Well… as I said… I’m learning.” Makoto said.

“Yeah, but I’m starting to wonder from who?” Ren smirked. “Let’s see… This place looks like something that Haru would recommend but “Go with the flow” is something that Ann would say, so-” he didn’t get to finish his conclusion when Makoto pushed him to the ground and silenced him with her lips. Ren wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down, so that she was laying on top of him.

“Good technique, I’m starting to forget what I wanted to say...” he stated when Makoto drew back for a moment to take a breath.

“I improvised that part.” Makoto blushed “But I’m relieved to hear that it worked.”

Ren smirked “I said that I was starting to forget.”. He gently placed his hand at the back of her neck and directed her face towards his again.

Makoto placed a hand on his cheek when his entire body suddenly started shaking underneath her. She drew back to look into his confused face “What was that?” she asked before pushing herself off of him.

“I’m sorry to crush your ego, but that wasn’t me...” Ren tried to quip but was unable to hide his own confusion. “The whole ground was shaking just now...”

“An earthquake?” Makoto asked.

“I think I heard something too… but it must have been far off...” Ren said, a little unsettled.

Makoto got up “We should go and make sure that everything is okay back home...”

Ren nodded as he pushed himself off the ground before he packed up their picnic. He hadn’t thought it possible, but Makoto hasn’t been going full-speed on their way there. He found himself clinging to her waist harder than before, although this time it might have also been because of his rising unease about the recent events.

As Makoto sped along the road towards LeBlanc2, she made a sudden stop when Ryuji and Sojiro were already walking towards them.

“Have you seen the others?” Sojiro asked when Makoto raised her helmets visor.

When Makoto shook her head, Ryuji grimaced “Fuck! Ann, Futaba and Morgana were on a task...”

“Where?”

“They can’t be far from here… They were supposed to get something for Takemi...” Sojiro said, looking worried.

Ren pulled his helmet off and climbed off of Anat “I’m coming with you.”

Makoto nodded “I’ll bring back Anat and catch up.”

As the three men walked along the road, Ren asked “What did you notice?”

“Ground started shaking all of a sudden and there was this brief noise, but it must have been far from here...” Ryuji recapped.

When Ren looked at the old man, he looked worried as he nervously scanned the woods. They had reached the fork in the road when the other group of three emerged from among the trees, looking equally worried. You could almost hear the boulders falling off of both Ryujis and Sojiros shoulders when they spotted the others.

“Is everyone okay?!” Ann asked when they met in the middle of the road. She was answered with nods.

“What the hell was that?” Futaba asked. “Morgana almost fell out a tree!”

“Hey! You almost did too!” Morgana protested.

Ren could only shrug “Seems like we all felt it but have no idea what it was exactly...”

“We should get back inside and let the others know that we’re complete again.” Sojiro said. “We can think about everything else later.”

On their way back home, they ran into Makoto who looked equally relieved to see everyone unharmed. The rest of the Phantom Thieves had already been home before the earthquakes and were waiting in the living room.

“Is everyone okay?” Ren asked after everyone had settled down.

“I think everyone is unharmed.” Haru said.

“We also checked the house but everything seems in order.” Shinya reported.

“Good job.” Ren nodded.

“Fucking earthquakes is the last thing we need… Don’t we have enough problems already?” Ryuji groaned.

“What’s most important is, that everyone is alright.” Ann concluded.

“Yes. Our house still stands and all of us are unharmed. That’s all that matters right now.” Yusuke said.

Ren nodded “I agree. Let’s just stay home for now and wait for-” he was interrupted by an ear-piercing, shrill alarm that rang from the cellar. “Futaba, what the fuck is this?!” Ren asked while clutching his hands to his ears to avoid long-term damage.

The orange-haired girl turned pale before she stormed downstairs. After a few more moments of agonizing beeping, the house fell quiet again but Futaba was still pale when she returned upstairs.

“What was that?” Mishima groaned after daring to peel his palms off his ears again.

“That was one of the transmitters that I handed to friends of the Thieves… For emergencies...”

“And who sent the signal?” Makoto asked, alarmed.

“Iwai...”

The others exchanged a look. “They must have been hit harder by the earthquake then!” Morgana called out.

“We should go and check on them right away.” Haru got to her feet.

“Agreed. It must be pretty rough if Iwai decided to call us.” Ren said while already grabbing his gear again.

When the Phantom Thieves entered the settlement, the streets were bustling but today everyone was nervous and upset. Panicked shouts rang through the town and occasionally there were people laying in each others arms and crying. As the group of 8 squeezed through the streets, they noticed how some people looked relieved to see them. Makoto took a look around the town to see if she could already spot the damage but all of the houses that she passed by looked unharmed. As the group walked up to Iwais store, they were greeted by Kaoru, who also carried the city-wide frown on his face.

“What happened?” Ryuji asked.

“You should come inside...” Kaoru said and led them toward the shack.

With the core-8 of the Phantom Thieves all together, they had to cramp into the shop-area. Behind the counter, Iwai stood and talked to one of the townsmen. When he noticed the Phantom Thieves spilling into the room, he gave the other man a short nod “Everything is okay now. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thank you so much. And I speak for all of us. Thank you.” the man sounded desperate, like Iwai had just saved his life. He gave the Thieves a nod as he squeezed past them and exited the store.

“What happened here?” Makoto asked.

“What damage did the earthquake do?” Yusuke added.

Both Iwai and Kaoru looked confused before Iwai eventually said “Earthquake? We had a much bigger problem...” he disappeared into the back-office for a moment before returning with a suitcase-sized construct of smaller packages and cables.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed when the man put it down on the counter. “That’s a bomb!”

Iwai sighed “Good job, Sherlock.”

“Judging from your look, I guess that it wasn’t you who built it?” Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Kaoru shook his head “Dad was the one who disarmed it!”

“This morning, someone found it stashed underneath one of the central houses…”

“Someone wanted to blow this place up?” Futaba asked, aghast.

“Shit...” Ren was unable to keep the Ryuji-remark in but as he looked at the rest of them, all of them seemed to think something similar.

“Whoever built this, knows what he’s doing...” Iwai answered. “This is not an amateur explosive.”

“How do you know?” Morgana asked.

“’Cause all of the components. They’re high-end. If someone builds a bomb in a fit of rage, they don’t usually have neat packs of C4 and brand-new wires laying around..”

“Are Kaneshiros men starting to strike back?” Ren threw into the room.

“Blowing up the entire town isn’t like them. If they knew I was here and wanted revenge, they would have taken and tortured me.” when he noticed all the aghast and horrified looks he shrugged “I’m just saying how it is.”

“So what does that mean for Seiiki?” Ann asked.

“Could there be someone else who’s out for revenge?” Yusuke wondered.

“That man you saw just was the mayor. I asked him, if he rejected someone recently who might hold a grudge but he said No.” Iwai said.

“And planting a bomb because of a feud with a single person would seem a bit much...” Ren scratched his head.

“Based on where the bomb was planted and the fact that there was an expert at work, I’m positive that this thing was meant to blow up the entire town.” Iwai said with crossed arms as he stared at the bomb on the counter.

All of them fell quiet as they stared at the deadly package. Everyone looked troubled but Ren noticed that Haru was especially pale. She hadn’t said anything since the bomb stood on the counter. He already had an idea why.

“Everyone would have been dead, if you hadn’t been there.” Futaba whispered after a long pause.

Iwai only shrugged.

“So, what happens next?” Ren asked.

Kaoru spoke up “There’s search-parties sweeping the city for other bombs. So far it seems like the one in the square was the only one. The gates are closed, noone from outside is allowed in for now, except for you guys of course. Everyone who doesn’t live here was happy to leave anyway after panic struck...”

“But you let them? What if you’re losing your bomber?” Ryuji asked.

“I doubt that he was still here in the first place. It could have been planted yesterday or even before that…” Iwai replied. “I agree with the mayor here. What’s most important now is to keep our people safe, not to pursue our culprit. Asking the visitors to leave was the right thing to do to get everyone to calm down again.”

Makoto nodded “While it’s aggravating that we won’t be able to go after the attacker for now, the safety of Seiiki is of utmost priority.” she looked at Iwai and Kaoru “If there’s anything we can do to help, please let us know.”

The two nodded before Iwai said “I think we got it under control for now. Kaoru and I will help searching the town for more potential threats but considering the size of this, it would have been more than enough to take the entire town down without a second one.”

Ren nodded before motioning the others to leave.

As one after the other, the Phantom Thieves walked out the door, Haru took one last look at the bomb. The printing on the C4-packages was delicate, yet after seeing the bold letters for almost her entire life, she would have been able to see it from miles away. Okumura Industries. Her families business had almost been the cause for dozens of deaths. Had her father known, when someone approached him to buy the components? Would he have cared if he had? She pried her eyes off of the explosive before hurrying after the others.

As the gang walked back home, Ren fell into pace beside Haru when he noticed her staring off into space while blindly following the others. She had tripped twice, which wasn’t like her at all. Even now, after it must have been obvious to her that Ren was here to socialize, she didn’t react.

“How are you holding up?”

Haru flinched “Huh?” she asked, confused.

“I saw the print too….” Ren said.

“Oh…” Harus gaze dropped to the ground ahead.

“You know that none of this is your fault, right?” Ren calmly asked.

Haru let out a heart-breaking sigh “I know… Yet I can’t help but feel guilty about seeing my name printed on the device that was meant to take so many innocent lives...”

“You share nothing with your father except for your last name. Besides, you’re making your own name now, Noir.” he tried to cheer her up.

A small smile tugged at Harus lips before it quickly disappeared again. Ren was right. There was nothing tying her to her father anymore except for her last name, which only her new family knew. She was someone new now. Noir. She would work to have that name associated with something positive. But why couldn’t she shake off that guilt, that always seemed to ride on her back, following her every move, waiting to whisper into her ear that this was the clan that she belonged to, whenever the name Okumura was dropped?

They returned home right on time for dinner and gave the others a recap of what happened in Seiiki while they sat around the table.

“Gunner really saved the day.” Mishima said with wide eyes.

“I don’t want to imagine what we would have seen, if he hadn’t been able to disarm it.” Makoto said.

“Guess our next task will be to the find that guy and bring him to justice, right?” Futaba asked with her mouth half full.

“Indeed, we shouldn’t just let this go. Who knows if the attacker isn’t already planning his next assault, either to finish what he started in Seiiki or somewhere else.” Yusuke said.

Sojiro put his spoon aside and massaged his temples. “All of this feels too familiar.”

“What do you mean?” Ann asked.

“The shaking ground… the noises in the distance… Although I think the last time I was closer to the explosions.”

Ryuji dropped his spoon and gaped.

“You mean that what happened to Yongen is happening again?” Makoto asked with wide eyes.

“I’m saying that it feels unsettlingly similar.” Sojiro replied.

“That would mean that what we felt today wasn’t an earthquake, but the explosions.” Ren said.

“Given that we almost didn’t hear anything, all of them must have been pretty far away...” Yusuke said.

“If whoever is causing these was going after bigger settlements again, the only one near us would have been Seiiki.” Ren pondered.

“And Iwai prevented it...” Makoto figured.

“Apparently not everyone was this lucky...” Morgana said.

Anns lips were trembling when she gasped “Shiho...”. She covered her mouth with her hand. Their old hometown wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either.

“New New Shinjuku has recently experienced a boost in growth and popularity… I’m worried about Eiko...” Makoto said with a creased brow.

Ren looked around the table into the fearful faces of everyone. They were used to being in danger but this time, it was about hundreds of innocent people who just wanted to live a life without worries. He put his spoon down “Ann, Ryuji, you take the car and go check on Shiho tomorrow. Makoto and I will go to New New Shinjuku and make sure that Eiko is okay. Maybe I’ll get a hold of Ohya too and maybe she’s heard a bit more by then...”

The others nodded, but their faces didn’t turn less bothered.

“Hey…” Ryuji gently said when he placed his hand on Anns “I’m sure that everything’s gonna be fine. I just feel it.”

Ann took a deep breath and forced herself to nod. The blonde hastily reached for her glass to take her mind away from the mental image of Shihos corpse being buried under collapsed houses.

On the other end of the table, Haru wanted to throw up. She was barely able to hold her spoon still when she thought about how her families business was responsible for all of the deaths of these people. She barely managed to keep the tears in when she imagined Anns reaction over the death of her best friend.

“Haru, are you okay?” Morgana asked.

“Oh!” Harus head shot up to look into everyones worried faces. She was the last person that they should worry about. “I’m alright. I’m sorry for bothering you.”. She noticed the already empty plates with gratitude before getting up and hastily collecting them.

“It’s okay, Haru. It’s Rens and my turn tonight.” Makoto said.

“No, no! Please, I insist.” Haru nervously said while carrying the stack of plates to the kitchencounter. She forcefully emptied the canister of water into the sink to drown out any following objections. She needed to take her mind off of things. And maybe do something good. As much as doing the dishes could make up for hundreds of dead people. She energetically scrubbed the first plate to get rid of her troubling thoughts.

Makoto and Ren shared a worried look as they watched Haru frantically scrubbing plates.

The mood didn’t lighten throughout the evening, although the Phantom Thieves tried to take their mind off of things. Hifumi and Makoto participated in a half-hearted Shogi-match while the rest attempted to concentrate on playing cards. The only one who wasn’t in the room with them was Haru, who had remained in the kitchen doing who-knew-what.

“Yess! Tycoon! I’m sorry for making you the beggar Lady Ann!” Morgana exclaimed after dropping his cards.

“What…? Oh… congrats Morgana.” Ann mumbled as she looked up from her cards. Her eyes were empty and even though she looked at the cards in the middle, she didn’t seem to notice them. When she eventually realized that it was her turn, she sighed before putting away her cards “I’m sorry guys… I really can’t think about this right now…” she got up and walked out of the living room.

Morgana looked at Ryuji “I… I didn’t mean to upset her...” he stammered.

Ryuji shook his head “You did nothing wrong. I’m out too.” he pushed himself off the ground and was about to walk out of the living room when he was intercepted in the doorway by Mishima.

“Ryuji, um… I was wondering if…. I can come along tomorrow?” he awkwardly asked.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow before he remembered that Mishima knew Shiho from their time at Kamoshidas. “Yeah.. sure.” he shrugged before pushing past him and walking upstairs.

When he walked into their room, Ann was getting changed. It must have been the first time that her getting undressed didn’t force a smile on his face. But the worried look that she wasn’t able to drop overshadowed everything and brought out his protective side over his horny one.

“I’m okay, really…” Ann meekly said when she noticed him entering “I’m just not good company right now…” she said before pulling his huge red hoodie over her head. It wasn’t really cold outside, but she had always liked to curl into blankets or huddle in oversized clothing when she was sad or scared. It had always managed to give her some comfort, although until now she never had to deal with her childhood-friends possible death before. Ann drew the hood over her head.

It pained Ryuji seeing her like this. He wasn’t completely relaxed either, but she was much more upset and understandably so. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Ann took a deep breath before she leaned against his chest “I just can’t stop thinking that she’s injured or worse. I want to jump up and go there right now, but on the other hand I also don’t because I’m scared of what we’ll see… I’m so weak...”. She placed her hands over Ryujis. She could feel his heart beating against her back, even through the thick sweater.

“You’re not weak.” Ryuji placed his hands on her hips and spun her around so she was facing him. “I know it’s scary. But we’ll go there together and I’ll be with you all the way, if you want me to.”

Tears started to pool in Anns eyes when she looked at Ryuji. The determination on his face forced her to nod before she stammered “But… what if they won’t let you in?”

“Then let them try to stop me.”

While she would have doubted that any other person would actually go through with this and start a fight with the guards of a possibly bombed city, the iron will shown in Ryujis face just proved that he was more than willing to burn down the remains if they refused him. She snorted and shook her head while tears were rolling down her cheeks. He was probably the only one who managed to make stubbornness sweet. Her hands wandered up to his cheeks before she pressed her lips onto his. She knew that she would never be alone as long as he was with her. It had always been them against the world. This was just another chapter in their lifelong story of misery.

“Everything will be okay.” Ryuji eventually said when they parted lips again and wiped a tear away with his thumb. He wasn’t entirely convinced of his own words either, but he realized that he needed to be strong for her now. He led her towards their bed and brought her to lay down.

“Thanks for being here with me...” Ann said when he got down beside her. She squeezed herself against him and buried her face in his chest, sealing shut her hoodie-hideaway. The perfect feeling of being burrowed away from the entire world and its issues was complete when Ryuji wrapped his arms around her and pressed her even closer against him. With his head resting on top of hers, she allowed herself to close her eyes before almost immediately drifting off to sleep.

Downstairs, Haru was far away from thinking about sleep as she raided the pantry and maniacally threw together ingredients into a big mixing bowl. As soon as she stopped, she started thinking and the more she thought, the more she wanted to scream and pull her hair out. She almost jumped out of her skin when the door opened and Makoto entered.

“Haru, are you sure that you are okay?” the second-in-command asked with that undertone of worry and a little pity, that Haru felt that she didn’t deserve.

“Of course, Makoto.” Haru forced the corners of her mouth up and herself to follow the proper etiquette to look at the person speaking to her instead of staring at the bowl in front, when all she wanted was Makoto to leave again “Please don’t worry. I’m fine. I just don’t feel like sitting still right now.” she said.

Makoto tried hard to remember the last time that Haru had called her by her full name instead of Mako-chan. It must have been when they first met. “Is this because of the bomb?” she carefully asked. The printed logo hadn’t gone past her either.

The fluffy-haired girl stopped dead in her tracks. “Well… if it wasn’t for Iwai, our home might have been damaged too.” she tried to argue. “I just can’t wrap my head around why someone would want to do something so horrible.” she said. She knew that it might have been hypocritical to point this out, after she didn’t have the cleanest hands either. But that was different. She was almost sure that none of the people living in Seiiki were yakuza-members or had other shady businesses going on. They didn’t look like they would harm other people. But then, neither did she.

Makoto observed Haru with growing unease. The normally so formal and kind girl was fighting to keep up her facade, instead of just talking to them. “Haru… I know what it feels like to not agree with the action that your family-members make… But we are not them, even if we hold the same name. I’m not my sister and you are not your father.”

Harus face twitched “Have you ever wondered, if you could have made a difference with your sister?”

Makoto was surprised by the sadness in her voice. “I… haven’t. Sae didn’t really give me a choice to come with her...”. She knew that it was a half-assed excuse. If she had truly wanted, she would have found a way to follow her sister and help her. But she had just admitted her defeat and distanced herself from her.

Harus gaze wandered to the floor. “I keep wondering, if I would have been able to make a positive impact on the company if I had stayed and married Sugimura.”

Makoto stared at her “The company would have been passed on to Sugimura then. Do you really think that you would have gotten a say in anything, after your father arranged a marriage to the highest bidder?”

“I might have still been able to change… something...” Haru said. “Maybe I would have noticed the massive purchase of C4 by a single party and could have stopped it.”

“You know that your father would have still sold it anyway, if the pay was right.” Makoto argued.

“But at least I would have tried!” Haru desperately exclaimed. “I.. just ran away from everything!”

“Haru...” Makoto stammered, disbelieving.

“I’m sorry...” Haru eventually said, her voice back to normal “I… know you are right… I just…” she started trembling when her facade started to crumble “I… feel so responsible…” she covered her face with her hands before sobbing “What if my father was fully aware of the culprits plan?”

Makoto walked up to the girl and hugged her. While she wasn’t sure whether she agreed with what Sae was doing right now, Haru was constantly reminded of her fathers business politics. They would both always be branded by their family-names. Only while Makoto was the daughter of an honorable man fighting for justice, Harus name would always be connected to a greedy gun-manufacturer who was rumored to have inhumane work-conditions in his factory and now also turned out to be the seller of the explosives that meant the demise of many settlements and the deaths of even more people.

Haru gathered herself before taking a step back “Thank you, Mako-chan… You’re right. And Ren was right too, when he told me that I’m able to make my own name now.” she nodded, more to herself than to Makoto.

Makoto smiled “Shall I help you clean up?” she asked when she noticed the mess in the kitchen.

“Oh...” Haru smiled “It’s okay.. I’ll keep going for a bit longer.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked, worried again.

Haru nodded.

“Okay. Have a good night then.” Makoto said with a smile.

Haru smiled back and watched her leave the kitchen. As the door closed again, she let out a sigh. Both Ren and Makoto had given good arguments. But why couldn’t she just accept them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are happening again and we get a glimpse of Harus struggles in the upcoming arc. Is Eiko okay? And what about Shiho? And how will Haru handle the pressure that she's putting on herself? We'll find out over the next chapters!


	47. The Next Big Thing

As Makoto and Ren arrived at New New Shinjuku, the place looked peaceful enough. Apparently a lot has changed since they had been to the place the last time. As they approached the district, they were stopped and patted down by two grim-looking men. When they came across their holstered pistol and revolver, they pointed them to a row of lockers on the sidewalks.

“All weapons need to be locked up.” one of them told them.

Ren and Makoto exchanged a look before following their orders. Apparently someone had thought ahead and didn’t give potential critics a chance to complain about having to hand their weapons over to strangers, but instead have them lock them away themselves with a key that they got to keep with them during their stay.

When the leader and second-in-command turned onto the main street of attraction, nothing much had changed on the outside. Some girls were still dressed as maids but they looked a lot happier now. There still wasn’t any fencing around the place, but Ren noticed that every entry-point was lined with two bouncers who patted down people and sent them to the main-entrance in case they carried a weapon.

When they walked downstairs into the Velvet Room, they were blinded by a cold, blue light. While the entire facility used to be dark wood, no lights and dark velvet, it now was completely held in blue, still accentuated by the dark wood of the benches and the bar.

Makoto had to smile when she saw Eiko standing behind the bar, polishing glasses. When the dark-haired girl noticed the visitors, she raised her head. Her squeal rang through the entire room when she saw Makoto. The girl almost climbed over the bar when she hurried towards the two and crushed both of them into a hug, squealing all the way and not taking it down, even when her mouth was only inches away from their ears.

“Hello Eiko.” Makoto smiled, her face grimacing at the high volume.

“Oh my god! It’s so great to see you!” Eiko smiled after letting them go again. “I’ll make you a drink. It’s on the house.”. She hurried behind the bar again.

“I like what you’ve done with the place..” Ren said as he slid onto one of the bar-stools.

“Super chique, right?” Eiko smiled while she operated with a few bottles.

“It’s definitely a contrast...” Ren said.

“Turns out that the velvet on the benches was blue all along. We just had to turn up the lights. And give it a good wash.” Eiko grinned.

“You are running this place now?” Makoto asked as she took a seat too.

Eiko nodded “Yup. A few of the other girls still work here, but most of them went home. Same with all the other bars too.”

“Are you aware that your stunt during the Kaneshiro-heist made history?” Ren asked with a grin.

“What, you mean the maid-riots?” Eiko giggled. “I heard. Some people only come here because they want to see the location and us with their own eyes.” she scoffed “You have no idea, how often people tell us that we look soo harmless.” she rolled her eyes. “Someone really thought that it got the name because we fought in maid-costumes...”

Makoto bit back the remark that Eiko probably hadn’t worn anything that would cover more than a maid-uniform.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Eiko addressed Makoto with an eye-roll. “I didn’t wear much more. But hey, I looked cute.” the girl shrugged before placing two martini-glasses in front of them. The liquid in them was a blue that matched the interior.

Ren could only chuckle at Makotos embarrassed face. He raised his glass to the club-owner “Cheers.”

Makoto took a sip of her drink. It was far too strong for a designated driver. She tried to not make a face at the intensity. “Eiko… sadly we’re not here just for a chat...”

“Please don’t tell me that someone got abducted again...” Eiko said.

Ren shook his head “Did you feel the ground shaking yesterday too?”

Eiko nodded “Explosions, right?”

“How did you know?” Makoto asked, wide-eyed.

“There’s a bunch of people here who know how they sound...” Eiko replied “Do you know where they hit?”

Ren shook his head “We believe that our neighbors were on the list, but they found it and were able to disarm it in time.”

“Ann and Ryuji went to their hometown today along with Mishima.” Makoto added.

Eiko purred “Awww… and you came to check on me?”

Makoto nodded “We were worried, that New New Shinjuku might be big enough to be of interest too but apparently, we don’t need to worry.”

“Our security-concept is pretty cool, huh?” Eiko grinned.

“I have to admit, you kept true to your word of not using fences and you still seem to be the safest big settlement around here...” Ren had to give it to her.

Eiko tapped her head “Fences can be climbed but two bouncers can’t.”

“Genius.” Ren remarked.

Eiko smirked as she leaned back against the counter behind her “Besides, we kinda had to put all the yakuza-guys to good use, who wanted to work for us.”

“Speaking of, what happened to Tsukasa?” Makoto asked.

“Oh, he’s serving his life-long sentence in the cellar.” Eiko shrugged “You wanna go say Hi?”

“No thanks.” Makoto hastily said.

“I get it, he’s been a bit of an asshole ever since I baited him into his cell.”

“I wonder why...” Ren smirked.

“Right? Like, seriously, I even got dressed up to make sure that he followed me.” Eiko grinned maliciously. “And sometimes I even bring him something fancy to eat. It’s not like he’s suffering from anything but boredom down there.”

Ren chuckled. Either Eiko had really changed after taking over a bar in a red-light-district or he had never noticed how fun she could be.

Eiko turned more serious again “Do you have any idea, who’s behind the attacks?”

Ren and Makoto shook their heads in unison “I was hoping to find Ohya and ask if she knows anything...”

“Don’t know if she’s in, but go check with Lala at the Crossroads. She basically lives there when she’s here.” Eiko said.

Ren nodded and slid off the bar-chair. “I’ll leave you two to catch up and do some inquiring on my own.”. He was aware that he was steering her into a bottomless pit of uncomfortable questions when he leaned over to give her a quick kiss before leaving the bar.

Makoto had enough time to think about how she was going to pay Ren back, for Eiko gaped at her with an open mouth for minutes. The brown-haired girl eventually cleared her throat “So… um… Ren and I are… together now….” she awkwardly said.

“Shut. Up.” was all that Eiko brought out. When she noticed how Makoto recoiled in confusion, she quickly added “I mean, not literally shut up. Like a “get outta here” Shut Up.” when Makoto only looked more confused, the black-haired girl sighed “Just tell me everything! Every. Little. Detail.”

Oh, how Makoto was going to pay him back for this. “Well… Our first kiss was actually right after you left back at the clinic.”

Eikos jaw dropped again “No way! Right after I told you to grow a pair?! Shut up!”

“I thought you wanted to hear it!” Makoto exclaimed.

Eiko gave her the dropped eyelids when she said “Seriously, is noone teaching you phrases since I’m gone?”. She sighed as she reached for Makotos still full cocktail and downed it.

“Can’t you just go back to squealing?” Makoto squirmed “I’m familiar with that exhibition of joy.”

“Fine, let’s try it Mrs. Robot.” Eiko leaned forward on the bar “Who made the first move?”

“He did.” Makoto answered.

“Aww.” Eiko purred “So… what happened then?”

“Well, we did share a bed before the first kiss-” Makoto only then realized that she hadn’t told Eiko about that.

“And you DIDN’T tell me?!” she shrieked.

“Well, I didn’t know what to tell you… We weren’t together so I thought that it would just seem weird...” Makoto struggled for excuses.

Eiko shook her head “Ugh.. Fine, knowing you I'd say that you really were just sleeping together. But what about the "sleeping" after your kiss?”

“Eiko!” Makoto drew back in shock. This had turned into the feared direction much too fast.

“Chill out. For once I don’t want to know…” Eiko waved her hand “It gets really weird when you know the guy you’re gossiping about… I don’t want to know about what Ren keeps in his pants.”

Makotos eyes went wide “You ask other people about this?!”

“It’s girl-talk, Makoto. Guys talk about our racks too...” Eiko argued and Makoto found that she couldn’t argue with her for once. “Ugh, this isn’t even fun. Guess I gotta wait for Ann to finally get it done with Ryuji…” she groaned.

It would have been easy for Makoto to drag Ann under the bus with her, but she decided against it. She needed all her power to plan her revenge on the one who had pushed her there.

“Anything else interesting happening?” Eiko sighed while propping her chin up on her hand.

Makoto pondered for a bit. What to tell her? She probably wouldn’t be too interested in their Medjed-adventure, besides, the Phantom Thieves had come to the agreement that they wouldn’t talk about any of it with anyone… Eiko probably didn’t want to hear about their new weapons either and Yusuke hadn’t painted anything remarkably beautiful recently. “We got Futaba to wear a bikini?” Makoto offered.

Eiko shook her head in disappointment.

As Ren walked along the street, he noticed that the streets weren’t bustling with sleazy men any longer, but both men and women who sat at tables outside or visited other bars. The Crossroads hadn’t changed much. The interior was still a bit tacky and Ren thought that he had heard the same jazzy track playing when he was here the last time. The gruff-looking bartender was still the same too. He wondered what part this bar was playing in the whole Kaneshiro-puzzle.

“What can I do for you, honey?” the bartenders voice was still as raspy as ever.

“I’m looking for Ohya.” Ren said “Is she here?”

Before Lala-chan could say something, the curtains of the separee flew open as Ohya charged out “If that isn’t my cash-cow!” she hollered before pinching his cheek “Lala-chan! Let’s get a drink for me and my little goldmine.”

“Shince when do you shell your “newshpaper”?” Ren asked before wiggling free his cheek.

Ohya threw her hands in the air with a grin “I don’t! Advertisement’s what it’s all about, baby!”

Lala sighed before pushing two glasses of whiskey across the bar “Drink responsibly.”. Ren felt like only he was the one being told. He figured that Lala had given up with Ohya already.

“Boooring! Let’s go to my office.” Ohya grabbed the glasses before pushing Ren through the thick velvet curtains.

“You have an office?”. When Rens eyes adjusted to the dim room, he saw three round tables cluttered with papers. Stacks of boxes and other office-supplies were laying on the bench that lined all three walls. On the middle table, Ren noticed a typewriter.

“Tadaaa! This is were the magic happens!” Ohya announced as she placed the two glasses on her desk “Oh, you wanna sit somewhere?” she asked before looking around to find a second empty spot on the cluttered bench.

“I’m good.” Ren declined.

Ohya shrugged before a grin spread on her face “Any new gossip for me? I thought that we could do a new series: The Thieves of Hearts up close – The hearts they really stole” she moved her hand as if she was painting something in the air. “I mean, there’s gotta be a special someone in at least one of your lives! People will totally dig it, if we bring them a home-story. Or just give me some drama. You’re a bunch of teenagers living under the same roof, the hormone-level must be crazy.” Ohya rambled and ended up downing both glasses.

A gag reel started playing in front of Rens eyes. Maybe she wasn’t wrong about the hormone-levels, when he thought about the last months… He shook his head “We’ll do no such thing.”

Ohya pouted “Fiiine…”. She let out a theatrical sigh before dropping down behind her typewriter. “What brings you here, anyway?” she asked “Are you-”

“Still not interested.”

Ohya sighed “You’re kind of an ass, considering that you’re the leader of a group of local heroes.”.

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “I’m not here to talk about our brand. You must have noticed the ground shaking yesterday too, right?”

The woman that Mishima still referred to as the touchy devil leaned forward in her seat “I did.”

“We suspect that those were explosions. You know anything about which settlements have been hit?” Ren asked.

Ohya shook her head “In case you didn’t know, journalism works through informants. If said informants become occupied with more pressing issues, they don’t have the time to come and inform me.”

“You’re surprisingly eloquent when drunk.” Ren noticed.

The woman shrugged.

“So you don’t know anything...”

“Sorry, but no. Since you guys are the one with the car, I’d say that you would be the best suited to find out more.” she grabbed a notepad and a pen before looking at him again “How do you know that the explosions took place in settlements, anyway?”

“Something similar like this happened about half a year ago. There was a series of explosions in various larger settlements, one of them our old hometown Yongen. Thist time, we know of one settlement that was lucky enough to find the bomb beforehand and disarm it in time. We just assume that this can’t be a coincidence.”

Ohya noisily chewed on her pen while thinking “So someone is out to damage larger settlements?”

“I don’t know about others yet, but the disarmed one was placed to tear down everything. Which would again match up with the last time.” Ren said. “Can you put up a warning in your next issue? Settlements should be careful about who to let in. Who knows, what the culprit is up to next...”

The journalist nodded “Waaay ahead of you. How does that sound: Explosive News: Settlements on Fire.?”

Ren rolled his eyes “Let’s just go with simpler things for this one. What about: “WARNING!”?”

“Huh… short yet delivers the message.” Ohya said before scribbling something down “Oooh, maybe we should do it in red!”

“Go wild, as long as people will be able to see it.” Ren said.

“Yeah, yeah, leave it to me.” Ohya waved her hand. When she was done taking notes, she put her pen to the corner of her mouth. “If this was a targeted attack on multiple locations… Where would someone organize all the components to not just build one, but several bombs?”

“Judging from the specimen that we got to see, everything looked factory-fresh.” Ren answered.

“So Okumura Industries?”

Ren stared at her “That was some fast combining.”

“I have my moments.” Ohya smirked “So Okumura has sold the components for several bombs.” she suddenly jumped up from her seat “This is it! I finally got that bastard!”

“What’s happening?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow as he watched Ohya frantically walk up and down her office.

“Oh, I have a bone to pick with Kunikasu Okumura!” Ohya said.

“Who doesn’t?”

“He abducted my undercover-reporter!”

_And we abducted his daughter._ Ren thought to himself. “Wait… did you have someone infiltrate Okumura industries?”

“She wanted to uncover the inhumane working-conditions in the factory but she went missing a year ago! So far, Okumura didn’t slip up, but now? If he really sold those components directly into the hands of a terrorist? That would be the scoop I need to take him down. I’ve been waiting so long for this!”

“Slow down...” Ren said “She disappeared a year ago?”

Ohya nodded before chewing on her pen again “I’m sure that she was found out and that Okumura disposed of her. But I’m going to avenge her.” her smile widened when she looked at Ren “Hey...” she said and patted his shoulder “Wouldn’t a big industrial manager who mistreats his employees be exactly the kind of person that the Phantom Thieves would go after?”

Ren gulped. She wasn’t wrong. But then, they didn’t exactly have the easiest relationship with Okumura. Things tended to get more complicated when the target already knew all of your faces because of a wedding you crashed about a year ago.

Ohya poked her finger into his chest “This will be your next big thing.”

“I… have to talk this through with my team.” he stalled “We need to decide on targets unanimously.”

“Fair enough.” Ohya said. “You go and get your team pumped up and I’ll blow out some more awesome articles for you. But now, I guess I have to write a “warning”.”. And with that, she pushed him out her curtains again.

Even though the bar was also dimly lit, it still confused his eyes after having adapted to Ohyas journalism-cave.

“Rough meeting?” Lala asked.

“Something like that..” Ren scratched his head.

“She’s a handful. But driven.”

“I can see that...”

Lala-chan pushed a new shot-glass towards him “I guess that she drank your whiskey too?”

“How’d you know?”

“Experience.”

“You know your regulars.”

“She’s my only regular. I wouldn’t let her clutter my separee otherwise.”

Ren slid into a chair at the bar. “Can I ask you something?”

“With a pretty face like yours? Shoot.”

“What’s your connection to this place? Since you’re still here after the maid-riots, you clearly couldn’t have been affiliated with Kaneshiro...”

Lala chuckled “Sweetheart, I’ve already served drinks here before that babyface Kaneshiro even knew this place existed. When he took over this town, I said that I wasn’t going to move out and he let me be. I think he was intimidated by my beauty.”

“Pretty badass...” Ren nodded in appreciation. “And Ohya?”

Lala shrugged “She came to town during the rise of Kaneshiro, when a “Newspaper” started to emerge.” Lala scoffed “Newspaper… they pretty much dictated everything that she should write about. Ohya always wanted to do reports about the outside, supply-lines, shadows, but they would hear none of it. Then they removed her from field-service and short after that, she met you.”

The bell at the front door chimed softly when Makoto entered the bar.

“Welcome.” Lala greeted.

Makotos confusion about the deep voice was obvious, but she pushed it down fast.

“Sooo?” Ren asked innocently “Did you have a nice time with Eiko?”

Makoto rolled her eyes when she slid into the seat beside him “I think that you were well aware of your actions.”

“I was.” Ren smirked before leaning back in his chair “I just had a feeling that Eiko would really enjoy hearing about us.”

“You can count yourself lucky that Eiko didn’t want to know about your privates.” Makoto scoffed, still grateful that she dodged that uncomfortable bullet.

“Oh, the stories you could have told...” Ren grinned. Makoto just stared at him.

Behind the bar chuckled Lala-chan “Damn… sometimes I miss the customers and their stories...”. A second shot-glass was placed in front of Makoto “On the house.”

Makoto looked perplexed about the second free drink that she was offered today before politely declining “I appreciate it but I have to refuse. I’m driving.”

Lala-chan chuckled “Ain’t no police on the streets to check.”

“Death still is though.” Makoto politely replied.

The bartender chuckled and looked at Ren “Quite a catch you got there.”

“I prefer to say that we caught each other.” Ren smiled.

Makoto almost jumped off her stool when the curtains flapped open to revel a short-haired woman that by description could only be Ohya.

“Okay, you don’t want a home-story? Fine! But listen to this!” she didn’t even seem to notice another person sitting beside him when she flipped open her notepad “We need to get the younger generation back to newspapers! So what we need to do is make you more relatable to the teenage audiences. Given that you’re still teenagers, it should be easy, right?”

“I am dreading to hear where this is going...” Ren sighed.

“Oh you...” Ohya booped his nose and made Ren wonder how the journalist had managed to get more drunk with no more alcohol in her office. “I’m talking about a quiz on which of the Phantom Thieves would be your dream-date!” she exclaimed as if she had just presented the best idea that mankind ever had.

“Jesus Christ...”

“So far I’ve only met you, so I need your help with getting a grip on the other characters..” Ohya rambled.

Ren sighed internally before putting on a forced smile “Well, that’s a good idea and all, but I’m afraid that we have to go…. Right?” he turned to Makoto.

Makoto smiled when she said “Oh, it’s okay! This sounds important after all. I’m sure that I will find something to do.”

Rens face dropped when he turned away from Ohya and stared at Makoto “Why?!” he pleaded under his breath while gripping her thigh.

Makoto smirked when she crossed her arms in front of her chest “I just have a feeling that Ohya would really enjoy hearing about all of the Phantom Thieves.”. She patted his cheek before hopping of the bar-chair and left while Ren was dragged back into Ohyas cave.

Makoto was enjoying a cup of black tea at one of the outside tables of one of the “café-like” establishments when Ren emerged from Crossroads.

“We’re even now.” Ren groaned as he dropped down at her table.

Makoto nodded and offered him a sip of her tea. “I hope that you didn’t give her any real information about us?”

Ren shook his head “I didn’t, but do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with 11 new characters?” he handed back her cup “At one point, I was just completely winging it… There might be a question about favorite foods and the possible answers are either grass, cat-food or pine-cones...”. He had to smile when he looked into Makotos amused face. “Can we go home now?” he asked.

Makoto nodded and downed the last drops of her tea.

“Ohya sees these new assaults as a chance to bring down Okumura...” Ren brought up as he and Makoto walked back to the main-entrance and their locked-up weapons.

Makoto squirmed “We made sure that our friends are safe today, but I’m afraid that we too will have to face the question how we plan to proceed with this.” she sighed “I’m not happy about it, but Okumura is our only lead.”

Ren scratched his head “Well this is going to be awkward. It’s not like he’s going to welcome us with open arms and gladly assist us with finding out who built those bombs.”

“Given our past with him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he entirely refuses to cooperate...” Makoto said.

Ren sighed “I definitely don’t want to burden Haru with this...”

“I agree. Besides, we wouldn’t even know how Okumura would react to her…” Makoto said “It could very well be, that he now resents her too.”. Makoto chewed her lip “She already feels guilty about her father being the producer and seller of these components. I’m worried about how she will react, if we propose Okumura as our next big target.”

“Okumura being the source for the components doesn’t seem to be the only shady thing he seems to be involved in.” Ren said. “Ohya told me about a friend of hers that went missing while investigating Okumura Industries. She said something about inhumane working conditions.”

“The factory is rather far away. We don’t really hear anything about Okumura Industries, except for how fast they are expanding…” Makoto sighed.

“This really poses a dilemma for us.” Ren said “We would go after Okumura in a heartbeat, if he wasn’t Harus father. The fact that we basically stole his daughter from her own wedding will probably impede his willingness to cooperate”. He thought of how Harus demeanor would always change whenever something came up concerning her fathers business. The two leaders continued to walk and brood in silence.

“So what do you think we should do?” Ren asked as he unlocked their gun-locker.

Makoto shook her head “We can’t make a decision without Haru.”. She grabbed her revolver and holstered it. “Let’s wait for Ann and Ryujis report first. We can still brainstorm after that.”

The two nodded to the guards as they walked towards the parking lot.

“I’m relieved to see that Eiko and everyone else here seems to be well protected.” Makoto concluded as they reached the motorcycle.

“Let’s just hope that Ann, Ryuji and Mishima will be able to report the same..” Ren said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this handles Eiko and she finally gets to do some (unrewarding) girl-talk with Makoto about her relationship!
> 
> Ohya really puts Ren on the spot with their next big target, but the Thieves have some history with him (it's still not time to reveal that entire story yet). 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. On tuesday we'll see how Ann, Ryuji and Mishima fare.


	48. Look Who Grew Up

The car-ride to their old hometown was quiet. Under normal circumstances, Ann would have made some remark about Mishima suddenly wanting to come with them, but today, she just sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window and chewing her lips bloody. She didn’t remember the drive to be this long. It certainly hadn’t felt like it the last time Ren drove them there. Sure, Ryuji wasn’t the most experienced driver, but they still passed through the woods at a moderate speed. She had slept surprisingly well under the circumstances. She had expected some nightmares, but she had no memory of anything going on in between falling asleep and waking up again in the morning, still in the same position in Ryujis arms. She figured that it must have been because of him, that she was able to sleep this unbothered. She turned her head to look at him, his eyes focused on the road ahead. Normally he wasn’t the one to exude calm, but he had surprised her yesterday. A small smile appeared on her face when she reached out and placed her hand on his thigh, since both his hands were occupied with holding the steering wheel. Ann took a deep breath to calm herself down again, when she realized that they couldn’t be far away.

It turned out that she needed every breath that she had taken earlier, for before they even started to see the fences, they could already see the faint traces of smoke rising over the roofs. Ann unconsciously moved to the edge of her seat and clutched the dashboard. There was no way of telling what happened inside the fence, but Ann could already feel an aura of panic and chaos emanating from within.

Ryuji didn’t bother to park the car somewhere far off. He had barely come to a halt near the main-gate when Ann already jumped out and ran. He cursed under his breath, his brain divided in remembering all the steps that Makoto had told him to park the car right, while also worrying about Ann. When he pushed the door open, Mishima had already climbed down from the space in the back and immediately followed him when Ryuji started running after Ann. He had come up with so many things to say to the guards in case they wouldn’t let him in, as he had laid awake last night, listening to Anns steady breathing against his chest. Now that the moment of truth had actually arrived, it was oddly disappointing when he just passed the already open and completely unguarded gate.

“This isn’t a good sign...” Mishima whined as he struggled to match Ryujis pace.

Ryuji didn’t get to enjoy the nostalgia of walking through the streets that were his childhood, when all he could focus on was Ann, hurrying through the streets only a few steps ahead of him and yelling Shihos name. The streets got more and more crowded the closer they got to the main-square, as people were standing together in groups, talking with worried faces and terror in their eyes. As the street opened up to reveal the market stands in the center of the settlement, they saw a bunch of makeshift-tents and tarps that were raised to provide some shade from the sun. Many people were sitting on blankets on the ground, some of them seemed injured, others just shaken. The whole square reminded of a field hospital, instead of the once bustling market.

“Shiho?!” Ann yelled at the top of the lungs, ignoring the looks that the people gave her as she pushed through the crowds. She just needed her to be alive. As she wove through the crowd in the square, she cast occasional sideways glances to check if she found Shiho sitting or laying on one of the blankets. “Shiho!?!”

“Ann?”

Ann saw her getting up from among a group of people. “Shiho!” Tears of relieve were running down her face when she couldn’t see any major injuries on her. She crushed Shiho into a hug before falling to her knees, dragging her down with her. While perplexed at first, Shiho eventually returned her embrace.

Ryuji couldn’t hide his relieve when he and Mishima caught up with the two girls sitting in the middle of the square.

Ann eventually managed to loosen her grasp on Shiho again after a few minutes. She gave her a look-down as they both got back to their feet “Are you okay?” she asked.

Shiho nodded “I was lucky...”. She smiled at Ryuji and gave him a brief hug before her eyes landed on Mishima. “Yuuki?” she asked, confused, before eventually walking towards him to give him another hug.

“Um… Hi...” Mishima awkwardly said before returning her hug. His cheeks turned red when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“What happened here?” Ann asked after greetings were done.

Shiho pointed to where the old tower used to stand “Yesterday the tower blew up and crushed the houses around it...”

“Did everyone survive?” Ryuji asked.

Shiho shook her head.

“Shit...” he muttered as he looked around.

Shiho looked across the square “All these people have lost their houses… and some of them their families too…”

“Shiho...” Ann crushed her into a hug again.

Ryuji looked around the field hospital. Everywhere he looked, people were crying and laying in each others arms while the luckier ones walked around the camp, supporting and caring for the injured by bringing water and food. He let his eyes wander towards where the old tower used to stand. Everything left of it now was a pile of smoking ruble that blended in with the carcasses of burnt down houses that had been standing too close to the site of the explosion. What disturbed him the most though, was how the guards and authorities were running around the place like headless chickens. Everyone was panicking, when there should have been someone to call everyone to order and give them hope. Someone like Ren and Makoto. Yet the council was nowhere to be seen and the people were left to do what they thought was right with no sense of direction. “Hey..” he said, placing a hand on Anns shoulder to get her attention “I’m gonna go listen around a bit.”. After seeing in which state everyone was, he had no fear of being thrown out. Maybe they wouldn’t even notice him.

Ann nodded “Be careful, okay?”. She didn’t think much about it when she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. She was about to wonder why his face suddenly turned red at such an innocent gesture, when she realized that they were standing in the middle of a square full of people, the closest bystander her best friend, who got the widest eyes all of a sudden.

Ryuji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck before he turned around and walked towards the ruins. He slapped his cheeks for a couple of times to get it together again. There was something weird about being kissed by her – even if it was just on the cheek – in the place that they used to run around as kids. And in front of one of her best friends no less. But it had become something so natural during their short time together already, that he couldn’t even remember how they had managed to interact with each other before. He found a bunch of men standing in front of the pile of ruble. Judging from their clothes, they were all working in security. Ryuji looked at the base of the old tower, but as he took in the radius of damage he figured that there would be absolutely no trace of the bomb left behind.

“How many people are missing?” Ryuji picked up the conversation from the men beside him.

“One counted 12, another 14...”

“Damn…”

Ryuji felt the heat creeping up his neck, but this time it wasn’t the good kind that Ann would regularly cause. “Then what about looking for them?” he found himself asking before his brain had finished the thought.

The men stared at him. One of them eyed him strangely while the others just looked dumbly. “We didn’t get those instructions...”

“Are you stupid? There could still be people alive under all this, begging for someone to save them and you’re just standing around because noone TOLD you to look for your people?!” Ryuji was riled up.

“Um...” one of them said.

“Fuck all of you.” Ryuji cursed before climbing on top of the mountain of rubble and starting to roll away stones while the guards stood and gaped. He wondered if this was the kind of incompetence that killed his mother and Anns parents. He wanted to punch each and everyone of those people all over again, but decided to direct his anger at the ruble beneath him instead.

Back in the town square, Ann and Mishima walked around with Shiho and checked on all the wounded and homeless. The blonde girl could feel the knowing glances that Shiho would cast her since she witnessed her kiss, but they both knew that right now wasn't the time for girl-talk, when so many people needed help. Ann was able to put some of her first-aid-knowledge to good use when she applied a few bandages and even crafted a splint for an injured ankle. And from all the people, she heard the same story. That it came out of nowhere and they had no idea how this could have happened. Some of them refused to believe that this was an attack and claimed that the tower was old and bound to collapse at some point. But most of them had already caught up to the fact, that a collapsing building didn’t send bricks flying through windows even streets away.

Shiho was handing a canteen of water to a family when Ann stopped dead in her tracks and strained her ears “----TOLD---”. Ryuijs voice. And he was angry. His raised voice combined with the location they were in right now immediately transported her back to the councils hall two and a half years ago. He had been so angry and in so much pain. They both had been, but hearing him yell like this just tore at her heart and made her want to be by his side like all these times when he had stood in the middle of the forest and just screamed. She started shoving through the crowd without saying a word.

Shiho and Mishima hadn’t picked up Ryujis voice and looked after Ann hastily wandering off with confusion.

“It’s better to follow her, when she gets like this...” Shiho eventually said before grabbing Mishimas wrist.

It wasn’t difficult to spot Ryuji, since he was standing on top of a mountain of stones and wood. He was furiously clearing ruble while a bunch of guardsmen stood and watched.

“What are you doing?” Ann called from the bottom of the mountain.

“There’s still people missing and those bastards over there won’t do anything about it.” Ryuji replied while trying to pull away a big wooden beam. He squeezed his eyes shut and grunted as he put all his strength into moving the huge log, but it wouldn’t move. He let out a sigh and gathered his strength one more time to start another try but the second time, things got easier all of a sudden. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ann standing on the other side, leaning against their obstacle with her entire body. He spotted Shiho and Mishima standing at the bottom of the mountain, watching.

“Can anyone hear us?!” Ann yelled at the ruble.

“H- help!” a weak voice replied from somewhere more to the right.

Ann and Ryuji stared at each other before scrambling to the ruined house that they had heard the voice come from.

When Mishima and Shiho realized that the two blondes were looking for survivors, Shiho grabbed Mishimas arm “I… can’t help them.. I can’t climb up there...” she trembled.

A sudden surge of heroism was flowing through Mishima as he turned around towards the city center. He broadened his chest and yelled at the top of his lungs “HELP!! There’s still people trapped in the ruins!”

Shiho stared at the normally so quiet Mishima before she joined him in shouting “HELP!!”. With one arm still hooked around Mishimas, she started bouncing up and down and waving with her free hand to get peoples attention.

One after the other, both men and women approached them, confused by the ruckus at first but when they noticed the two blondes standing on the top of the mountain, they were quick to process the situation and immediately climbed up to help. Mishima and Shiho tried to help as much as possible from the ground by either talking more people into helping or rolling away rocks that were on the bottom. All the while the guardsmen gaped and stared, confused by the sudden enthusiasm and the camaraderie that the two exiles and the citizens showed.

Ryuji rolled away another brick when he saw a hand emerge from a narrow slit. “Over here!” he yelled while carefully pulling away the debris from around it. Inch by inch, the rescue team cleared the rocks and wood away until they created an opening large enough to reveal a woman. She was crying when one of the citizens helped her out of her almost-grave. When the others carefully helped her down, Shiho and Mishima were already waiting at the foot of the mountain with a bottle of water and a blanket.

Word about another person safe spread fast, for more and more people gathered and offered their help. Both Anns and Ryujis arms were burning when they were approached by one of the farmers they remembered from back when they were living here. “Go get some rest. We got this for now.” he said. His voice sounded kind. Both Ryuji and Ann weren't used to it.

The two blondes skidded down the mountain and reconnected with Shiho and Mishima, who already had a canteen with water for them too. Instead of drinking it, Ryuji used a part of his half to pour it over his face before handing it to Ann.

Ryuji glared when the guardsmen from earlier walked up to them. “Um… aren’t you two…?”

“Skull and Panther.” Mishima completed for them.

“Exiles?” one of them still continued.

“Just me.” Ryuji said as he took a step in front of Ann, already anticipating that this was the moment he had prepared for last night.

Ann carefully placed a hand on his back in an attempt to signal that she was there, but she certainly hadn’t anticipated what the other guard said next.

“You have some experience with situations like these?”

Ryuji looked dumbfounded for a moment before sputtering “Well… we’ve been to a settlement yesterday, that was able to prevent an attack…”

“What in gods name is going on here?!” a booming voice cut through all the conversations.

Ann felt the muscles in Ryujis back tighten while all she wanted to do was throw up when they saw all 5 members of the council approaching.

“These two helped saving me!” the woman who was cowering on the floor, wrapped in a blanket and clutching her bottle of water, spoke with a thin voice.

While the head of defense stared at Ryuji intensely, the other four council-members looked at the pile of ruble that was still bustling with people helping together to find more survivors.

“Who ordered this?” the muscular defense-councils voice was thundering over his three scared guardsmen.

“Noone! He just started it!” one of them squeaked and pointed at Ryuji.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ryuji growled “There could still be people alive in there and you just stand by and do nothing?!”

“We have everything under control.” The fat man that stood in the middle of the 5 said.

“Bullshit!” Ryuji yelled. “Your gates are unguarded and wide open, everyone in the square has lost their home or worse and people are scared shitless with none of you to be found! You need to close the gates and seal off the town, ask guests to leave and not let anyone come in that doesn’t live here! Right now, before it’s too late!”

The defense-council took an intimidating step towards him and glared down “As far as I see, you were the only one who took advantage of our unguarded gate, since you were pretty quick to weasel in here again. Who do you think you are, disregarding our orders and playing hero? You’re not welcome here." a vein popped out on the mans neck. "You’ve always had a problem with respecting authorities, but there is a reason why we are in the positions that we are. You should leave making decisions to the people who know what they’re doing. Scum like you only has to follow orders, although that never seemed to be your strong suit.” the mans face was so close to Ryujis, that he could already smell his bad breath.

There was a faint breeze that brushed Ryujis right cheek before he noticed something blurry shooting past him out of the corner of his eye. Only when it connected with the mans nose did he make the connection that the fist in the mans face belonged to Ann, who had struck out from behind him.

“You don’t get to talk to us like this. And you don’t get to call our dead parents scum. They died because you thought you had everything under control. You didn’t. And you still don’t. But keeping the people around who might have called you out on it was too dangerous for your stupid egos.” Ann seethed. “We don’t care, that you don’t want us here. We won’t stay, but if the people in charge don’t want to do their job, then the “scum” has to make sure that their friends are okay.”. She held against the angry stare that the council-member gave her while holding his bloody nose. “We don’t trust you, but at least do your fucking job for the people who do.”

One of the guardsman gulped before saying “Closing the gates might be a good idea, Sir...”

The man tore his gaze away from Ann to stare at the guardsman.

“He’s right… What if someone comes back to finish what they started?” the second guard asked.

“We will lose our position as a trading post if we lock off the entire city!” another council-member argued.

“We won’t have a market anymore, if our central square is full of tents.” Shiho argued.

“These kids are right.” One of the men who stood on top of the ruble-mountain called down. “Close the gate.”

“Yeah! Close the gate!” A woman agreed with him and soon everyone standing on top of the mountain was chanting.

Ann and Ryuji had goosebumps as they heard the townsfolk take their side for once. They looked at the council, that was now exchanging uncomfortable looks among each other. The defense-council eventually ordered “Close the gates! Inform every visitor that they are asked to leave within the next 24 hours.” he stabbed a finger into Anns and Ryujis direction “That goes for you too.” Grudgingly, the five men retreated.

Faint cheering could be heard from the townsfolk. Shiho threw her arms around Anns neck with a wide smile.

Ann felt like collapsing. She had worked hard not to show it, but her knees had been trembling the entire time. But what was even worse was the throbbing pain in her right hand.

“Hurts, huh?” Ryuji asked with a small smirk when he noticed her repeatedly flexing her hand.

“Yeah… It looks so easy, when you do it.” Ann replied.

“Trust me, it always hurts.”

“That’s too bad...” Ann sighed before a smirk appeared on her face “It was kinda fun.”

Ryujis face started to burn. He quickly directed his mind to something else.

They continued taking turns with clearing the ruble and looking for more survivors. Sometimes they were too late and only found corpses but by the time the sun went down, they had already managed to free 3 more people that had been buried alive by the explosion.

Ann was relaxing her burning her arms while Mishima and Ryuji were climbing around on the mountain of debris with a bunch of other townsfolk. She sat on the ground beside Shiho. “Are you sure, that you don’t want to come with us? It would be a lot safer. Most of the people aren’t even aware of our home.”

Shiho shook her head “The people here need my help, I couldn’t just leave them behind.” she turned her head and looked at the blonde girl “Besides, you two already made sure that this place will be a lot safer from now on. I’ve never seen one of the guardsmen speaking up against the big boss.”

“He’s really scary up close...”

“And still you punched him in the face.” Shiho giggled. “I wonder if that’s the influence of your boyfriend...”

Ann smiled “I think it’s always been there… Right now just felt like the right time to do it. He deserves more than a broken nose.”

“So Ryuji and you...” Shiho smirked “Since when are you guys kissing?” she sang.

Ann blushed “About a month now...”

“It was about time.”

Ann rolled her eyes with a grin “I know, I know… everyone says that.”

"I'm happy that you finally figured it out."

"Yeah yeah..."

"It was obvious, really..."

"Right."

"Very, very obvious."

"I got it, Shiho."

Shiho giggled and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

The three Phantom Thieves helped distribute food to everyone camping in the square. It had an eerie feeling to sit on one of the benches and look over the sea of lanterns among the tents. After word traveled around, that people were being rescued from the ruins and that the council had given in to locking down the city, the mood immediately increased throughout the city.

As the streets grew quieter, Ann and Ryuji took the chance to pay a visit to their old houses.

“Can’t believe that I’m standing here...” Ryuji muttered as he looked at the small shack.

“It feels so strange, right?” Ann asked, looking at her childhood home.

“Ya think someone new is living in there?”

Ann could only shrug “Doesn’t look like it… Although I guess now that a lot of people have lost their homes, someone might move in in the future.”

“So it's not breaking in.” Ryuji said before walking towards the house that looked like plants tried to devour it after years of standing empty. It still required the right combination of power and the right angle of the doorknob to open it. He didn’t know what to expect from walking into his old house. The last time he was in there, his mother was still alive, Ann and her parents still lived across the street and the world was okay. Even after years of staying empty, it still had this familiar smell, that lingered in all the furniture of the one bedroom shack with a kitchenette in the living room. He could almost see his mother standing in the kitchen, making dinner and smiling at him whenever he came home from an expedition. He hadn’t anticipated that actually returning to the place that he had seen his mother in almost every day would mess with him so much. As if it only really hit that she was really, really gone, even from the place that he had always seen her in. Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face. He wasn’t the only one, for when he turned around to look at Ann, she was also crying.

She didn’t even need to stand in her own home to feel what Ryuji was feeling. She had spent enough time at the Sakamoto house to know the songs that Ryujis mother would always hum while cleaning up and the way she smiled at them when the two kids passed through to disappear into Ryuijs room. She reached for his hand.

“Uuuugh...Fuck… this place brings back memories...” Ryuji groaned while energetically wiping away his tears. “I thought that I would take you to my room to make out-”. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop crying.

Beneath the tears, Ann actually had to laugh.

Ryuji tugged at her hand to get her to come closer before he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. If the spirit of a person really lingered in places, he hoped that his mother would see him now. They must have been around 15, when she had started to forbid him to entirely close the door when the two hung out in there. Ryuji remembered the awkward talk she had given him some time after that with dread. Apparently his mother had been one of the first to see what apparently everyone but them had been seeing. The realization, that he would never be able to give her the confirmation or tell her that she had been right all along, tugged at his heart. “She would have loved to see us together...” he eventually muttered.

“I guess she already had a feeling since we were 15.” Ann replied.

“Wait… you knew what that was about?”

“Well I didn’t think that your mom got interested in our conversations all of a sudden...”

“We were 15!”

“Don’t act like you haven’t stared down my shirt back then.”

Ryujis cheeks turned red. “Dammit mom..” he muttered.

“She would have been happy.” Ann leaned against his chest. “And my parents too.”

“Are you sure? I always thought that your dad hated me.”

Ann sighed “He didn’t hate You, he just hated the idea of me going out into the “dangerous world”. I think after some time he noticed that you look out for me. He did complain about me going scavenging a lot less after a year or so...”

Ryuji couldn’t remember if he had ever noticed Anns father looking at him with a less than stern look on his face, but he decided to take her word for it. He took a deep breath before he took Anns hand and led her to his old room. Except for the furniture, almost everything had been cleaned out. Ryuji guessed that they had just given all his clothes to others. His room was small. A narrow bed was placed in the far corner and it already took over half of the space. Surprisingly enough, standing in this place brought forth far less sad memories than the living room had.

“The floor is so not-cluttered...” Ann noticed as she walked around a few steps.

“Unlike our room...” Ryuji said.

“Remember that one comic-book you had? I think we read it over a hundred times...” Ann recalled.

“Huh… yeah...” he grinned.

Ann dropped down onto the bed and slid back until her back was resting against the wall. Ryuji grinned as he did the same.

“This feels so weird...” Ann said as they sat beside each other like they always had when they were kids. She slid closer to him until their shoulders touched.

Ryuji smiled when he took her hand and laced their fingers together. He let his gaze wander through the room that he had woken up in for 17 years of his life. One of his posters was still taped to a wall, but the colors had almost completely faded by now. He felt Ann squeezing his hand before she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I always liked hanging out here."

"Yeah. Me too." Ryuji squeezed her hand.

In the town-square, Shiho and Mishima were sitting on a bench and watched the sea of lanterns flicker.

“Thank you for coming and helping us today.” Shiho eventually said. “It was nice to see you again.”

“Oh… uhm.. no problem.” Mishima studdered before he sighed “To be honest… I felt like I needed to do something good again… sort of to redeem myself.”.

“Why’s that?” Shiho asked

Mishima sighed again “I think I lost my way over the last month… I did some pretty dumb things and I didn’t even realize that I became a person that I would despise if I met him...”

“Hm…” Shiho hummed “I guess what’s most important is that you realized your errors, right?”

“Well… yeah… but I feel so ashamed...”

Shiho placed her hand on his “I don’t know what you did, but I’m pretty sure that the people of this settlement will remember you as the stranger who helped with the rescue of survivors.” she gently smiled at him “And I know you as the kind and good-hearted guy that would sneak downstairs and bring me water and talk to me when I felt like I was going crazy.”

Mishima gulped when his cheeks started to burn. He had been so high on fame and so desperate to find a girl that he had forgotten the girl that he had already known and who apparently had already liked him when he was his wimpy self at Kamoshidas castle. He wanted to bash his head against a wall over his own stupidity. “I’m none of those things… Last month I used my popularity to hit on girls and to scrounge gifts from people… I thought that I deserved peoples praise and I thought that I needed to change to finally not be a weakling and a Zero anymore...”

“I don’t think you are a Zero. And you’re definitely not weak.” Shiho turned in her seat so she was directly looking at him “Do you think that a weakling would have taken the risk of sneaking through a torturers castle, just to hang out with one of his prisoners?”

“Um… No…?” Mishima gaped.

“See?” Shiho smiled.

Mishima felt his entire face burn when Shihos finger gently stroked his hand. He quickly shook his head when his brain took him to places that this might be going towards “Shiho… I…” he stammered. He had flirted and hung out with so many girls and while it hadn't felt like the real Mishima had done it, he still felt guilty about basically forgetting about the girl he already knew. He pulled away his hand “I… don’t deserve your praise… Especially not after cheating on you...”

“Cheating?” Shiho looked surprised.

“Well… yeah… I mean… not as if we were together… but… there was a time when I could only think about you and then I became evil Hermes and he went and hit on all these girls...” Mishima stammered.

Shiho listened to his ramblings with blushed cheeks. “You…. were thinking about me?”

“Yeah…” Mishima squirmed. “I… really like you… but then I was stupid and I threw it all away and flirted with all these girls and I didn’t even like them that much...”

“Do… you still like me…?” Shiho asked.

Mishima stared at her and gulped. He did. He would have never imagined that sitting in a dungeon would be the place he had felt most comfortable in Kamoshidas castle. He slowly nodded.

Shiho reached for his hand and put it back down on the bench between them “I’ve been thinking of you too...”

Mishima felt like fainting “But… but…” he stammered.

“I know what it feels like, to think that you’re less important than others. Sometimes we do crazy things to prove ourselves and others wrong and most of the time it’s not even necessary.” Shiho was gently tracing her fingers over the back of his hand again.

“I… don’t know what I was thinking…” Mishima sighed “As if kissing a girl would magically change everything and make me cool...”

A smile tugged at Shihos lips when she said “Well, if that’s all it takes...”. She didn’t leave Mishima the chance to reply when she leaned forward and pressed her lips onto his.

Mishima was too shocked to enjoy the moment. He figured that he must look pathetic, his eyes wide open and his free hand clutching the bench, while the sweetest girl he knew took pity on him and kissed him. He wasn’t even fast enough to get his face back to normal when she slowly drew back, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glittering from all the small lanterns around them.

“….” Mishima still gaped at her.

Shiho smiled when she put a finger under his chin and manually closed his jaw.

“Hey, Hermes! We should get going!” Ryujis voice ripped them out of their moment.

“Um… Yeah! I’m coming.” Mishima called out. There were so many questions in his head. Was he in a relationship now? Was he supposed to stay with her? Should she come with them? He started sweating when Ann and Ryuji came closer and closer into earshot. He quickly turned to Shiho but found himself unable to speak.

“Where have you guys been?” Shiho casually asked, her hand still resting on Mishimas, when Ann and Ryuji stood in front of them.

“We just… went back to some places...” Ann said with a small smile. Visiting all those different places that they had loved so much as kids when they finally felt accepted in their hometown again had felt like something of a conclusion. She could tell that they both felt more at peace now, after saying good-bye to their childhood-homes.

Shiho accompanied them to the main-gates before saying good-bye to Ann and Ryuji with a hug. “Take care you two.” she smiled.

“You too.” Ryuji smiled.

“Are you sure, that you don’t want to come?” Ann asked.

Shiho looked at the three of them before shaking her head “You need to be with the Phantom Thieves and I need to stay here. But you should come by and visit again soon.”. She walked towards Mishima and gave him a long hug with her head resting on the shoulder that faced away from the others. “And don’t forget that there’s people out there who like you for who you really are.” she whispered into his ear before the flustered boy felt her lips brushing his cheek. She looked at all of them with a smile and waved “See you soon!”

Questions were burning on Anns tongue. Shiho holding Mishimas hand on the bench ealier hadn’t gone past her and now there seemed to have been a suspiciously long hug involved. Mishima was far more flustered than usual too. But she was too late because Ryuji took her hand and led her towards the gates, Mishima not far behind them. Ann decided to grill Shiho the next time she saw her. She raised her hand and waved back at her best friend while following Ryuji outside.

Ann was about to climb into the passenger seat while Mishima passed by close to her, when she smelled it. Her hand shot out to grab Mishimas wrist. The boy let out a short shriek before nervously staring at her. The blonde girl squinted her eyes “Why are your lips so shiny?”

“Um… haha… what?” Mishima stammered, his voice an octave higher.

Not caring about whether it was weird, Ann held her nose closer to his lips “That’s Shihos lipbalm!” she exclaimed.

“What?! For real?” Ryujis head emerged from the open passenger-door as he leaned across the entire drivers cabin. Mishima guessed that it must have been a good sign, that he was still in his seat and didn’t look angry.

“You kissed Shiho?” Ann asked, baffled.

“I… uh… it was her... she kissed me….” Mishima stammered, quickly drawing back his hand when Ann chose to let go of him again.

Behind Anns skeptic face, Ryuji started chuckling “Good for you, dude. You’d make a cute couple.”

“Now hold on a minute!” Ann cut through his congratulations “Ren told me that you had a bunch of side-chicks back when you were so full of yourself!” she glared down at him, causing him to shrink and almost cower in fear “Is this some game for you?” she asked and her ice-blue eyes burned into his soul.

“N-… No! I swear!” Mishima squeaked. “I… I broke off contact with all of them.” he dropped to his knees “I… know that I was stupid! I told her about evil Hermes and she still wanted to kiss me...” he whined.

“She knows?” Ann asked, surprised.

Mishima nodded feverishly “I told her that I didn’t deserve her praise… I.. was as surprised as you are now...”

Ann shook her head with a small smile on her face “She’s too kind-hearted for her own good...” she reached out and offered Mishima her hand “Fine. If you told her the truth and she still decided to kiss you, then I guess I can’t say anything against it.”

Mishima stared at her before carefully taking her hand. As he was on his feet again, Ann didn’t let go of his arm but instead squeezed tighter before telling him with a dead-serious look on her face “If you’re not serious about this and you hurt her, I will rip your balls off and shove ‘em down your throat.”. She dropped his hand and climbed into the passenger seat.

Mishima stood and gaped for a few moments before he climbed into the back.

As they hurtled down the road home, Ryuji couldn’t help but grin “Punching authorities in the face, threatening to rip Mishimas balls off… You’re on fire today.”

“Why do you seem so turned on by this?” Ann smirked.

“It ticks a lot of my boxes...” Ryuji replied, heat creeping up his neck.

“And I thought that you liked me because I was more level-headed...” Ann purred.

“Oh come on, you always say that you are but after today you hafta admit that you’re as much a hothead as I am.” Ryuji said. “You threatened to rip Mishimas balls off because you thought he was messing with Shiho.”

“You’re really hung up on that ball-ripping-part, huh?” Ann replied.

“It was scary. And I loved it.” he replied, his eyes focused on the road. “You’re protective of your friends. That’s hella hot.”

Ann smiled at the “compliment”. “You know… I’d rip someones balls off too, if it was to protect you.”. She had to giggle when she saw his eyes getting wide.

Ryuji gulped “Ann…?”

“Mhm?” she hummed.

“You can’t tell me stuff like this while driving.”

Ann couldn’t help but snort “Seriously? That’s what gets to you?”

“Shuddup...” Ryuji pouted.

Ann smiled and leaned over to him to put a quick kiss on his cheek. “It was nice to be back in there with you… Thank you.”

Ryuji shook his head “Don’t sweat it. I think it was good to get to see the place one more time. For closure.”

Ann nodded “It felt nice to have the people stand behind us for once.”

“That sure was something new...” Ryuji sighed.

“I hope that the people will continue to speak up against the council if necessary.” Ann replied.

“Let’s just hope they do…” Ryuji said “Maybe they think about all the people that could be dead if they had listened to the orders instead of their guts..”

When they pulled up in front of LeBlanc2, Anat was already parked in the usual spot. When Ann climbed out of the car she got a hold of Mishima once more. The guy looked at her with terror. Ann sighed and gave him a smile “I’m sorry for threatening you earlier. You’re one of us, I don’t want you to be scared of me.”

Mishima just stared at her.

“Shiho is my best friend. I know that it’s not my place to play protective. You were there for her in her hardest time more than I was.” she sighed “But… I just want you to know that she might seem tough, but deep down we all need someone to be weak in front of. I don’t want her to be weak in front of you, if you don’t mean it. She doesn’t deserve to be someones side-trophy an hours drive away.”

Mishima shook his head “I… really mean it…” he stammered before taking a deep breath “I’ve always liked her, ever since Kamoshidas castle… I did stupid things when I lost my way, but I’m on the right path again. I want someone to like me for who I am and Shiho did that, even when I was nothing but a coward in a narcissists castle. And I… I like her too. I like her a lot.”

Ann smiled “Then that’s all that counts. Come on. Let’s go inside.”

Mishima took a deep breath and nodded. He appreciated Anns words but he was still sure that she wouldn’t hesitate to rip his balls off, should he do something to upset Shiho. He gulped. He didn’t plan to mess up. He just hoped that she saw it that way too.

They found the others gathered in the living room.

“What happened?” Makoto asked, worry spreading on her face when she saw how dirty and dusty all three of them were from moving rubble.

“An explosion collapsed a tower. A bunch of houses were destroyed. A few people died, but most of them survived underneath the rubble.” Ryuji reported.

“And Shiho?” Ren asked.

“She’s okay.” Ann said to everyones relieve.

“So there was an attack, but it wasn’t meant to take out the entire settlement?” Yusuke brought up.

Ryuji shrugged “Apparently. The tower was old so it probably didn’t need a lot of explosives. The damage around wasn’t big.”

“If Iwai is right and the bombs are placed with a purpose, then does that mean that that settlement wasn’t planned to be completely destroyed?” Futaba asked.

“So the attacker wanted to destroy Seiiki but merely damage another?” Morgana looked confused.

“Can we even be sure that the two attacks were connected?” Hifumi asked.

“Them happening on the same day that Seiiki finds the bomb seems too big of a coincidence...” Makoto replied.

“Everything seems odd...” Yusuke pondered.

“I tried to look for any remains of the bomb, but I couldn’t find anything...” Ryuji said.

“What about Eiko? Is New New Shinjuku okay?” Ann asked.

Makoto nodded “Nothing happened there. They have introduced pretty tight security-measures and only allow visitors to enter when unarmed. If New New Shinkuju really was on the hit-list, they would have had to give up because they wouldn’t have been able to get the explosive inside. Since there’s guards standing at every entry-point, maybe the culprit didn’t dare to place the bomb outside?”

“Did Ohya know anything?” Mishima asked.

Ren shook his head.

Ryuji looked around the room before asking “Where’s Haru?”

“She left before Ren and Makoto came back… She didn’t say where she was going.” Shinya replied.

“That’s atypical for her...” Sojiro said.

A few moments of silence passed before Ren eventually said “I think we need to investigate Okumura.”

“Cause of the bomb, right?” Ryuji asked.

Ren nodded. “That and because Ohya told us that her friend and undercover reporter went missing while investigating his factory.”

“There’s always been a rumor about Okumura not having the best working-conditions…” Sojiro said.

“Ohya wants Okumura as the next target for the Phantom Thieves.” Ren said.

“But… what will that do to Haru?” Ann asked.

Makoto shook her head “I don’t know. But looking at it from an objective view, Okumura would be a target for us without a doubt if the allegations about him mistreating and exploiting his employees turn out to be true. A missing journalist that disappeared while investigating these claims makes the entire case even more suspicious.”

"I thought that we don't go from target to target?" Yusuke noted.

Makoto sighed "While I have to agree with you, it seems that our gained popularity causes the masses to look and even expect our next "grand scheme"."

"Aren't they aware that what we're doing is dangerous?" Ann asked.

"It's like they want us to entertain them." Futaba said. "Although there's still a lot of people who genuinely need our help."

"If Okumura really treats so many people shitty... Should we really turn a blind eye?" Ryuji asked. 

“I told Ohya that we need to make the decision unanimously.” Ren said. “I know that the one who is affected by this the most is not here with us, but I’m asking you now. If you leave aside the fact that the man that we’re going after next is the father of one of our own, are you on board with stepping in against Okumura Industries?”

Makoto raised her hand “I am.”

Morgana did the same “If he’s hurting people, he needs to be stopped.”

“We know that that guy’s a jerk, so I can definitely see him not giving a crap about his employees...” Ryuji raised his hand too.

“I agree. For someone who only sees his daughter as a pawn, he probably won’t be nicer to the people working for him either..” Ann reluctantly raised her hand.

Ren turned to Yusuke “What about you?”

The artist raised his hand “Subject to Harus approval, I will go along with this too.”

“Yeah. As long as Haru is okay with it, I’m in.” Futaba agreed.

Ren nodded “Then all we need is Harus vote.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit delayed, but here it is! Ryuji and Ann get to stand up for themselves and re-live some memories in their old hometown. And Mishima finally realizes that he can be himself to be liked by others. To be honest, I've lost MishimaxShiho on the radar until I wrote this chapter but now that I did, I'm really happy about it. Let me know how you liked it. I'm not used to writing sputtering messes ;)
> 
> Ann threatening Mishima was good fun and all, but in the end of the day, I didn't want to leave it at that. Ann is very protective of her loved ones, but Mishima is still part of their team, which is why I thought that it was important to clear the air a bit. 
> 
> So now we know that both Eiko and Shiho are safe, but what about Harus disappearance? We'll find out on saturday.


	49. Daddy Issues

The streets of Seiiki were dark and empty when a figure dressed in black hurried through the small back-alleys that the backsides of the several small shacks created. A large hood covered the mysterious persons head as it ducked underneath windows while carrying a box. The lights in the show-room of Untouchables were still on as the figure came to a halt in front of the houses door. The intruder was about to put down the box on the porch when he got blinded by the light from inside as the door was ripped open and the gunsmith himself stood in front him, a shotgun pointed at his face.

Kneeling on the ground, the hooded figure raised its hands over its head. The intruder flinched, when the former yakuza pulled down the hood.

“What the hell…?” he muttered when he saw the fluffy, light-brown hair inflate in front of him.

Haru reluctantly raised her head and looked at Iwai.

“You scared the shit out of me...” Iwai rasped before walking back into his house, motioning her to follow.

Haru picked the box back up and hurried after him. When she closed the door behind her, she nervously said “Please forgive me for intruding so late. I didn’t intend to disturb your evening!”

“What are you even doing here at this time?” Iwai asked.

Haru held up the box and waited for him to take it “I believe that a Thank You is in order, since you so heroically saved the entire settlement.”. When he didn’t react, she pushed the box into his hands “So… please! Enjoy a little vegetable assortment from my own garden and some eggs from our chickens.”

Iwai looked confused before asking “You’re giving me a gift-basket?”

Haru nodded “I know it’s not much compared to the heroic and brave deeds that you have done for this community.”

Iwai looked uncomfortable “Thanks…”. After a few moments of awkward silence he asked “Can I ask Why?”

Haru recoiled “Well… because I wanted to thank you properly.”

Iwai took a step to the side to reveal a table with various loaves of bread and cakes among a few arrangements of flowers and fruits “About everyone else in the town had the same idea. Why you though?” he asked, genuinely confused “You wouldn’t have been affected directly if we had all blown up..”

“Because…. Because...” Haru stammered. Why couldn’t she just drop the bad conscience because of the deeds that someone with her last name had done? She hadn’t seen her father for a year and she felt like she had cut all ties with him when she ran away with the hired bodyguards on her wedding day. She had spent last night and the entire day today with maniacally cleaning the kitchen from still lingering bean-residue, baking something that turned out to be inedible, checking her vegetable-beds for the most beautiful examples to gift to the person that had prevented the death of multiple dozens of people and avoiding all the worried gazes of her teammates until she had finally decided that Ren and Makoto were right. She was her own person. And as her own person, she made the decision to redeem her name, if not even take it back. She took a deep breath. Telling Iwai the truth surely wouldn’t break her neck. “Because my name is Haru Okumura and I want to show you that not everyone in my family is a bad person.”

Iwais eyes grew wide “You’re the Okumura heiress?”

Haru nodded.

“And you’re a Phantom Thief?”

Haru nodded again.

Iwai didn’t seem like the person to be speechless a lot, but now he was. He leaned against his gift-table and exhaled. He seemed to be struggling to order his thoughts.

“I know that this must come as a surprise. I only wanted to make sure to tell you how grateful I am, that you prevented my fathers products from taking many lives and causing innumerable damage.”

Iwai scoffed “Your father builds weapons. How many do you think those have killed?”

“Those weapons are sold to people who need to defend themselves from the shadows...”

“Your father sells weapons to who pays best, not who needs them most. And let me tell you, most of them aren’t used to heroically defend a village from shadows.” Iwai shook his head “All of the weapons that Kaneshiro and his men had were delivered to the fat guys doorstep directly from Okumura Industries.”

Haru felt sick. She had always dreaded what she might learn if she took a look into the sales of the company, but hearing that her father had provided Kaneshiro with everything was so much worse than she had ever dared to imagine. She flinched when Iwai walked up to her and placed his big hand on her shoulder.

“Look kid… the truth is that you will never be able to reclaim your family name. Your father has and will continue to tarnish it too much to be redeemed with a basket of vegetables.” he said. He didn’t sound angry. He actually seemed sympathetic to her.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Haru sobbed and she covered her face to hide the tears.

“You walk away.” Kaorus voice startled both of them. The teenager walked up to the two. “You shouldn’t feel responsible for who your father is. It wasn’t you who chose him to be. I don’t even want to imagine what traumas my biological father has inflicted on how many people. He almost killed 2 of your friends and I’m sure that wasn’t even the worst he’s done.”

“Kaoru..” Haru whispered.

“You’re not him. And the fact that you abandoned him shows that you don’t agree with his methods.” Kaoru encouraged her.

Haru sighed “He… used to be different when he took over the factory from my grandfather. My grandfather did everything he could to keep the factory running to help the people defend themselves from the shadows. My father took over and had to promise, that he would strive to do the same. But then my mother died and he… changed… into this angry and hateful person that was seeking power and all I could do was watch...”

Iwai squeezed her shoulder “You did the right thing by leaving. I know that you’re a good person, be your last name Okumura or not. To us you’ll always be the badass with the grenade launcher and the axe that calls herself Noir.”

Haru wiped a tear off her cheek “Thank you.”.

“And please take your gift basket with you. I’m sure you’ll be able to cook something way nicer out of it than I would.” Iwai handed her back the box.

Haru didn’t get a chance to object when the man pushed the box into her hands. She waved before walking out the door and down the dark street towards the gate.

“There she is!” an angry voice echoed from behind her and caused her to whirl around. The beam of a flashlight hit her right in the face and caused her to shield her eyes. She wasn’t able to see the features of the people that were walking towards her. “Don’t move, Okumura.” warned the one that she assumed to be the mayor. Haru broke out in a sweat. They must have listened in on her talk with Iwai, only they didn’t seem so understanding of her heritage. The volume with which the man spoke caused the lights inside the dark houses to ignite again. Haru noticed how heads poked out the windows here and there.

“How…?” Haru stammered. Since the lights around her were being turned on again, she was able to see that the group behind the flashlight consisted of the mayor, the kind lady that she always traded food with and two more men that she didn’t know.

“We’ve had reports that someone was sneaking around in the back-alleys. Our gate-keepers told us that only you entered. When our neighborhood-watch came to investigate Iwais shop, we overheard that you are in fact related to the man who almost killed all of us!”

“Noir, is this true?!” the kind woman pleaded.

Haru nervously looked around. People were staring at her as if she had just killed a basket of puppies in front of their eyes. She took a deep breath. She just needed to tell them that she wasn’t affiliated with her father anymore and they would believe her. “I...” she stammered before she collected herself “It’s true. My name is Haru Okumura.”. The kind woman gasped. “But I have turned my back on my father one year ago and I’ve had no contact with him ever since.”

“You’re his daughter!” another man cried “How different can you be? Born with a silver spoon in your mouth and now playing hero while all of us are fighting for survival! Disgusting!”

Haru recoiled “But….”

“You know that you’re guilty. Why else would you show up in the middle of the night, sneaking around like you’ve committed a crime!” the mayor kept pointing his flashlight right into her face.

“No...” Haru stammered.

“Get out of here, Okumura-scum! We don’t need the likes of you here! Calling yourself a Phantom Thief too. You had all of us fooled, but not anymore.” the entire group took an intimidating step towards her.

Haru took a step back while clutching her box of vegetables to her body. But… she had tried. She wasn’t that kind of Okumura. She wasn’t like her father and she would never be like him either. Why couldn’t they see that? She was still Noir, the girl who liked gardening and tending to her chickens and who enjoyed chatting with the kind lady in Seiiki, who was now staring at her like she was the devil incarnate. Why did they forget all the nice things that she and her friends had done for them, just because they’ve learned her last name? What has she done to make them believe that she was anything like her father? “Please… I…” Haru stammered but the right words just didn’t come out. They had driven her to the gate, that slowly started to open behind her.

“LEAVE!” the kind woman yelled into her face as if Haru was a rabid animal that she needed to drive away with a pitchfork. “Leave and don’t ever show your face in this town again!”.

Tears were streaming down Harus face as she took the last steps backward and out of Seiiki. She stared at the kind woman who was glaring back at her as the gates slowly swung close again. Haru hadn’t noticed how hard she was clutching the box until she felt the edges of it digging into her arms and hands. She cast a last look at the closed gates before reluctantly turning around. Why had she even tried, if everything she ever did would always be associated with her father? She only wanted to make things right but they didn’t even want to listen. She wiped the tears off her face to no avail. Only Iwai was supposed the know the truth. At least he and Kaoru understood.

Haru didn’t know what time it was, when she eventually returned to LeBlanc2. She had spent what felt like hours aimlessly walking through the woods and thinking. She didn’t really feel like returning. She would have liked to disappear all together. At least she wouldn’t tarnish the name of the Phantom Thieves that way. She had only realized while walking, that she had endangered all of them. If the people in Seiiki hadn’t thought that she had lied to the rest of the Thieves too, who knew what they would have done, especially since they knew where they lived. Maybe she really wasn’t more than the heiress to a weapon-mogul. Maybe that was all she was able to be. It sure seemed to be everything that people thought of her, as soon as they learned her name.

When she walked through the main-door, she was surprised to see light coming from the living room. Before she knew it, Futaba was clinging to hair waist while Ann wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She noticed that everyone else was sitting or standing in the living room, looking both worried and relieved.

“Are you okay?” Ren asked when Ann and Futaba led her into the living room.

“We were so worried about you!” Ann said.

Haru couldn’t muster to look up from the floor “Please forgive me… I didn’t intend to worry you.”

“What happened?” Makoto asked when she noticed their friends strange behavior.

Haru shook her head “It’s nothing.”. If she told them, that she had given away her real name they would only worry more. “I’m sorry for keeping you up this long… I will go to bed now.” she meekly said before quickly leaving the living room.

The others exchanged a bothered look.

“I don’t believe that nothing happened.” Yusuke broke the silence.

“Me neither...” Ren said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her like this.”

“She looks so sad..” Ryuji said “We can’t bring up her father now… It would only make her feel worse.”

“Agreed.” Yusuke said. “Haru doesn’t respond well to remembering her father. If we decide to go back to the very place, I don’t think that it will be beneficial to her mood.”

“I’m worried about her...” Morgana said, barely managing to keep his eyes open.

“Yeah… me too.” Ann said.

“What’s most important is that she’s safe home with us.” Makoto said. “Let’s get some rest. Maybe that’s what all of us need right now.”

The others reluctantly nodded.

Haru slept poorly that night. She kept dreaming about the people of Seiiki hunting her with torches and pitchforks until she was eventually standing in front of her fathers gates again. Her eyes fluttered open to find herself in an otherwise empty room. She couldn’t remember if she had ever been the last one to wake up. Especially since rooming with Futaba again, who would sometimes sleep on for hours. She continued to sit in her bed and stared off into the distance. She felt empty. She had joined the Phantom Thieves about a year ago, after finally realizing that she could be her own person and that she didn’t have to be her fathers puppet. She could make a difference in the world, instead of being locked away as a pawn. She could lead a normal life. Helping people as the Phantom Thieves was a great feeling, but now it had been tarnished within minutes when people that she believed to have their trust turned on her and accused her of still being affiliated with her father. She wished that she had never told Iwai the truth. She should have just listened to Ren and Makoto and ignored her bad conscience. But now, with her name being public, who knew how fast the people of Seiiki would spread it and give the Phantom Thieves a bad reputation.

The door burst open to reveal Futaba with a large tray in her hands. “Goood mooorning!” she sang before placing the tray in Harus lap “We made you breakfast.” the girl smirked.

Haru looked down to find a cup of tea and a plate of sunny side up eggs with baked beans. A single pink flower was standing in a small vase. “Thank you...” Haru reluctantly said.

Futaba dropped down on the bed beside her “No problem. You’re always cooking breakfast for everyone, so we had to use the one time you slept longer than us to finally play a reverse card.”

“How considerate of you.” Haru couldn’t help but smile.

“Seriously, don’t go in the kitchen though… We might have done a biiit more of a mess than you would have.”

Haru giggled before taking the first bite.

“Are you doing okay?” Futaba eventually asked.

Haru nodded “Don’t worry, Futaba-chan.” she forced a bigger smile before adding “Everything gets a lot better with a good breakfast.”

Futaba reluctantly nodded and got off the bed “I’ll...leave you to it then.” she said before leaving Haru alone with her meal again.

Haru hadn’t lied. Breakfast was able to change her outlook on life. A little less for todays issue but after she finished her beans, she felt like she had something new to start off with.

After getting dressed, she carried down the tray only to be intercepted by Ryuji on the way to the kitchen.

“Whoah! You REALLY shouldn’t go in there.” he nervously said while quickly taking the tray from her hands. “We… kinda made a mess while trying to cook porridge for all of us...”

“Is it worse than the one time you tried to cook beans in a closed can?” Haru asked.

“It’s... not that bad.” Ryuji said.

“Then I think I’ll be able to handle it.” Haru smiled before taking back the tray and carefully walked past him. When she pushed open the door, everyone was gathered around the table. The kitchen-counters and the stove indeed have seen better days but also worse. Haru noticed how everyone around the table fell quiet upon her entering. They looked at her with worry as she walked through the kitchen to put the empty tray near the sink. Haru knew that they were probably still thinking about her nightly trip yesterday. She decided to send the first signal that everything was a bit better again “Good morning everyone.” she smiled “I’m sorry for sleeping so long… I hope you found everything in the kitchen?”

Makoto was the first to find her voice “We did. And don’t worry about sleeping in for once. We hope you enjoyed your breakfast in bed?”

“It was delicious, although you really shouldn’t spoil me like that.” Haru smiled. “I want to apologize again for last night. I know that I should have told at least one of you, that I was going out so late.”

“As long as you remember it for future night-walks.” Sojiro had a warm smile on his face.

“I will.” Haru nodded eagerly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ryuji reentering the kitchen and taking his seat again.

“Are you feeling better?” Ren asked.

Haru nodded “I am.”. She took a deep breath “Actually… I’ve been thinking and there is something that I would like to ask all of you.”

“What is it?” Ann asked.

“I would like to go back to Okumura Industries and confront my father. And I wanted to ask if you could take me.”

Everyone in the kitchen was speechless before Ren spoke up eventually “Are you sure that you want to do that?”

Haru nodded “I want to ask him whether he knew about what those components were planned to do. No matter the answer, it might also prove beneficial in terms of finding out who did this.”

Neither of them looked completely comfortable but they also couldn’t bring up any valid counter-arguments.

“If that’s what you want to do, then we will support you.” Yusuke spoke first.

Makoto followed “Yes. If that’s what it takes to put your mind at ease.”

“Yeah. We’ll be with you all the way.” Ann smiled.

Haru actually felt like smiling again when she said “Thank you so much. I know that we have a long path ahead of us but I hope that it will bring us closer to the true culprit in the end too.”

Ren nodded “Sounds like we’re going on our next big trip.” he looked to the core-group “Let’s use today to pack up. If anyone has an idea where to find some additional fuel for the car, please check it out. We have a long way ahead of us and I think we’d all be more than happy if we don’t have to walk it...”. His gaze fell onto their four home-defenders “We’ll leave the house in your capable hands again.”

Shinya nodded “Leave it to us!”

“Besides, if anything should happen we can always count on support from Seiiki!” Mishima said.

Haru quickly averted her gaze at the mention of the settlement. She just hoped that they would really help them. She would have ruined everything, if the people of Seiiki suddenly got a bad image of the Phantom Thieves just because of her family-name. She just hoped that they wouldn’t change their minds. Haru started sweating when she imagined an angry mob walking up their street while most of them were gone. She quickly shook her head. When she looked back to the table, she noticed that most of the Thieves were already gone. Only Hifumi and Mishima were left with the dishes for today.

“Is everything okay?” Hifumi asked Haru.

Haru nodded quickly.

“You were mumbling in your sleep last night… Is something bothering you?”

“Was I?!” Haru nervously asked “I hope I didn’t keep you from sleeping! Everything really is okay. It was just… a strange night.” she gratefully spotted the bucket of scraps “Oh! I’ll get these out to the chickens!”. She didn’t wait for a response when she barged out the kitchen as fast as she could.

Makoto and Ryuji checked out a possible fuel-location while the rest started packing. Ren was stuffing a bunch of clothes into his backpack when a soft knock on the door caused him to raise his head.

“Hey…” Ann carefully said as she slipped inside. She took a look around the room.

“What’s up?” Ren asked.

Ann chewed her lip “So… I know that Haru wanting to go back to her father plays into our hands because we wanted to investigate him but…” she wrapped her arms around herself “Are you sure, that we shouldn’t tell her about our ulterior motives?”

Ren massaged his temples “I know that it’s a dick move… I’m not exactly happy about it either.”

Ann shook her head “I’m just worried that she will take it badly if she finds out that we're already suspecting Okumura of doing something wrong anyway...”

“I get it. But in the end, if Okumura really treats his employees like garbage, wouldn’t Haru also want to stop him?”

“It’s not that easy.” Ann replied “Haru doesn’t want to have anything to do with her father anymore. I don’t know what happened last night but it must have been something huge if Haru suddenly wants to see him again. She’s not like most of us. She never wanted to confront her past head-on… At least until now...”

Ren scratched his head “I know that we avoided the Okumura-topic for now but I got Ohya sitting on my back, telling me that he should be our next target and to be honest, I get it. We would be on our way to him without a doubt. Ohyas friend went missing and was probably killed investigating him and while Ohya can be called a lot of things, I don’t think that she or her friend pulled those inhumane-condition-accusations out their asses.”

Ann sighed “I know you’re right… It’s just so strange that we’re going into this while one of us is on a different page than the rest. It’s like we’re keeping a secret from her, even though I know we’re not.”

“If you think it’s for the best to tell her everything, then I’m not keeping you.”

“I don’t know what to think… This whole thing is just giving me a major headache...” Ann sighed “I tried putting myself into her shoes but I can’t… I can’t imagine what she must have been through with a father like that but I just couldn’t imagine myself not wanting to confront him again, especially since she’s doing great now… But I get that not everyone is like us..”. When Ren didn’t know what to respond, Ann groaned “Uuuugh! I hate seeing her like this. I just want her to smile again!”

“I’m sure she will. But maybe now’s not the time. We can’t all be happy all the time.”

“Sheesh… What a downer you are...” Ann sighed. “I wish we knew what happened last night…”

“Yeah. Me too.” Ren agreed. He had already known that something was off when they noticed that Haru was out on her own without telling anyone, but he hadn’t anticipated her to return in such a sad mood.

“This whole conversation went nowhere, huh?” Ann eventually asked.

Ren looked at her “Sometimes it’s still nice to bounce your thoughts off of someone...”

“Yeah...” she grinned before walking up to him. “Us being alone in a room... I wonder what all our shippers would think about this...”. She batted her lashes at him a few times.

Ren had to grin “Is this your attempt of flirting with me?”

“Maaaaaybeeee.” Ann moved her head from side to side while saying it.

“Well, well, well...” Ren muttered “What are we going to do with all this tension between us?”

“Hmmm… I don’t know...” Ann hummed.

Their faces were at a hands width distance when both of them started snorting. “God you’re bad at this...” Ren chuckled.

“You’re not giving me much to play off either...” Ann replied. “Besides, it’s kinda strange to have to pretend when there’s absolutely no romantic feelings involved...”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the actress of our group?”

Ann scoffed and gave him a playful shove “It’s different when you don’t know the person at all!” she smiled “You’re my best friend. We’ve been through so much together and I can’t imagine living without you or anyone else from the Phantom Thieves. But I’m really not romantically interested in you…”

“So I’m not the kind of best friend you claimed that you were with Ryuji.” Ren smirked before his smile softened “But anyway, same here.”

“I guess both of us already found our soulmates, huh?” Ann smiled.

Rens cheeks were burning when he nodded “Guess we have.”

“Huh… What do you think our ship-name would have been?” Ann wondered. “RenAnn sounds weird...”

Ren shrugged “I don’t know… Takamiya?”

Ann giggled “I like that. It’s almost too good to let it go to waste… Let’s make it a platonic ship-name!”

Ren chuckled “Sure.”

She awkwardly punched him in the chest “Alright! Takamiya for the win!”

Ren grinned and shook his head “Get outta here before my girlfriend comes back.”

Like on their first-ever meeting, Ann flashed him a peace-sign before leaving his room.

Haru was sitting inside the chicken enclosure, absentmindedly petting MiLady, as she stared off into the distance. When leaving her father, she had sworn to herself that she would never ever go back again. Because she knew that what her father did in his factory wasn’t right. She had heard stories from the maids back then but she never wanted to believe them. Because deep down she still wanted to believe to this day that there was something good left in Kunikasu Okumura. That deep down, the loving father that she remembered less every day, was still somewhere in him and just needed to be brought out. She used to think that she could be the one to remind him of his better side. That she just needed to power through and endure all the things that he threw at her. But soon it turned out that her father saw her as nothing more than a tool to achieve everything that he wanted. On her wedding day, she finally decided to protect herself. And while she had been happy to leave the industry and the compound behind her, she couldn’t help but feel guilty about giving up to change her father. She had known that she was acting selfish from the very start. Not even the normally so calming gurgle that MiLady always made to cheer her up was able to take her mind off of things today.

“Haru...” Morgana carefully climbed into the enclosure to sit down beside her “Are you okay?”

Haru nodded “It’s sweet of you to worry, but I’m okay.”

“Are you nervous about going back to your old home?”

Haru nodded “It took me a lot of strength to leave it but going back turns out be even harder.”

“We’re just going for a quick visit.” Morgana tried to reassure her.

“I know.” Haru smiled. “It’s still difficult. Until a few days ago, I thought that I would never go back again either… But I just have to ask father if he knew about the attacks.”

“But… what will you do, if your father was aware what the C4 was used for?” Morgana asked.

“I… don’t know. Maybe then it will finally sink in that he can’t be changed.” Haru continued to pet MiLady while sadly staring at the ground.

“Haru...” Morgana quietly said. He wished that he could say something to cheer her up again.

Haru looked at the little kid and ruffled his hair with her free hand. She managed a weak smile “It’s okay. I know that it’s hard, when you can’t think of anything to say that could help. But I’ll be fine. I’ll get through this.”

Morgana could only stare at the fluffy-haired girl. She was the one being sad and yet still it was also her who comforted him while it should have been the other way around.

Haru squeezed his shoulder before returning to petting MiLady “Everything will be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we learned of Harus struggles in this arc. Let me assure you, Haru will get a lot of screentime. 
> 
> I feel like so far every one of the Thieves was more than happy to oppose their past demons or current tormentors but while Haru can be a total badass, she's also trying to avoid conflict especially with her father. Since everyone knows that Haru is a kind soul, I really liked the idea of everyone trying to "protect" or "shield" her from the truth because they don't want to upset her. We'll see how their plan pans out.
> 
> And so the Thieves spread out towards their next adventure.


	50. 1 Town, 3 Stories

„Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow...“ Ryuji remarked with every bump in the road that sent the Phantom Thieves sitting in the loading space floating for a few inches.

“Damn Inari and his Luck-Stats...” Futaba cursed while clutching her backpack with Prometheus in it to her chest as to avoid fall-damage.

“Relax, we’re gonna switch at some point.” Ren said while stabilizing himself by grabbing onto the railing. He had to admit that his tail-bone wasn’t too happy about their bumpy ride either.

“We’re venturing into unknown lands.” Morgana said while looking at the scenery moving past them.

“It doesn’t look that different...” Ann remarked.

“Besides… it’s not even the first time that we’re here...” Ren said with a sideways look to Haru, who sullenly watched the scenery pass by. Last time that they went to Okumura Industries that direction, their team had been one person shorter.

“We’ve been living in our own bubble so long.. It feels we’re travelling into a completely new country although it’s just a days drive...” Morgana said.

“Ugh… can’t wait ‘til we finally take a break...” Ryuji groaned.

“You can’t tell me that you need to step out again.” Ann sighed.

“No, but my ass hurts!”

“All of our asses hurt!” Futaba groaned.

“Not as much as mine!” Ryuji argued.

“Ugh, this isn’t a competition...” Ann groaned.

“We’ll make a stop for the night soon.” Ren said as he looked up at the sky.

When the car rolled up to a crossing, Makoto brought the vehicle to a halt. While everyone on the loading space used the stop to stand up and stretch their legs, Ren leaned forward and looked into the open drivers window to reconvene with Makoto.

“Looks like there’s a settlement in the west...” Ren pointed.

“I saw it too. It looks quite big, so the chances should be good that they can provide us with a place to stay...” Makoto replied.

“Then let’s do it.”

They both turned their heads when the passenger door was ripped open.

“What is this about? Let go of me!” Yusuke exclaimed as he tried to shake off the hands that wrapped around his arm.

“It’s time to switch Inari!” Futaba said through gritted teeth while trying to pull him out of his seat with her entire body.

“It’s not far anymore.” Yusuke argued.

“Then you won’t have to sit in the back for as long as I have!”

“That might be true but-” he didn’t get to finish his sentence before he was yanked out of his seat. Futaba was quick to climb into the passenger seat besides Makoto, giving the two a huge grin while quickly pulling the door shut and leaving a perplexed Yusuke outside.

“Speaking of...” Ren said “Need a change of shifts?”

Makoto shook her head “I should be fine for the last few miles.”

“Too bad..” Ren grumbled before retreating to the loading space again.

“Welcome to hell...” Ryuji said as Yusuke climbed up to them.

“We’re not far from a settlement. Shouldn’t be a long ride.” Ren sighed as he took his seat.

“We should start thinking about putting down some cushions in here...” Ann sighed as the car rolled back into motion.

“Having seats would be nice...” Morgana agreed.

The sun was about to set when Makoto steered the car towards the big gate. They were greeted by a big flood light pointing at them and a rough voice yelling from a watchtower “Who goes there?”

Ann got up behind the drivers cabin and shielded her eyes before calling out “We’re just passing through and looking for a place for the night!”

The flood-light was turned away from them as to spare their eyes when the guard asked “How many?”

“Eight!” Ann replied.

“Come on in.” The gate started to swing open and Makoto slowly rolled inside.

As the 6 Thieves in the back climbed down, they were greeted by another guard. “You can park your car over there.” he pointed Makoto to a barn before he looked at the others “If you follow this road, you can’t miss our Inn. This time of the week, the dormitories are empty so you don't need to worry about where to sleep. She runs a tavern too and makes an insane stew...”

“Thank you very much.” Yusuke bowed before looking around the town. It was huge with rows and rows of houses arranged around what seemed to be a big market place. They must have figured out their electriciy for the streets were illuminated by street lamps.

After Makoto and Futaba parked the car, the Phantom Thieves walked along the mentioned street. The city was buzzing with life and the street lights gave the whole town a warm feeling as the night sky turned darker and darker. The guard hadn’t been wrong, the Inn really wasn’t hard to miss since it was the biggest house in the city-center. It was hard to tell what building it was before the day everything went to shit. Maybe a small school, judging by the adjacent gymnasium. The Innkeep was a sturdy woman who looked frightening at first, but as she saw her potential new customers, her gaze softened. She showed them to the huge dormitory with rows and rows of bunk beds. When Ren spotted the markings on the floor and a single, dented basketball-hoop somewhere on the wall, he was pretty sure that his guess had been right.

“Well… this brings back memories...” Ann noted as she looked around the huge hall. Sleeping in a room with a bunch of strangers certainly wasn’t something that she had missed from her times as a scavenger. So far it really seemed like they were lucky and the entire place to themselves. She didn't want to imagine how stuffed it must feel to stay in this place when every bed was occupied.

“For real...” Ryuji muttered.

Futaba plopped down onto one of the bottom beds “Comfortable enough...” she noted as she bounced on the mattress a bit.

“Everything’s better than the back of our car...” Morgana said as he climbed up onto a top bunk.

Ren looked around the group. Haru still hadn’t said a word since their departure. “The night’s still young. Let’s go get that sick stew and maybe enjoy the town a little.”

The guard seemed to have taste, Ren really didn’t have a stew that good for a while. While Sojiro and Haru knew how to make vegetables, this one even had chunks of meat in them, making it all the more hearty and warming.

After the bowls on the table were emptied, the benches were filled with stuffed Phantom Thieves, groaning and sighing.

“Daaamn… that was almost worth the drive...” Ryuji groaned before letting out at burp that got the entire tavern staring. When the blonde boy noticed Makotos exhorting glare, he raised his shoulder “Sorry...”

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Morgana asked.

“Oooh, there was this cute little market nearby. I definitely wanna check that out, the Innkeep said they’re still open in the evening!” Ann grinned.

“I’ll go take a walk around town a bit… It’s been a while since we’ve been to a place this lively, that wasn’t full of mafia-people...” Ren said.

“Hey, ya never know...” Ryuji smirked.

“Don’t jinx it!” Futaba whined.

“I think I will stay behind and eat another bowl of that delicious stew.” Yusuke stated.

“You want to keep on eating?!” Ann asked wide-eyed.

“I’m down for that...” Ryuji shrugged “I’m staying too.”

“I’ll tag along with Ann. Who knows what stuff they’re selling? Maybe they have something sweet for Prometheus!” Futaba announced.

Makoto nodded “I’m coming too then.” she looked at Haru, who had spent most of the time poking at her food before eventually deciding to eat it. “Will you join us too?”

Haru flinched before looking up “Oh… I think I will head straight to bed. It’s been a long drive today and I feel quite drained...” she vaguely answered.

“Are you sure?” Ann asked, worried.

Haru nodded “Please, have a nice evening for me too. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”. She didn’t wait for a response when she pushed herself up from the bench and wandered towards the dormitories.

“I… feel really bad now...” Morgana said “Shouldn’t we stay with her?”

The rest exchanged uncertain glances before Ren eventually said “I think she’d feel even more guilty if we all stayed here now after we already talked about what we all wanted to do...”

“Yeah...” Ann said. “Let’s go and check up on her a bit later… She doesn’t seem very talkative at the moment...”

“Since two of us plan to stay here anyway, we can keep an eye on her too from time to time.” Yusuke said.

Makoto raised an eyebrow before realizing that the two were probably as capable of cheering Haru up as anyone. “Very well. Needless to say that we shouldn’t stay out for too long, since we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Everyone agreed before they parted ways. Even in the evening, the streets still seemed alive with people traveling to the tavern and other locations. As the three girls entered the small marketplace, they couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful square that was hung with lines full of colorful paper lanterns. The female Phantom Thieves strolled to the market stands, that sold from handmade handy accessories up to small trinkets and even jewelry, which especially caught Anns attention.

“That’s soo pretty!” she exclaimed before dragging Makoto and Futaba to the jewelry-stand. Her eyes had immediately locked on a delicate golden bracelet. “And it’s so shiiiiny!” she dreamily said.

“Isn’t there a saying that diamonds are a girls best friend?” Futaba asked as she looked at the display of necklaces and bracelets while thinking that all these materials would be of much more use inside of her computers.

“It doesn’t even have diamonds in them!” Ann defended.

“They do look elegant.” Makoto agreed while perusing the display. Her focus fell on a heavy peace of polished metal that was more of a brace than a bracelet. It looked tough yet still exuded some kind of elegance.

“Find anything you like, girls?” the old man sitting behind the stand looked up from the ring that he was about to polish.

“Everything is so beautiful!” Ann almost squealed to both Futabas and Makotos embarrassment.

“Did you make all of these yourself?” Futaba asked.

The old man nodded.

“Being a goldsmith in these times must be a challenging occupation...” Makoto noted “Although from what I see from this town, I guess this might be one of the best locations to sell luxuries.”

The old man nodded again “It’s not what I did my entire life but some times just call for a job-change.” his voice was raspy.

“What did you do before that?” Ann asked.

“Made guns.” the man curtly replied to all of their surprise.

“You… went from making guns to making… jewelry?” Futaba asked, confused.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way!” Makoto was quick to throw in after Futabas blunt question “It’s just a surprise.”

The old man snorted, a small smile visible underneath his thick mustache, before he turned serious again “Wasn’t what I imagined either. But turns out being a goldsmith is less dangerous than a gunsmith...”. When the girls continued to look at him with raised eyebrows, he elaborated “Over the last years, we hear more and more stories about smaller gunsmiths disappearing all of a sudden...”

“They disappear?” Ann still looked confused.

“I know there’s this thing about innocent until proven guilty but the rumors are running hot that Okumura has a hand in all of their disappearances.” the old man sighed.

“It would make sense, since Okumura runs a gun-factory...” Makoto was already in her thinker-pose.

“When more and more incidents happened around our area, I decided that it was best to switch my occupation… Since I already had a smithy, continuing to work with metal was self-evident.”

“So everyone suspects Okumura Industries of taking out the competition?” Futaba asked.

“We have no evidence for it, but everyone who knows him knows that he’s a greedy bastard out for power. Even with him running a factory, single gunsmiths seem to be a thorn in his side. It’s ridiculous, we couldn’t be a threat to his sales even if we all joined forces but you can’t argue with a man with a factory full of guns and explosives.”

The girls shared an uncomfortable look.

“You girls from around here?” the man eventually asked.

“Oh! No!” Ann nervously exclaimed. “We’re just… passing through.” she forced a giggle.

The goldsmith shrugged “Nothing much around here except for this town and the industry...”

“Well...” Makoto stammered. Telling that they were on their way to Okumura Industries probably wasn’t a good idea.

“We’re going to a wedding!” Ann nervously exclaimed. “It’s.. a really small town. You probably don’t know it…” she dragged Futaba up front by the arm “It’s her cousin. Super cute love story. Childhood friends...” Ann rambled.

The man smiled before picking up his polishing rag again “Then you three have a safe journey. If you’re in need of a wedding gift for your cousin, maybe you’ll find something. I’ll be here tomorrow too.”

Makoto smiled and bowed “Thank you very much!”. She ushered the others away. When they were out of eye- and earshot, they all took an audible breath.

“I don’t even have a cousin.” Futaba said.

“Well, now you do and she’s getting married.” Ann replied, exhausted from the last-minute-acting that she had to do.

“Still a better story than you losing your cat...” Futaba shrugged when Ann glared at her.

“Are you still thinking about what he told us about Okumura?” Ann asked when she noticed Makotos bothered look.

Makoto shook her head “It’s nothing… I was just wondering if the explosions in all the big settlements have something to do with gunsmiths there?”

“You think that Okumura blew up entire towns just to take out their gunsmiths?!” Futaba exclaimed before Ann hastily clutched a hand over her mouth to shut her up.

“I don’t know… Maybe Seiiki wasn’t targeted because of it’s size but because Iwai had just started to settle down there and gain clients...” Makoto whispered.

Ann shook her head “I don’t know for sure but as far as I remember, my hometown always bought their weapons from the gunsmith in another settlement not far away. If that hasn’t changed over the last years...”

Makoto shook her head “It was just a theory.” she looked around the market and found a stand with leather belts and harnesses. She looked at the other girls and smiled “Let’s go and see if we find something more useful.”

After finishing their second bowls of stew, the two remaining guys had to admit defeat when they all but laid on the benches.

“I- I think I’m dying...” Ryuji groaned and held his stomach.

“The button of my trousers just popped off...” Yusuke mumbled, sweat on his brow.

“Dude, don’t say that out loud...”

“I’m merely stating facts.” Yusuke replied before slowly pushing himself to his feet. “I’m going to check on our companion.”

“You’re making it weird after just saying that your pants are half-open.” Ryuji sighed.

“I see them as half-closed.” Yusuke replied before walking off to the dormitories. The big hall was dark when Yusuke slipped inside. It wasn’t hard to find his person of interest, when he spotted her sitting in her bed, a book in one hand and a flashlight in the other. She only looked up when Yusuke stood directly beside her bed-side.

“Good evening.” Yusuke said. “I merely wanted to check up on you.”

Haru managed a weak smile “That’s very kind of you. Please don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

“You keep giving the same answer, when all of us know that it’s a well-meant lie.”

“If you already know the answer, then why do you keep asking.” Haru softly asked.

“Maybe because we hope that you will tell us the truth if we just ask often enough...” Yusuke replied and sat down on the bed next to hers.

The fluffy-haired girl shook her head “It’s never been my place to talk about my feelings. Expressing emotions is not something that an Okumura should do, especially not those emotions that portray weakness. I wasn’t allowed to openly grieve for my mother. Talking about my indescribable feelings over returning to my old home doesn’t top that.”

“But you aren’t under his rule anymore.” Yusuke said “You don’t have to maintain a facade for us.”

“It’s not an easy feat to drop.” Haru smiled weakly. “I know that I will get better as soon as we’re on our way back home. Just… give me some time until then, okay?”

Yusuke awkwardly reached out and placed his hand on hers, ignoring the pain of his gut almost bursting as he leaned forward. “You’re not alone in this. All of us are here to support you.”

Haru blushed “I know…”. She averted her gaze again “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course.”

Haru hesitated before carefully saying “I’m afraid to find out what my father has become over the last year. And I’m afraid that I won’t be able to leave.”

“He can’t keep you with him. Not anymore” Yusuke said.

“That’s not what I’m scared of.” Haru replied, fighting back tears. She was afraid, that once she saw what she had turned her back on, she wouldn’t be able to do it again out of guilt. She drew back her hand, when she imagined the disappointed looks on Yusukes and all the others faces. She shook her head “I… shouldn’t have told you. I guess my cryptic statements only fuel your worries about me. I apologize.”

Yusuke shook his head and pulled back his hand “You shouldn’t apologize for the fact that people care about you.”

“But caring about me only brings you sadness right now.”

“Caring about people will not always make you happy.” Yusuke said “But that’s not what it’s about. If one of us was in your place, wouldn’t you try to support them too?”

“Of course.” Haru replied without hesitation.

“And you’re nothing less than the rest of us.” Yusuke said.

“Yusuke...” Harus voice quivered as tears rolled down her face. She quickly turned the flashlight away from her so he wouldn’t see it. “Thank you.” she said with as steady a voice as possible “I.. really appreciate your words.” The bed beside her creaked as Yusuke rose to his feet again.

“I will leave you to it. If you should change your mind, you can find us in the tavern.” Yusuke calmly said before bowing.

As Haru watched him walk away in the dim light of her flashlight, she dabbed at her eyes with the corners of the sheets. She didn’t understand why she was crying and shaking all over. She knew that everything that Yusuke said was correct, yet old habits were hard to kill and especially those that were drilled into her mind since her childhood-days.

In the meantime, Ren and Morgana were strolling through an artificial park. Even this place was illuminated by large torches and metal-lanterns.

“This looks like what Sojiro once described as a proper city.” Morgana said while looking up into the trees.

“True.” Ren agreed, quite impressed himself. “This actually looks like a nice place to live in.”

“Just imagine! Meaty stew at the tavern every evening...” Morgana swooned.

“You do know that the people here don’t go to dinner every night, right? It would get a bit pricey.”

But Morgana was far gone already “Meaty stew...” he absentmindedly muttered.

“You could have stayed with Yusuke and Ryuji, if you wanted a second serving...” Ren said.

Morgana shook his head “And spend time with the blonde idiot? No thanks!”

Ren shook his head “You’re getting meaner and meaner to him, you realize that?” he sighed “Look, I know that you… adore… Ann, but she made her choice and Ryuji isn’t to blame for it.”

“But… she could do so much better than him! Even if it’s not me!” Morgana stammered. “He’s so… vulgar and stupid and she’s so elegant and classy...”

“I think you’re putting Ann on a pedestal there.” Ren said. Ann was a lot of things, yet elegant and classy weren’t the first adjectives that came to his mind. “I know that you and Ryuji aren’t the best of friends, but you got along at times…” he recalled the two blowing up a kitchen with a can of beans.

“If we were friends, then he shouldn’t have taken Lady Ann away from me. He should have known that I liked her.” Morgana pouted.

Ren sighed “He didn’t “take her away from you”. She’s not a super rare trading card or something. And also: I think he liked her faaar before you even knew she existed.”

Morgana furrowed his brow but didn’t find a response. “I… wish I was a grown-up…”

“Trust me, it will come.” Ren said. “And then you’ll sometimes wish that you could be a kid again.”

“Why would I ever want that?” Morgana asked, aghast “Noone takes you serious, when you’re a child. They think that I’m just playing with my toys when they see my slingshot.”

“You have to admit, that it’s not a very mature weapon...”

Morgana glared at him. "Just you wait... When I'm a grown-up, you'll already be old and I will be strong and tall and muscular!"

"So... basically Ryuji?" Ren asked with a smirk.

"WHAT?" the child screeched "You take that back! As if I would want to be anything like this loud mouth."

"Says the one screeching through the park right now..."

"I'm n-..." Morgana realized his point before balling his fist and letting out an angry growl.

"Just think about it: You seem to despise Ryuji because you wished that you could be like him. He got the girl, he's hella strong,..."

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear that he's better than me!" Morgana replied, anger burning in his eyes.

"The only one saying that he's better than you is you." Ren replied, which left the kid gaping. "Everything that Ryuji really, for a fact, is, is older than you. And you wished that you could be older too. I guess that's normal since you don't really hang out with other kids a lot except for Shinya..."

Morgana seemed out of words to reply.

Ren patted his shoulder "One day, you will be strong and tall. And when that happens, I will still not be too old to kick your ass at Tycoon."

They came to a stop when they found themselves in front of a notice-board.

“You think that there’s some requests for us?” Ren smirked in an attempt to change the topic.

“They’d be pretty stupid to post them here, where we would never find them.” Morgana replied.

Ren looked at the posted notes. With every one he read, his smile disappeared a bit more.

“What does it say?” Morgana asked, standing on his tip-toes and trying to read one of the lower-hanging ones.

“These are all missing persons...” Ren said. “They all claim that they should have passed through here on their way home.” he took down one of the notes to study them closer.

“So they aren’t even living here?” Morgana asked.

Ren shook his head “Apparently not… I don’t know any of these settlements but I guess that they must be somewhat close to this one?”

“Then… this city abducts people?” Morgana whispered, uneasy.

“These notes say that the missing persons should have passed by… So it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that they disappeared here...”. He put the note back onto the board and filed through the other pinned notes. He tapped on one and looked at Morgana “This one.. it says that the guy should have returned from Okumura Industries but never showed up.”

Morgana swallowed “That’s not good...”

“All of these missing persons seem to be men.” Ren furrowed his brow “Could it be that all of them are workers at the factory?”

“Do you think that something… happened… to them at work?”

Ren could only raise his shoulders “Ohya and her friend claimed that the working conditions there are inhumane… What’s more inhumane than letting your workers die on the job?”

Morgana stared at Ren “We… can’t tell Haru about this…”

Ren shook his head “We definitely shouldn’t...”

While Yusuke was off talking with Haru, Ryuji remained in the tavern, battling with himself to keep all the delicious food down. He flinched when a shot glass was slammed onto the table in front of him.

“You look stuffed.” a middle-aged man plopped down onto the bench in front of him. “Happens when it’s meat-day… Have a shot. Works wonders.”

Ryuji looked at the clear liquor on front of him. It wasn’t his first time drinking but it had certainly been a while. The feeling of being stuffed up to his throat moved him to take the glass anyway. He grimaced after knocking back the shot in one go. “Thanks.” he nodded.

“You’re a new face, aren’t ya?” the man asked “Look a bit too young to work at the factory too.”

Ryuji shook his head “Me and my friends are just passing through… Nice town you got here.”

The man looked a bit proud when he leaned back in his seat “It wasn’t easy but ever since all those guys from the factory travel through here on their weekends off, we got something that can be called tourism.” the man laughed a hearty laugh and smacked his belly. He raised his hand to signal a waitress who seemed to be able to read his mind, for she just nodded and walked to the bar.

“That many people are passing through here?” Ryuji asked.

The man laughed again “You’ve come at a calm time of the week. Almost every week-end, that dormitory is filled to the brim with hungry and tired workers on their way home.”

“Okumura let’s his workers go home over the weekend?” Ryuji asked, unable to hide his surprise.

“Yeah.” the man said “Once a month.”

“Oh.”

He turned serious “You gotta feel sorry for these poor people… Everyone I talk to, they tell me about their families at home, who they see for two days a month. And they can’t even quit. They need that job at Okumura Industries to keep their families fed and safe. And that man knows it..”

“Man...” was the only thing that Ryuji was able to say.

“So you be happy that you’re just passing through.” the man tried to lighten the mood. The waitress walked by and put two more shots on the table. The man tipped his glass towards him “Let’s drink to our health..”

Ryuji didn’t think much when he downed the second shot. Everything went down a bit smoother the second time.

“As you can see: Young people like you don't often hang out in a place like this.” the man pointed around the tavern. Almost every table was occupied with middle-aged and old men, drinking, eating, chatting and occasionally playing cards.

“Are you kidding me? It’s great here.” Ryuji grinned.

“Doesn’t happen a lot, that our waitress has something to look at...” he smirked while his eyes darted to the young girl that was now standing behind the bar again. Ryuji had noticed that she tended to steal an occasional glance at him.

“Oh… uhm...” Ryujis cheeks started to burn “I’m taken.”

The man laughed “You better not tell her or we won’t get drinks on the house anymore!”. He waved her for another round and before Ryuji knew it, two more men of middle age had sat down at the table with them, a deck of cards in hands. Without getting asked, he was dealt a hand and another shot. By the time he picked up his cards he could already feel the alcohol in his head. He started to lose count of the shots when they just magically started to appear in front of him.

By the time the blonde spotted Yusuke returning from the dormitories, he raised his hand with drunk enthusiasm “YO! Over here.”

Yusuke walked up to the table with a confused look “I… didn't forget where we were sitting.” he said “However I don’t remember so many strangers sitting with us.”

“They’re not strangers! We’ve made new friends!” Ryuji exclaimed, ignorant to the fact that he was showing his cards to his opponents while talking with his friend.

Yusuke leaned forward and tilted his cards back so the others wouldn’t see them.

“Oh. Thanks.” Ryuji grinned with glassy eyes before making room on the bench. When Yusuke took a seat, the blonde boy pushed his magically refilled shot-glass in front of him. “Here! Have some!”

“No, no, no, no.” one of the men exclaimed. “He’ll get one for himself.” he waved for another round. “A round on me!”. The other men erupted in cheers and laughs.

“This is awesome, right?” Ryuji elbowed Yusuke. “I haven’t paid for a single drink so far!”. The waitress returned and put down another round of shots.

“Yeah, cause this guy’s hella popular with the lady here.” one of the men laughed, much to the waitresses embarrassment.

“An odd situation, since you are in a relationship...” Yusuke noted.

Ryuji watched the waitresses face turn sour before she stalked away. He sighed “So much for free drinks...”. After exchanging a few looks with his new-found friends, they all erupted in laughter again, much to Yusukes confusion.

The artist scratched his head and downed his shot.

An hour later, Ren and Morgana met up with the three girls in front of the tavern.

“You look like you’ve found some nice stuff.” Ren smiled when he saw the large bag in Makotos hand.

Futaba pushed a narrow leather backpack under his nose “Look! It’s the exact right size for Prometheus!” she excitedly said.

Makoto smiled “There was a stand with beautiful leather-ware. We’ve actually got a little something for all of us.”

“Oooh!” Morgana grinned “I wanna see, I wanna see!”

“Let’s go inside first.” Makoto said.

“Seems like there’s quite a lot going on in there...” Ann noted as they heard booming laughter behind the closed doors.

As the 5 pushed through the door, the first thing they saw was Ryuji and Yusuke arm in arm with a bunch of other men, singing – or rather yelling – a cheesy country-song.

“What. The. Hell?” Futaba gaped as she took in the weird moment.

“I wish I had a camera...” Ren said.

When Ryuji spotted Ann standing in the door, gaping at him, he pointed at her and yelled at his companions “That’s her! That’s my girlfriend!!”. He looked like he wanted only them to hear but somehow the entire bar heard and was now looking at her. Ann couldn't tell why, but the girl behind the bar seemed to glare at her.

“Lady, is that guy harassing you?” one of Ryujis and Yusukes companions asked her.

Ann sighed and shook her head “No… he really is my boyfriend.”

The three middle-aged men looked at Ryuji, who was looking incredibly proud. They laughed and clapped him on the back like a bunch of proud uncles.

“How long were we gone?” Makoto leaned over to Ren.

“Apparently long enough to get drunk…” Ren smirked.

“I’ve never heard him sing before...” Ann pointed out out of nowhere.

“I think I’ve never seen Yusuke smile this wide...” Ren said.

When they reached their table, Ryuji was quick to wrap his arm around Ann. While she wouldn't have been happy about being bragged about in her absence, seeing the honest beam in his face when he looked at her actually made her smile back. She knew that she wasn’t just a trophy to him. She actually found it a bit cute to see how incredibly proud – but in a sweet way – he looked.

“I think your friend really needs to go to bed. He keeps claiming strange things.” one of the man laughed.

“Oh really?” Makoto asked.

“He keeps saying that he’s a Phantom Thief?”

“Oh really?!” Makoto asked, this time with a bit more of a dangerous undertone.

“Got some imagination that kid… That’s why didn’t believe him about his girlfriend either...” the second man laughed. “As if a kid like him could be one of those mysterious Phantom Thieves… Didn’t they go up against the mafia?!”

“Haha… Yeah...” Ann nervously giggled “He’s crazy sometimes.”

“And probably really drunk.” Ren said. “You look like you filled both of them up pretty good.”

“He’s a fun guy. The beanstalk is a bit of a weirdo though. Is he always talking in Haikus when he’s drunk?”

Ren couldn’t help but laugh “He does what?”

“Okay...” Makoto sighed “I think it’s time to go to bed. We have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Yeah. My cousin is getting married after all!” Futaba said.

Ryuji stared at her “You have a cousin?!”

“A cousin unkown.

Getting married out of love.

What surprise to hear.”

Futaba stared at Yusuke and then at Ren “Holy shit… That was a Haiku.”

“Okay. That’s enough for the night. Come on.” Ann dragged Ryuji to his feet and draped his arm around her shoulder for support.

“My feet feel heavy.

I am in need of support.

Will someone aid me?”

Futaba tugged at Rens sleeve “Is it weird, that I love this soo much?”

“Trust me, you’re not alone.” Ren reassured her before helping Yusuke to his feet.

Both Ryuji and Yusuke waved to their new-found friends while being escorted to the dormitory.

“I call top-bunk!” Ryuji called out as they made their way through to their beds.

“And who’s gonna get you up there?” Futaba asked.

“I can climb.” Ryuji pouted.

“Who I’m even more worried about would be the person who ends up sleeping on the bottom bunk, in case you think about vomiting up there...” Ren said.

“Dude, I got guts made of steel!” Ryuji bragged. The serious look on Anns face and the vigorous shaking of her head seemed more trustworthy though.

The blonde boy didn’t get much time to object when Ann gently yet firmly pushed him down onto one of the bottom bunks. Yusuke seemed to be fine with staying closer to the ground without much of discussion, since he all but dropped down onto the bed next to Ryujis. On the other side of Yusukes bed, Haru was already fast asleep in hers.

“I’ll go look for a bucket.” Ann said before walking back to the tavern while the sober Thieves got ready for bed.

“She must be sleeping like a rock, if she hasn’t woken up from Ryuji yelling...” Morgana whispered with a nod to Haru.

“It definitely wasn’t the first time that Ryujis yelling about something while some of us try to sleep.” Futaba shrugged “Guess we’re just used to it...”. She climbed up onto the bed above Harus.

Morgana shook his head and climbed up to his bed too. How ridiculous of Ren to think that he was jealous of Ryuji of all people. Stupid Ryuji, who got wasted and would have given away their identities if people had actually believed him. As if he wanted to be like that. The blonde boy was so loud and hungry for fame and appreciation. Him and his stupid idea of becoming a gang and becoming popular... Oh wait, the idea of becoming the Phantom Thieves had been Morganas idea... But he supported it! Yeah. He had supported it because he's so needy of attention. Morgana looked at the drunken blonde and sighed at his own thoughts. Damn Ren and his ability to read people. 

When Ann returned, she placed the bucket between Ryuji and Yusuke. She was about to climb up into the bed above Ryujis when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down so she was sitting at his bedside.

“Are you mad at me?” he mumbled with closed eyes.

“Why would I be mad?” Ann asked.

“I dunno… Because I embarrassed you…?” he slurred “I didn’t say anything bad, I swear.”

Ann smiled “I believe you.”.

“Sometimes I just can’t believe that you even want to be with me… And others can’t either… So it feels kinda nice to prove them wrong...”. He clumsily took her hand.

Ann smiled and squeezed his hand. She couldn’t help but find it cute how even while wasted he still cared enough to make sure that she wasn’t mad at him.

“Ya think there’s a way that you can stay down here with me?” Ryuji tiredly asked, his eyes slowly opening.

Ann looked at the bed. With him laying in it, she already had to sit on the edge to fit. “I think I’ll sleep in my own bed for tonight...” she patted his hand. “There’s not a lot of room and to be honest… your breath is really terrible right now...”

“Sorry...”

Ann smirked “Seriously, what have you been drinking?”

“I have no fucking clue...”

They both had to chuckle.

“Hey, Ann...” he muttered, his eyes meeting hers “I love you.”

Anns heart fluttered when she leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you too.” she whispered, still hovering over his face, the tips of their noses touching.

“I thought I smelled really bad?” he whispered with a smirk.

“I’m holding my breath.” she smirked back before putting another kiss on his lips.

After everyone made it to their beds, Makoto, who was sleeping on the fourth bottom-bunkbed, turned off the flashlight “Good night, everyone.” she said.

“It was a good day.

But now nighttime has fallen.

I bid you good night.”

“I love this!” Futaba exclaimed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 50!  
> Tomorrow one year ago marks my first ever upload. Back then, I had no idea that I had it in me to write something as big as this but here we are: Chapter 50 and we're not even close to the finish-line! I know that I've already said it not too long ago, but you have no idea how honored and happy I feel to have such a consistent base of readers who seem to enjoy the story enough to regularly check up on it.  
> Tomrrow I will also add a chapter to the project that started it all and I don't know how many of you also read my other stuff, but something from this chapter might have inspired the short-story that comes tomorrow. 
> 
> But back to this: Just a very interaction-heavy chapter with sprinkles of information that might play a role later on. As always, let me know what you thought of it. While this chapter has been more on the light side (except for poor Haru), saturday will really kick off the arc.


	51. Noirs Sacrifice

Ryuji was the last to wake up the next morning. It felt like a thunderstorm was going through his head when he slowly opened his eyes. He smiled through the pain when he saw Ann sitting beside him.

“How are you feeling?” she asked when she saw his eyes open.

“Shitty...” he groaned. “But it gets a little better when I see you.”

Ann snorted but her cheeks turned red nonetheless.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re already eating breakfast.”

“And you didn’t go with them?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not that food-focused!” Ann protested but her face relaxed again when he placed his hand on hers. “Besides...” she chewed her lip “I got a present for you...”

Ryuji gulped “If it’s something you’re wearing, I’m really not able to do that right now...”

Ann rolled her eyes with a small smile “No, you idiot...” she softly said. She pulled up a leather weapon-belt that they had bought at the market yesterday.

“Whoah!” Ryuji grinned as he took it from here “This is awesome! Thanks.” he pulled her into a kiss.

Ann nervously smiled before taking something else from her pocket. “I… also got this...” she held up a slim string of leather, similar to the one that she had already double-wrapped around her own wrist. “I… got two of them and I thought that maybe we could wear it as a… couple thing?”. She felt her cheeks burn when she noticed Ryujis amused smile.

“Since when do you stammer?” he asked.

“Ugh, just tell me that you think it’s stupid.” she groaned to hide her embarrassment.

“I won’t.” he shrugged and shuffled closer to her “Because I love it.”

“You do?” Ann was still unsure.

“Yup.” Ryuji eagerly nodded, making his head spin. “I’m glad that you didn’t go for something shiny...”

“There even is a goldsmith here!” Ann exclaimed “But I still went for the leather. It’s more… Us, I guess.”

Ryuji pulled her into a kiss again. He knew that if it had been just for her, she would have gone for the shiny stuff without a doubt.

“I love you.” Ann whispered into his ear and caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. When she drew back, she noticed how pale his face had turned. “Is everything okay?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup. But you should go ahead to get breakfast. I’ll be with ya in a minute.” Ryuji stiffly replied.

“Why?” Ann asked.

“Because I really have to barf and I don’t want you to see.”

When Ryuji caught up with the others in the otherwise empty tavern, they were already done with breakfast but the blonde boy didn’t feel like eating anyway. When he looked at Haru who absentmindedly stirred her tea, he felt terrible for getting drunk when she was obviously suffering from what was to come today.

“Look who’s finally up!” Ren called out with a grin.

Beside him, Yusuke flinched “Please… not so loud...” he said with a pained expression on his face. He didn’t look paler than usual though.

Futaba sighed from across the table “I already miss Haiku-Inari...”

A small smile spread on Anns face when she noticed the leather-band around Ryujis wrist.

As soon as Ryuji sat down at the table, Makoto started their morning meeting “If we get going within the next hour, we should reach our destination by afternoon.”

Morgana grinned “Ryuji doesn’t look like he’s very hungry anyway, so we should be good to go.”

Ryuji was too hung over to reply anything as he propped his heavy head up on his hand.

“But first: Now that we’re all complete...” Futaba said as she pulled up the large paper bag that they had acquired yesterday night.

“Oh right! Treaaaaasuuuureees!” Morgana gushed.

“Geez, it’s not that big of a deal.” Futaba rolled her eyes. She grinned when she suspensefuly pulled out the first item “And we haaaaave…. Leather wristguards for Morgana!” she handed the kid a pair of guards.

“Whoah!” Morganas eyes went wide as he turned the guards in his hands.

“Then there’s a cool pair of gloves for Reeen...” Futaba pulled out a pair of blood-red leather gloves.

“Nice!” Ren grinned.

“A new belt for Inaris Katana!” Futaba handed over a decorated belt.

“What an intricate design.” Yusuke nodded in appreciation.

“And for Haru...” Futaba pulled out another bracelet with flower-shaped leather-pieces attached to a leather-string. “We couldn’t find anything axe-related...”

Haru smiled and honest smile for the first time in what felt like weeks “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

“I guess Ryuji already got his...” Futaba said before concluding “Aaaaand that’s it. Everyone got their presents.”

Ren grinned as he slipped into his new gloves “These are awesome.”. He put a kiss on Makotos cheek “Thanks.”

“Well…” Makoto stammered. “Actually… it was Ann who found them first...”

When Ann overheard their conversation, she smirked at Ren “I actually thought about getting them for myself. But then Makoto said that they would look good on you. These are ladies gloves by the way…”

“Still hot.” Ren shrugged “I didn’t know that I have such feminine hands… I’ve never worn gloves this fitting.”

"I'm a bit upset that they look so good on you..." Ann noted before smirking "But I'm sure I can borrow them from you when an outfit requires it, right?"

"I guess." Ren replied. When he noticed Ann wiggling her eyebrows at him he sighed "You really want me to say it?"

"Yup." Ann smiled.

Ren sighed with a small smirk "Takamiya for the win."

Ann nodded with satisfaction while Makoto just looked at the two with confusion.

On the other end of the table, Futaba helped Haru with putting on her new bracelet.

“It’s lovely, Futaba-chan.” Haru smiled. “Thank you, I’ll never take it off again.”

Futaba gave Haru a hug from the side.

“It was nice to see you smile again.” Yusuke noted from across the table.

Haru nodded “I… haven’t felt like smiling until now.”

After packing up their gear, the Phantom Thieves got ready to check out with the Innkeeper. The woman looked even happier than yesterday when Makoto approached her with their money-satchel.

“We’re paying for one night with provisions for eight people.” Makoto said.

“Sure.” the woman laughed “But don’t forget about your friends tab.”

“Judging by your smile it’s a big one.” Ren combined.

The woman slid a small slip of paper over the counter. Makotos eyes went wide upon inspecting it. She turned around to give Ryuji and Yusuke a disbelieving stare.

The two guys in question nervously looked away. Ryuji absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck while Yusuke whistled a tune, only to flinch from the noise he himself created.

Makoto sighed and put the money on the table.

“Thank you for your visit. Feel free to come again.” the woman smiled.

They were walking towards the car when Ryuji suddenly stopped “Oh! Forgot something at the Inn… You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you!” he said before running off.

“That idiot.. He already doesn’t have a lot of brain, he shouldn’t be drinking...” Morgana chuckled.

“Morgana, that’s really not nice.” Ann reprimanded.

“Yeah… you’ve been pretty mean to him recently...” Futaba noted. “You’re aware that this isn’t like your story and that Ann isn’t Lady Onn, who’s been cursed with the bad blonde man, right?”

Morgana grumbled something.

By the time Ryuji came running to the gate, they had already taken the car out of the barn and had been waiting for 15 minutes.

“Sorry!” Ryuji panted as he climbed up into the back, sweat dripping from his brow. “All done now. Let’s go!”

Ren carefully put the car into motion and drove out the gates, back onto the bumpy roads of the country-side. In the passenger-seat sat Haru who blankly stared ahead where soon the chimneys of Okumura Industries would appear into view.

“We’ll go there, get some answers and then we’re on our way again.” Ren stated.

Haru slowly nodded “Yes.”

“No matter the answer, you are not to blame.”

Haru squeezed her eyes shut to keep it together. _You’re his daughter! How different can you be?_

Ren reached over to squeeze her shoulder. He would have liked to tell her that he knew how she felt, but he didn’t. He didn’t know how it feels to be ashamed of his parents doing and he had no idea how he would feel if he should find out that his parents weren’t the saints that he had believed them to be while growing up. Haru constantly got confronted with her fathers doings and that for years, no matter whether she lived with him or not.

On the back of the truck, Ryuji and Yusuke were fighting to keep down their stomach-acid as they clung to the sides for support.

“You seemed to have made some great friends back there.” Futaba grinned.

“I have no recollection of what happened last night. Judging from my scratchy throat I must have talked rather loudly...” Yusuke said.

“Or rather sang.” Morgana chuckled.

Ann leaned over to Ryuji so only he could hear “I didn’t know that you could sing” she said with a little tease in her voice.

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck when his cheeks turned red “Guess I just went with the moment...”. He didn’t remember everything leading up to it but he still remembered that feeling of pride in his chest when all these strangers cheered him on when he took a gamble while playing cards and congratulated him when they saw that he hadn’t lied about having a girlfriend. Only now, after sobering up a little, Ryuji noticed that it must have been his issues from growing up without a father. These men slapping him on the back in something that he imagined as a fatherly fashion, giving him appreciative nods, was something that he hadn’t known he missed until he experienced it. Sojiro acted like his father too from time to time, but the old man tended to call him out on his stupidity more often than these men had over the one evening that he had spent with them.

“You looked happy.” Ann smiled “And not just because of the alcohol.”. She was already guessing that these guys had somewhat played into Ryujis daddy issues – although she would never dare to call it that to his face. She absentmindedly fidgeted with the leather-string around her wrist.

One hour away from their destination, the huge factory appeared into sight. The entire compound was surrounded by high brick walls, spiked with barbed wire on the top. Two large chimneys blew pillars of smoke into the sky.

“Long time no see...” Ryuji muttered as he looked at factory.

“It still looks intimidating...” Yusuke said before casting a worried look through the back-window and at Haru.

“Do you think that they will just let us in and talk to Okumura like that?” Morgana asked.

Makoto could only raise her shoulders “I don’t know. I think Rens hope is that he will be inclined to talk to his long-lost daughter.”

“The people that took her away delivering her back surely must seem weird...” Ann said. “How can we know that he doesn’t hold a grudge?”

“Okumura didn’t seem like the one to wave around a gun.” Yusuke noted.

“Yeah, but he's got a bunch of people he can order to do it.” Ryuji replied and adjusted his new weapon-belt that was strapped across his torso.

“Let’s hope that asking a question won’t cost us our head...” Futaba muttered. “You really make him sound scary...”. She hadn’t joined them on their first trip to Okumura Industries.

Morgana sounded convinced when he said “Haru said that we’ll get through this.”

The tension in the drivers cabin grew unbearable when they rolled up in front of the large metal gates. Ren stole a last glance at Haru before rolling down the window. A uniformed guard approached them.

“What’s your business?” he asked.

“We’d like to have a chat with Mister Okumura.” Ren said.

The guard snorted “Mister Okumura is a busy man. He’s not available for chats with every random group of teenagers looking for cheap weapons. Maybe you can set up a meeting with his secretary in two months or so.”

Haru took a deep breath and clenched her hands to stop them from shaking when she leaned over to look at the guard “If he’s on the compound right now, I would like a word with my father.”

The mans jaw dropped when he saw Haru “M- Miss Okumura?” he gaped before hinting a bow. “Of course. Your father is in the residence.” he hurried back to the little hut to flip a switch. The gate rolled open without a sound.

“Thank you very much.” Haru said with a polite-yet-empty smile.

Ren steered the car past the huge factory halls until the street opened up to a brick square with a pompous fountain in the middle. Behind it stood a luxurious brick mansion with high windows and a commanding massive wooden front-door.

“Still as pompous as ever...” Ren muttered as he pulled up the car in front of the door and turned off the engine.

Haru would have liked to remember the place positively but all she was able to connect with it was how alone she had felt after the death of her mother. She shook her head, pushed open the passenger-door and climbed out of the car.

As they stood in front of the large door, Haru wondered what the appropriate behavior for this situation was. Should she knock? Ring the bell like a visitor? Or just walk in like she still lived there? She was grateful that her friends didn’t put any pressure on her.

The delicate girl was about to go with option number 1 when the door was opened from the inside. In front of them stood a 70-something years old man dressed in a spotless black tail-coat. His creased and spotted brow turned even more wrinkled when his eyes went wide upon the sight of the visitors. “Miss… Miss Okumura?” he stuttered, a tear glistening in his eye.

Haru couldn’t hold the tears down either upon the sight of the man that had helped with raising her. It was a well-rehearsed instinct, that made her entire body flinch when a demanding voice echoed through the entrance-hall “Sato, who is it?”

“It’s… It’s your daughter, master.” the servant stammered before opening the door to let them in.

Ren and the others have never entered the mansion through the main-door and they now understood why. The floors and decorative pillars were all made of marble. Here and there laid an ancient – and probably Persian – carpet. As he checked on the others, he already had a guess that it wasn’t just him who felt completely out of place with his set of clothes that he hadn’t changed since they left LeBlanc2.

“Holy moley...” Futaba muttered under her breath before being elbowed in the side by Makoto.

On top of the enormous staircase stood a man that had the luxury of having time to care about his appearance. He wore beige dress pants and a blue jacket, topped off with a tasteful silk-cloth arranged in the chest-pocket. His hair was voluminous and freshly washed and probably blow-dried. On his nose sat a large pair of silver-rimmed glasses. The features of his face looked like they possessed the capability of showing kindness but as all of the Phantom Thieves knew from the stories, that train was long gone. He was impossible to read as he stared down at them from his high ground. The only thing that Ren was able to deduce was that he didn’t seem to hold any emotion towards the return of his daughter.

On their drive here, Haru had told herself over and over that this time she wouldn’t be the one to make the first move or to speak the first word. Yet as she found herself standing in the same place that she had so often stood in, she couldn’t help but glance to the floor before meekly saying “Hello, father.”

“Haru.” he stoically replied with a short nod. “It’s been a while.”

“Almost a year.” Sato nodded.

Haru nodded. She might have broken her first resolution but she wouldn’t let herself apologize for leaving that day. She was here to ask questions. The girl took a deep breath “I came here because I need to know the truth.” she said, finally daring to look him straight in the eyes. “A few days ago, someone wanted to destroy an entire town with a bomb made from Okumura-components.” she forced her voice to stay steady “Did you know the buyers intentions when you sold him the parts?”

“This company is too big for me to oversee every purchase. I have salesmen for that.”

“You wouldn’t have let a salesman close a deal of this proportion.” Haru countered, finally feeling a little less small.

Okumura scoffed “Are you really this naive, to think that I ask every customer about what they intend to do with their purchase?”

“Weren’t you even a bit interested, what someone wanted to do with probably several suitcase-loads of explosives?” Ren asked.

“As soon as the product wanders over the counter, it’s none of my business. Customers value their privacy when it comes to something as personal as buying weapons.”

“How convenient to say...” Yusuke shook his head.

“Ethics and profit are something that can’t be combined. You can either care about what happens to your product once you sell it and risk losing customers that way or you can decide to not ask questions and therefore attract more paying clients.” Okumura lectured.

“We can already guess which path you chose.” Ren said.

Okumuras eyes narrowed “Choosing to play the saint will leave you nowhere but in the gutter to rot because slowly but steadily, you will find that noone will be worthy of buying from you. By stripping yourself of all lofty morals, you will allow yourself and your product to thrive.”

“This would be all nice and good if you were talking about a vacuum-cleaner, but do you really think that your rules should apply to selling weapons?” Ren asked.

The man on top of the stairs shrugged “Do you think that any other weapon-dealer will ask on what or who you intend to use that shotgun you want to buy from him?” he scoffed “He won’t, if he wants to make that sale.”

“There’s a difference between buying a gun and buying a shitload of C4!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Is this all you wanted to ask of me? If I knew what the customer intended to do with the components he bought from me?” Okumura asked.

The Thieves looked at Haru.

“Would you have felt guilty, if dozens of people were dead now? Would you have wondered whether you could have made a difference, if you had just asked?” Haru weakly asked.

Okumura looked emotionless “Weapons don’t kill. It’s people who do. Even if I had asked, the person in front of me wasn’t obligated to tell the truth. If someone told you that he needed all the components to blow up a huge shadow-nest, would you have held it back because he theoretically could have blown up a town too instead?”

Makotos eyes met Rens. She hated to admit it, but Harus father actually had a point. But it was something different, if the person in question was your own father who had planned to marry you off for influence.

Haru was out of replies too. She clenched her fists when she said “Then we will hold him accountable. Give us his name.”

A hint of amusement could be spotted in Okumuras eyes “And why would I do that?” he crossed his arms “My own daughter and the bunch of low-lives that she abandoned me for a year ago. Why would I owe you anything?”

“Because she’s your DAUGHTER!” Ann yelled. “She’s YOUR child and you wanted to marry her to some harassing asshole just for your gain! Don’t you think it’s time for you to do something FOR her for once?”

Okumura glared at Ann “That wedding would have been as much a benefit for her as it was for me! The alliance of two of the wealthiest families! I worked hard to get the Sugimuras to agree. Do you have any idea what an effort it was to appease them after you ran off into the sunset?” he seethed.

Haru hadn’t noticed that she was shivering.

Okumura built himself up as he glared down on them “I don’t owe you anything. In fact, I should demand reimbursements from you muts. I needed to pull a lot of strings and spend a lot of money on a wedding that never happened and to calm down an enraged grooms family.”. With a snap from his fingers the Thieves were surrounded by armed guards.

“Shit!” Ryuji cursed, instinctively positioning himself slightly in front of Ann. It was too late to draw a weapon.

Harus hands were trembling when she looked at Sato, who looked equally shocked by the situation.

“So what now?” Ren asked, steering Makoto behind him as the guards closed in on them. Makoto and Ann reached for Futaba and Morgana to keep them close.

Okumura smiled an insincere smile when he said “You’re young. I’m sure that I can find some good use for you in my factory.”

“And why the hell would we work for you?” Ryuji growled.

“Because I have enough personnel to make sure you do.” Okumura replied with a nod to his guards. “I have an entire factory full of workers who would rather not come back. Yet still, every time I allow them to go home for a weekend, they always return.” he shrugged “You just have to find the right things to motivate them.” he pointed at the rounded up Phantom Thieves “All of you seem really close. That’s a weakness meant to be played.”

“You’re disgusting!” Morgana said.

Harus knees were shaking as she looked around the hopeless situation she had driven them into. She should have known, that her father wouldn’t aid them. She should have known that he held a grudge towards all of them. She had been so focused on ridding herself of that guilty conscience that she endangered the lives of all her friends. “I’m so sorry...” she whispered.

“It’s not your fault.” Ren muttered under his breath, his eyes still nervously darting between all the guards.

“But it is.” Harus voice was trembling. Why had she suddenly wanted to come back? She should have known that nothing good would come from this. She thought that she had gotten stronger over the last year but here she was, cowering in front of her father all over again like the scared girl that she used to be. Was this really how it ended? All of them being forced to work in her fathers factory until they died?

She took a deep breath. She would fix this. She wasn’t the helpless damsel anymore. Haru forced herself to stand up straight and lifted her gaze to find her fathers icy stare. It was time to take a stand and do what was right for the greater good. No matter how hard it was. Her real family didn’t deserve to be locked up because of her naiveté. “That’s enough, father.” she spoke up, her voice echoing through the hallways of the mansion for what must have been the first time ever. “I want you to let them go.”

Her fathers stare was relentless as his eyes seemed to bore down into her.

Haru ignored the guards as she took a step forward. Her hands were still balled into fists when she said “I will stay here but you have to let them go.”

“Haru, NO!” Morgana yelled. The rest of the Phantom Thieves had surprised stares on their faces.

“What makes you believe that your value alone is higher than 7 young factory-workers?” Okumura calculated.

Haru pushed down the repulsion she felt while hearing her father weighing peoples value by their gain to his business. “I am still an Okumura.”. She cast a last look at her friends before saying “And as your only daughter, I can still be a valuable asset. If you let them go, I will be the subservient daughter that you always wished for.”

“Haru...” Makoto gasped.

“After the stunt you pulled last year, do you really believe that finding someone suitable for you will be an easy process?” Okumura asked.

_You’re an Okumura!_ Haru bit back tears when she said “I will do everything necessary. I will beg and grovel for forgiveness in front of the Sugimuras. As long as you let them go.”

“You don’t have to do this, Haru!” Yusuke said.

“Don’t do this!” Ren urged her too “We’ll find a way out. Don’t go back to the life you left behind!”

Okumura looked at Haru before nodding “Very well.”

“Haru...” Futaba was already bawling.

Haru shook her head with a sad smile when she looked at the others. “It’s okay, guys.” she calmly said while the tears ran down her cheeks “It was fun while it lasted, but maybe this is where the road ends for me. You taught me so much over the last year.” she needed to pause for a minute to stifle a sob “Please don’t worry about me. I’m happy to sacrifice myself for your cause. Because I know that you can change the world.”. _Born with a silver spoon in your mouth and now playing hero while all of us are fighting for survival! Disgusting!_ She took a step away from them and towards the staircase. “Maybe this place is where I am supposed to be all along.”. _How different can you be?_

“What are you talking about?!” Ryuji desperately exclaimed. “You can’t seriously want to stay here!”

_We don’t need the likes of you here! Calling yourself a Phantom Thief too._ Haru forced herself to shake her head “Please… find whoever did this. For me. And for the people of Seiiki.”. She wiped a tear away “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me. I… love all of you so much.”. She looked at her family. She would miss each and every one of them. Her eyes landed on Yusuke and she wished that she could go for a last hug. In this particular moment, she felt unable to spot the beauty and she wondered if he felt the same. She looked down at her trembling hand and found the bracelet that the girls had given to her this very morning. “I’ll never forget you.” she said, the tears running down her face like waterfalls now.

“The next time I see you, you’re dead.” Okumura nodded to his guards “Make sure that they’re leaving.”

The guards nodded and started ushering out the perplexed Phantom Thieves.

Outside, they were almost shoved into their car. As Makoto slowly steered towards the main-gate, they were tailed and flanked by a bunch of guards. They had just passed the gates with the back of their car when it already slid shut behind them.

Ryuji jumped off the loading area and started shaking the gates “Goddamn it!” he cursed as the rest of the Thieves got out of the car too. "HARU!"

“Step away from the gates!” the man guarding the gate warned.

“Fuck you!” Ryuji cursed before he was almost catapulted back when the guard turned on the electricity.

“Ryuji!” Ann hurried to his side to check on him. The group fell quiet as they all stared at each other, processing everything that just happened.

“She’s…. she’s gone...” Futaba cried before burrying her face in her hands.

“This… this isn’t how this was supposed to go...” Yusuke let out one of his panicked chuckles.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Ryuji almost screamed while punching the ground with his fist.

“I can’t believe she sacrificed herself like this...” Ann said, disbelieving, as she sank to the ground beside Ryuji.

“We can’t leave her here!” Yusuke was nervously pacing up and down.

“But we’re locked out.” Morgana whined.

“This is like the bank all over again...” Ren said.

“So what do we do?” Ann asked.

“I… think we have to retreat for now...” Makoto said with a heavy heart. “We won’t be able to change anything by making a commotion in front of the gates..”

“WHAT?” Morgana exclaimed “We can’t just leave!”

“Haru...” Futaba wiped the tears from her eyes.

Ren squeezed her shoulder before calmly addressing the others “Guys… let’s get some distance. We won’t accomplish anything like this.”

The Thieves reluctantly climbed back into the car. Ren had no idea where he was steering them. His mind was in a completely different place, so they ended up stopping in the middle of a field, the factory still looming behind them.

A devastated silence was all they managed to produce as all of them sat in the back of the car.

“What the fuck...” Ryuji summed up the situation.

“Getting her out won’t be easy. This place is a fortress...” Yusuke said.

“Hey… guys…” Ann carefully said “What do you think she meant by saying that this was the place she was supposed to be in all along?”

“I was wondering too.. Why does she think that? Did we make her feel unwelcome?” Morgana asked.

“Maybe it was because of whatever happened that night that she went off on her own...” Makoto said.

“But… she could have talked to us! Why would she think that she’s holding back our cause?” Futaba exclaimed, still visibly upset. “We need her! I need her!”

Ryuji grimaced before looking to Ren “Hey… what do we do now?”

Ren shook his head “I told her that we would leave together...” he muttered, disbelieving. Had she already known the entire trip, that it would end like this? She probably knew her own father well enough to make a guess. He squeezed his eyes together before stoically looking into the group “Haru might have sacrificed herself for us, but she’s not dead. She asked us to find who’s responsible for the bombings and we owe her this.”

“But we have no idea where to start looking.” Yusuke argued.

“We can’t just leave Haru here like nothing happened and continue on with playing detectives!” Morgana exclaimed.

Ren shook his head with a smirk “All we have is a single clue. And since politely asking got us nowhere, I say we need to think of something a little more elaborate to get the intel that Okumura won’t give us.”

Makoto looked only partially delighted “You want to continue pursuing Okumura?”

“He’s made it personal.” Ren replied “I won’t go as far as saying that he took someone from us, but now one of our own is behind enemy lines once more. I know that Haru is far too selfless to want to be rescued by us again. She probably thinks that she’s sent us on our way but we don’t leave family behind.”. He smirked again when he looked into the intrigued faces of the Phantom Thieves “I say it’s time to look into all the rumors circling around Okumura. We’re the Phantom Thieves after all. Haru wouldn’t want us to bust in to rescue her but if she should ever hold it against us, we can always reply that we saved hundreds of factory-workers too.”

“But what are we even trying to accomplish?” Yusuke asked.

“Ohya said that a friend of hers went missing while investigating the claims of inhumane working-conditions. I’d say that’s a good start to go off of.” Ren said.

“But how are we going to achieve anything from the outside?” Ann asked.

“Judging from what Okumura said, his workers are all too dependent on this job. It’s likely that they won’t tell us anything to stay in his favor...” Makoto pondered.

“Then it can’t be us going in.” Ren said to everyones surprise. “I know it’s not easy but we need to go back home, regroup with the others and come up with a game-plan.”. As anticipated, none of them looked rather happy about having to leave Haru behind, even if it was nothing more than symbolism.

“It won’t make a difference, if we sit and brood here or on our drive home.” Futaba eventually admitted.

Ren nodded “We’ll drive in one go. I’ll take the first bit.”. He jumped off the car before looking at the others once more “We’ll get her out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess that this is where the Okumura-arc really begins. We see a first glimpse of Okumura and Haru makes a huge sacrifice for the sake of the team. But the Phantom Thieves won't back down so easily. What will that great plan be? We will find out but you can tell me your guesses;)


	52. Get Up And Carry On

The Okumura residence has always been an intimidating place. While Harus grandfather had been a bit more modest than his son, he certainly had a fable for large houses. And since every Okumura seemed to be born married to the dynasty, the house just had to be close to the family treasure: the factory. While Haru would have preferred to grow up among chirping birds instead of the clang of metal on metal or the piping of the smelters, she had only ever experienced anything different one year ago when she was swept away into the real world by the people who were supposed to be her bodyguards on her wedding day.

After her friends were escorted out, her father walked off without a word, leaving her alone with Sato like he had done so many times before too. Haru figured that it would have been a surprise if he changed all of a sudden, especially since he only agreed to take her in again because she had been successful in expounding the benefits to him.

“Miss Okumura...” Sato carefully addressed her as she was staring up the stairs “Let me accompany you to your room.”

Haru drew her eyes away and nodded at Sato. She followed the old man upstairs and into the west wing, where the bedrooms were situated. As they walked along the hallway, Haru came to look at the various portraits of her ancestors. The line of Okumura heirs, that’s been male for about 10 generations until Haru came into the world. Up to her father, everyone of them had gotten a portrait painted on canvas by a painter that then was hung in the hallway. Since these portraits were taken in the heirs teenage years, Haru had missed out on the pleasure since her father had already seen her as a pawn in his game of influence by then, instead of his daughter and successor. When she passed by her fathers portrait, she looked at him. He seemed so positive and happy back then, as if he had never experienced anything bad in his life. A young man with a bright future. As she looked at the plaque, she did the math before coming to the conclusion that this portrait had been painted before he had met her mother. On the other side of the hallway, Sato had already opened the double door to her bedroom.

Harus heart was in turmoil as she stepped into the room that she used to see as her prison-cell as well as her safe-place. The room still was like she had left it at the day of her wedding. She recalled Ren, Yusuke and Ann being in this very room with her that day. Haru turned around to Sato “Everything is still the same...”

Sato nodded “Your father ordered to ignore this room.”

Haru looked at the freshly-made bed and the rest of the spotless-clean room. She wouldn't have thought that he didn’t want the room to be changed because he felt any remorse about his behavior or because deep down he had hoped for her to come back again anyway. “How were things here, while I was gone?” she decided to ask.

Sato slightly shook his head “I wish I could tell you, that after your departure Master Okumura started to see his errors but I’m afraid to say that I am starting to lose hope.”

“I’m sorry for leaving you behind...” Haru said.

“I was already serving your grandfather when your father was born. As his caretaker, I can’t help but wonder if I went wrong somewhere.”

Haru walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder “You did nothing wrong.” she smiled at him “If you were there for my father like you were there for me, he was a lucky child.”. Her eyes fell on a framed picture of her parents and her when she was little. “I think the only person who would have been able to stop him from going down his path is not with us anymore.” she said with a heavy heart.

Sato nodded “She was the love of his life and his anchor. It’s a shame, that she had to die so early.”

Haru could only nod.

“I think your father never managed to get over her death.” Sato continued. “He used to be such a kind and caring man. It’s getting harder and harder to remember those times.”

Haru looked at the old man. He had given everything to their family. Having to watch the boy that he had accompanied growing up slowly deteriorating into madness surely couldn’t be easy.

“I don’t know how to feel about seeing you in this room again.” Sato suddenly said.

“Me neither...” Haru said with downcast eyes.

“I had no way of knowing but I kept trusting that you were fine.”

“I was.” Haru smiled when she thought about her friends. “I was in the best of hands.”

“They seemed to care about you a lot.”

Haru nodded “And I care about them.”

“And that’s why you sacrificed yourself...”

“Yes…” Haru reluctantly said “Although it might have also been because of the realization that my heritage could become an issue for their cause.”

Sato shook his head “There used to be a time, when the Okumura-name didn’t have such a bad reputation. It makes me sad, that an honest girl like you wasn’t able to experience those times.”. He took a look at his watch. “If you excuse me, I must set the table. Dinner will be served at 7.”

Haru nodded “Of course.”.

It was weird to not be the one to do this task. As she stood alone in her room, she realized how long it had been since she had absolutely nothing to do. There was no kitchen to clean, no table to set and nothing to clean up. She looked around her room. The kingsize bed was neatly made with fresh sheets. She found all of her old clothes carefully hung or folded in the closet. The items on her vanity were precisely arranged. Haru sighed when she dropped down on the chair and stared out the window overlooking the courtyard. She noticed workers hurrying between the factory and the warehouse. Everything seemed so familiar and yet so foreign.

The fluffy-haired girl didn’t know how she had managed to pass the time until dinner. At one point, she had just resorted to repeatedly brushing her hair. She had forgotten how long it took to walk from one end of the house to the other so when she arrived at the pompous dining hall, her father was already seated at the head of the table as Sato served him a bottle of wine. Haru reluctantly took her place to his right. Seeing the polished crystal glasses and the delicate silver cutlery felt unfamiliar after having cooked in dented pots and eaten with bent cutlery for so long. The servant carrying their food almost dropped the plates when she spotted Haru but she was able to recollect herself again before making a mess. Haru noted the womans shaking hand as she put down the plate in front of her.

“Sato.” her father said “Get another glass for Haru. It’s a day to celebrate after all.”

Sato followed his orders with life-long experience and filled Harus glass with a swift motion. After he retreated to the back of the room, Harus father raised his glass.

“To new opportunities.”

Haru forced her hand to stop shaking when she repeated “To new opportunities.”

The rest of their dinner passed by in silence. While the cook certainly knew what he was doing, Haru already missed her homegrown vegetables by the time she walked back to her room. She just hoped that Sojiro would uphold her legacy and take good care of her plants, now that she wasn’t able to anymore. Because she would never return to LeBlanc2 again. The realization hit her hard and she quickly closed the door behind her before sinking to the ground. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to Sojiro, the man that had so kindly taken in a girl in a wedding dress back then. She would never be able to tell everyone how much they really meant to her and how grateful she was for the one year that she got to spend with them. She didn’t think it was possible but it seemed like there still were tears to cry inside of her, as she now noticed. She forced herself to get up again and slowly walked to her closet. She took out one of her nightgowns and threw it on before she climbed into bed. _I’m all alone again…_ she thought to herself as she curled up underneath the fluffy duvet. It was for the best. She was an Okumura after all. And Okumuras belonged to their kind.

The Phantom Thieves were on the last stretch home. Makoto was driving with Yusuke in the passenger seat while the others contemplated in the dark in the back. Futaba was clinging to Rens arm and was fighting off sleep. Ryuji and Ann were sitting with their backs against the drivers cabin as they watched the lighted trees disappear into the dark again as soon as the car put enough distance between them. Ann was leaning against his shoulder and had troubles keeping her eyes open. While the events of the day were still on her mind, her brain started to crave a rest. When she looked at Ryuji, she noticed how he was sullenly looking out into the night.

“What’s wrong?” she quietly asked while carefully lacing her fingers with his.

Ryuji shook his head “She was so worried about all of this and all I did was getting drunk…”

“I don’t think that there was something that you could have done to change her mood…” Ann replied.

“Yusuke went to check up on her…. I should have done too.”

“I’m sure that she’s not mad.”

“That’s not the point...” Ryuji replied and tightened his grip on her hand.

Ann cast a worried look at her boyfriend. She leaned over and put a kiss on his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder again and looking out into the woods with him.

On the other end of the loading space, Ren, Futaba and Morgana sat together.

“She’s all alone with that vile man now...” Morgana gloomily said.

Ren could only nod. The idea of her being trapped in that fancy mansion all over, that they had just saved her from a year ago didn’t make him happy either.

“Could we have known, that she was planning something like this?” Morgana asked.

“I… don’t know.” was the only answer Ren could give. In his head, he was already feverishly replaying the last days to maybe find the moment where Haru started to feel like she shouldn’t be with the Phantom Thieves any longer.

“We can’t leave her there, Joker!”

Ren gulped before saying “And we won’t. We’re just getting started.”

There were faint traces of the setting sun on the horizon when Makoto pulled up in front of the house. They were greeted by Hifumi and Sojiro. They didn’t need to count their numbers when a look into all of their gloomy faces was enough to notice that something had gone horribly wrong.

“Where’s Haru?” Sojiro asked after counting heads.

“Okumura wanted to keep us as slaves in his factory. She struck a deal with him to get us out but she stayed behind in return.” Ren replied.

“She’s back with her father?!” Sojiro asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah...”

“She did it to save us…” Ann added.

Sojiro reached for his head “So what now?”

“Now we’re going to get her back.” Morgana said.

“You sound like you already have a plan.” Sojiro said.

“We have something that might resemble the spark of an idea for a plan.” Ren said.

Sojiro sighed “The poor girl...”

“She even said something about this being the place that she truly belongs...” Futaba said, rubbing her eyes.

Hifumi looked troubled when she looked to Sojiro “Could this be because-?”

Sojiro grimaced before slowly nodding.

“Because of what?” Yusuke asked.

Hifumi seemed worried when she recapped “Not long after you left, Iwai came by and asked whether Haru was okay. He had only learned that day that apparently the night that Haru was out on her own, she went to Seiiki. She wanted to thank Iwai again for protecting the settlement and she told him her real name in the process. Apparently some of the townspeople eavesdropped and didn’t respond well. Judging from retellings that Iwai heard, she was almost chased out of the town.”

“They did WHAT?!” it didn’t take Ryuji long to fully wake up again.

“After all she has done for them?!” Yusukes voice was unusually loud too.

“That explains a lot...” Makoto said.

“That must be why she thought that her time with us should be over..” Futaba sniffled.

“And that’s the reason why she was so sad ever since...” Morgana said.

Ren shook his head “It’s good that we know now. I say that we get some rest and put together an operation once we’re rested up a bit.”

Ryujis expression of disbelieve was replaced with a scowl when he said “Screw that, I’m gonna go to Seiiki and give those assholes hell.”. He was already ready to go when Ren held him back by the shoulder.

“I’m inclined to do the same but we should think things through first.” he tried to reason.

Makoto nodded “Ren is right. We shouldn’t act irrationally, especially not without having figured out the big plan.” she looked at all of them “Everyone get some sleep and then we’ll talk more.”

The others reluctantly nodded before each trotting to their rooms. As Futaba looked at the empty double bed in their room, she felt reminded of the time that Makoto was a prisoner at Kaneshiros. She was too tired to think too much about it when she dropped face-first onto their bed. The thought of Haru getting chased out of Seiiki to then end up in her fathers mansion, so incredibly lonely again, still went through her head as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ryuji slept poorly for about two hours until he decided to give up. His brain was both exhausted and full of anger, which never proved to be a good combination. Ann was nestled against his side when he carefully broke free from her arms before rolling out of bed without making a sound. He threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before walking downstairs.

He was surprised to see both Yusuke and Morgana sitting in the living room, gloomily looking at the floor as if they both were lost in their own thoughts together. Ryuji dropped down between them and joined their silence.

“I assume you can’t sleep either?” Yusuke asked eventually.

“Nope...” Ryuji sighed. “I thought that the people in Seiiki were nice but after hearing that they were so quick to turn on Haru just because of her last name, it seems like they’re just a bunch of assholes like everyone else.”

A short chuckle escaped Yusuke before he said “I’m starting to think that that was the reason why she didn’t tell us… She always believes in the goodness of humanity.”

“Poor Haru.. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live with her father again..” Morgana said. “Do you really think that she was anticipating something like this happening?”

Yusuke shook his head “If she had, I wish she would have told us...”

Ryuji fidgeted with the leather-string around his wrist “I feel really bad for not checking up on her last night… I said I would, but then I got too carried away… I’m a shitty friend...”

Morgana looked at the blonde boy and for the first time, he fully realized that Ryuji wasn’t the knuckle-head that he always painted him to be. He did care for his friends, there was no doubt about it, but Morgana had never seen him openly question his actions this much. He knew that he liked to accuse the blonde boy of not giving a damn about anything. Even while being several years younger than Ryuji, Morgana still eyed the laid-back attitude that he had with anger. How could an almost grown-up act so impulsive and without thinking about every aspect of a problem? And how was he able to get the most beautiful girl while being like that? But maybe Morgana just never thought about really getting to know him. Because apparently he did doubt himself and his actions too at times. Maybe Morgana did hope that he would be able to be a bit like Ryuji when he grew up. Because while he tended to rub people the wrong way, he didn't care. He knew who his people were and he was ready to fight for them without hesitation. He knew who he was and he stood by it. Morgana sighed. Damn Ren and his people-skills... “I.. guess all of us except Yusuke could have done more for her…” he eventually said. “Ren and I went off on a stroll, so we weren’t there for her either.”

“For real?” Ryuji asked, completely confused “You’re not even giving me hell for it?”

Morgana shook his head “I know that I was really mean to you over the last weeks… It was stupid. You didn’t deserve all of it.”.

Ryuji thought about pinching himself to check if he was dreaming when Yusuke suddenly did it for him. “OW! What the hell?”

Yusuke shrugged, his gaze still fixed on a spot on the floor “I just wanted to check if I was dreaming.”

“You have to pinch yourself for that!” Ryuji groaned.

“Why would I want to hurt myself?” Yusuke asked, visibly confused.

Ryuji decided to leave it at that. He looked at Morgana again “Look, I know that you… like Ann, so…” he wasn’t even sure of what to say to the kid. Sorry? He wasn’t sorry for being together with her. Tough luck? Deal with it?

Luckily Morgana interrupted him in time before he could say something that would have ruined the moment again “You don’t have to say anything. She always belonged with you, I just didn’t want to see it. It’s easier to find someone else to blame, so you don’t have to deal with your own flaws.”

“I get it…” Ryuji said, absentmindedly tugging at the leather-string again.

When Morgana noticed his newest habit, which he seemed to share with Ann now, he said “I know that you’ll take good care of her.” his face turned serious when he added “But if you should ever mess up, I’ll be there to comfort her.”

Ryuji scoffed “Fair. But I don’t plan to mess up.”

“A heartwarming moment. I wish Haru could be here to see this.” Yusuke said. “She never stopped believing that you two could get along, even though everyone else has given up already.

Morgana grinned “We’ll tell her about it, when she’s back with us again.” A few moments of silence went by before Morgana eventually asked “Since we’re up already… Should we make breakfast?”

Ryuji shrugged “Why not. Just make sure to open the can this time...”

Morgana glared at Ryuji, who returned his stare. They eventually both started to chuckle.

As one after the other gathered in the kitchen after a few hours of mostly restless sleep, they were greeted by cups of tea and three clueless guys.

“We made us breakfast.” Yusuke announced when everyone had a seat.

As so often, Futaba was the first to address the obvious when she said “Um… is this what you consider breakfast?”

“Well… we tried but all we could find was stuff that needed to be cooked first and...” Ryuji scratched his head.

“And we had no idea how Haru managed to make rolled oats taste this good...” Morgana sighed.

“At least you didn’t blow up a can again...” Sojiro sighed before reaching for a cup of tea. A few of the Thieves giggled.

Ryuji smirked at Morgana before saying “Nope. No cans this time.”

Futaba eyed the new dynamic between Ryuji and Morgana with squinted eyes “Waaait a minute…? You’re not making fun of him?” she suspiciously pointed at Ryuji before her finger wandered towards Morgana “And you… don’t seem to hate him so much...” she shook her head “Am I dreaming?”

“Allow me.” Yusuke walked over and pinched Futabas arm.

“Uh… thanks?” Futaba cast him a confused look while rubbing her arm.

Ren cleared his throat before saying “I’d say that we talk about our next mission while taking in our hearty breakfast.”

While their light banter had somewhat eased up the tension a bit, everyone was back in reality rather fast as the gang directed their eyes at Joker and Queen.

“We won’t get Haru out without taking down Okumura.” Makoto summarized.

“Lucky for us, Okumura hasn’t been working on his clean vest, so if we take him out of business we’ll probably beat hundreds of flies at once.” Ren said.

“It’s almost amusing, how we now get to do something about him after all...” Yusuke said.

“We held back because we didn’t want to upset Haru, but this ends now.” Morgana slammed his fist onto the table.

Ren nodded “I’m gonna check with Ohya to get the details on her friend. Maybe she has an idea on how to get in there...”

“How are we supposed to anyway?” Ann asked “Okumura gave the order to kill us if we show up again...”

Rens eyes wandered over the group before he said “Then it won’t be us infiltrating him.”

Yusuke chuckled “Elegant.”

“But… what are we even trying to accomplish from the inside?” Futaba asked.

“Easy.” Ren smirked and leaned back in his chair “The Phantom Thieves will cause a riot.”

Lala-chan had a calm personality. A bartender needed to be able to deescalate potential bar-fights between customers after all. Although it’s been a long time since there were enough people to start one at the Crossroads. Lala still flinched when the door suddenly burst open on an otherwise quiet week-day, to reveal the dark, frizzy mop of hair of that teenager that Ohya was almost worshiping by now. Today, he wasn’t accompanied by his cute yet somehow dangerous-looking girlfriend, but instead by a muscular teenager with bright yellow hair.

“I’m not opposed to attractive young people storming my bar but be a bit kinder to the door next time, will you?” Lala asked.

“Lala-chan! We’re here on important business.” Ren announced.

“You keep bringing new people. Who’s this lovely guy?” Lala pointed at Ryuji.

“Wh-… What?” Ryuji took a step back and couldn’t hide that he was a bit freaked out. He cast a nervous glance at Ren “Dude, why is everyone here hitting on me? There already were those guys that tried to drag me off to dress me up..”

Ren patted his shoulder “This is Lala-chan.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” Lala chuckled. “Do you boys want a drink?”

Ren shook his head “Nothing for me but maybe my friend here needs something to calm his confused world-view.”

“No thanks… I’ll stay away from alcohol for a while...”

Lala shrugged “Whatever you say.”

Ren pointed at the thick velvet curtains of the separee “Is she in?”

The bartender nodded.

Ren didn’t announce himself when he pushed through the curtains “Ohya, pack up that strange manual copier of yours. Your newspaper is going on tour.”

The womans head darted up from the tabletop that it was resting on. She stared at him with empty eyes for a few moments until her brain seemed to have processed where she actually was “Wha-?” she brought out eventually.

“Seriously, you need an office with windows...” Ren shook his head as he walked up to her “I need your… journalism… to to rally up a revolution.”

The woman looked at him as if he was talking in a foreign language before her eyes eventually went wide “You want me to do what?”

“You wanted us to go after Okumura. We’re doing it. But we’re gonna do it in style. And we need your help.”

Ohya hazily looked around the table and knocked back whatever was left in the nearest Whisky-glass. Within seconds, she seemed to be up to speed again “You’ll really do that?” she gaped before jumping out of her seat.

As Ren managed to get a closer look at the reporters face, he noticed the marks that her arm/pillow had left behind on her forehead, giving her an even more unprofessional look beside the constant alcohol-stench that surrounded her. He nodded “You said that your friend went undercover in there. Do you know how she got in?”

Ohya toyed with a pen while thinking “I think Kayo said something about a traveling recruiter. That’s how she got in. Seeing how fast she got a job there only speaks for how high the fluctuation of the workers is.”

“So there’s a guy that’s constantly on the look-out for new workers...” Ren said. “Seems like he’s not asking a bunch of questions either. Anything else she told you?”

Ohya shook her head “Ever since she went there, I only got two letters. One right before she went in and the second after her first month there. Since then… nothing.”. She put away the pen in her hand and asked “If you want to get someone in there, what do you need me for?”

Ren smirked “To form a movement from the outside. Maybe do a few interviews...”

Ohyas eyes went wide “You want me to do interviews with people?”

“And then I want you to print and publish them.”

Ohya continued to gape at him.

“Isn’t… that kind of your job?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well… yes...” Ohya feverishly nodded “It’s just… been a while since someone wanted me to do something so… professional...” her eyes were still glassy but something told Ren that her confusion about his request wasn’t entirely alcohol-induced.

Ren patted her shoulder “Just… no cheap headlines, okay?”

Ohya sighed but decided to nod. She pushed herself away from the desk she’d been leaning against and looked at her messy office. “Did you arrange an office for me wherever we’re going?”

“No.”

She looked at him with dropped eyelids “Then we’re am I supposed to write?”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to arrange a table for you.” Ren replied.

Ohya sighed “I’m used to certain standards by now, you know?”

“So are you going to leave your friend unavenged because we can’t provide you an office for your measly typewriter and that weird handcrank-machine?” Ren asked.

Ohya crossed her arms and glared at him “Of course not.”

“Then just tell me what needs to come.” 

The reporter pouted “You’re not a fun person, are you?”

“I’m very fun. Sometimes the corners of my mouth even make those weird upward twitches.”

Ohya stuck out her tongue before looking around her office. She grabbed her bag and started packing up her notepad and a bunch of chewed-on pencils. “You can take the copier. I can carry the typewriter in my bag.”.

“Don’t you need clothes or anything?” Ren asked when he saw Ohya shouldering her messenger bag.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Ohya smirked.

Ren just sighed and shook his head. He had to admit that he brought this one on himself.

“You probably have a point though. Since this seems to be a longer trip that you’ll be taking me on and you want me to conduct some interviews...” she looked around the office “Give me a few more minutes.”

“Do you seriously have your clothes here too?” Ren asked “Are you living here?”

“…. No….”

“I’ll just be waiting outside.” Ren said before shouldering through the heavy curtains.

He found Ruyji sitting at the bar while Lala was busy with polishing glasses.

“You’re planning on taking her somewhere?” Lalas deep voice cut through the smooth jazz music that seemed to play on repeat for months.

“Yup. Ohyas services are needed in a different place.” Ren said as he put down the manual copier on the bar.

“Just don’t let her find a new bar. She’ll never get her tab if she finds a new place to settle in.”

“I’m sure that none of the other bars have a separee as beautiful as yours.” Ren leaned against the bar.

“Such a charmer...” Lala chuckled “And Ohya calls you mean… But I guess she can bring that out in people.” Lala set down a freshly polished glass before sighing “Just promise me that you won’t let her do anything stupid, you hear me? She still owes me-”

“Her tab… We know.” Ren smiled when he saw through Lalas toughness and found earnest care and concern for her friend.

“We’ll take good care of her, promise.” Ryuji grinned.

“I can imagine, with arms like yours.” Lala-chan purred, causing Ryuji to turn red all over.

Ren chuckled.

“Okay Lala-chan, I’m going on a mission.” Ohya announced as she emerged from her office/apartment. “Be a dear and look after my place for me.”

“Those plants in there don’t need checking anymore...” Lala replied.

“Well… then don’t let anyone in, okay?”

Lala-chan grunted before reluctantly nodding.

“And can I get a drink for the road?”

“We don’t have To-Go-Cups.”

“You definitely should get some...” Ohya pondered before sighing “Fiine, then no drink for me.” her eyes landed on Ren before wandering to Ryuji “Are all your friends this cute? First the little brown-haired girl, now blondie over here...”

Ryuji cast Ren raised eyebrows as if to ask once more what was up with this place, where suddenly everyone found him attractive.

“Guess you’re gonna find out soon.” Ren replied to Ohya.

The angle of the sun hitting her room in the morning was something that Haru hadn’t imagined she would remember so well. The week that she had been at Okumura Industries again, she had woken up at the exact same time every day. It would have been the time where she would get out of bed and quietly sneak out to make breakfast for the others. But those times were over now. There was no breakfast to be made because now she was the one who was served every meal of the day. On day 2, she had tried to walk into the kitchen to demand that they let her cook something or at least let her assist them. They had almost quite literally thrown her out again in fear of being found out by her father. No matter how hard she tried to prove that she wasn’t like her father, the authority of Kunikasu Okumura overshadowed everything in this compound and should he ever find something to his disliking, he didn’t hold back with throwing people out within seconds. Even though it had already reached the personnel, that her father wasn’t all too fond of his daughter, everyone still seemed eager to not interact with her as to avoid Master Okumuras possible wrath.

Day 6 didn’t turn out any different. The sun just barely lit up her room when her eyes fluttered open. As she sat up in her fluffy bed, covered by the airy duvet, the force of habit still made her turn her head to her right to look for Futaba before tilting towards the left-side wall, where normally Hifumi would be sleeping. The disenchantment still hurt a week later. Haru gloomily swung her legs out of bed and looked out her window. At this time of the day, the factory was still comparatively quiet. Not because her father wanted their workers to rest but because he needed everything to be quiet to sleep. Haru reached for her bathrobe before she slowly crossed her room. As she looked into her closet to pick out her outfit for the day, she noticed how much her style had changed over the last year. Especially her choice in shoes. She looked at several pairs of laquered sandals before her eyes wandered to her ankle-high combat boots, that she had worn one week ago and which she considered one of her best finds over the last year. Looking at what she used to wear before leaving and what she wore before coming back made her realize how protected her entire life had been. She never had to worry about a piece of clothing not having enough pockets or about pants that were too loose on their own and in need of an improvised belt. But then she joined the Phantom Thieves and while her entire life she had been used to wearing pretty dresses and shining shoes, when you ran away with nothing but the wedding dress on your body you were greatful for any piece of clothing that you were offered. She still enjoyed dresses and liked the way they looked, yet she still found herself more drawn to the colorful running-tights and the oversized t-shirt that she had drawn from some strangers closet months ago. She reached for one of her favorite dresses from the past and a pair of dotted tights before she stepped into her private bathroom. As she looked at the spotless clean bathroom, she figured that this was probably one of the nicest aspects of being at Okumura Manor again. Although it would have been far more enjoyable to see Ryujis or Anns or Futabas reaction to a fully functioning bathroom with a warm-water-shower. Those three tended to openly display their amazement and joy, which Haru had always considered a delight.

Something about taking a shower in a tainted glass-cabin had a calming impact on her. She took a shower every morning now and every time she found herself reluctant to get out. As if the steam of the hot water hid her from the real world outside. Eventually she would feel bad about wasting so much water so she had to step out at some point. After finishing getting dressed and drying her hair, Haru prepared to step out of the bathroom and into another day of nothing. She had just opened the bathroom door a crack when she heard Satos voice coming from her room. He seemed to be talking to another person.

“This is the room of Master Okumuras daughter.” she heard Sato say. “Every morning, the bed will need to be made and the laundry collected. The lady takes a shower every morning, so make sure to pick up the towels in the bathroom.”

Haru figured that Sato was giving instructions to a new maid. She picked up her damp towels before walking out of the bathroom.

Sato smiled when he spotted her “And there she is. Miss Haru Okumura. Apologies for the early intrusion miss, I was just showing our new maid around the house.”

Haru almost dropped her towels when Sato took a step to the side to reveal the Okumuras new maid. She had a slender frame and straight black hair with bangs that almost reached her eyes. Her dark eyes were observant and sharp. She looked humble but underneath her bangs, her focus was darting around and analyzing the location before it eventually ended up on Haru. “Good day, Miss Okumura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how obvious it is, who the new maid is... Let me know if I made it a full-on cliffhanger or if you already have a guess anyway;)
> 
> So now the Phantom Thieves are in the picture of what made Haru want to go and confront her father. Also, we have a nice moment between Morgana and Ryuji. I think that the reason why Morgana is so upset about Ryuji and only Ryuji in the Original is partly because Ryuji is probably the one with the "loudest" flaws and also the one who seems to stand by them the most. Another theory is that Morganas flaws are very similar to Ryujis (they're both proud, Morgana might be even more so than Ryuji) and maybe he hates to see them protrayed in other persons. I can only say this from my own experience. Nothing annoys me more than seeing my flaws in other people (I hope that makes sense... I don't know how else to put it...). 
> 
> I think this has been the first time that I did a real "time-jump" mid-chapter. I hope it wasn't too confusing.


	53. New To The Industry

Harus lips were moving but no words came out as she stared at Hifumi, who was dressed in the Okumura-Industries-uniform.

“Miss Okumura?” Sato asked, concerned by her strange behavior. His eyes wandered between Hifumi and Haru before he eventually asked “Do you know each other?”

Hifumi cast Haru a nervous look. The fluffy-haired girl gave her a reassuring nod to tell her that Sato could be trusted. “Yes. She’s one of my friends that I lived with.” Haru replied eventually.

Sato focused on Hifumi “I take it that you meeting each other here again isn’t a coincidence?”

Hifumi slowly shook her head, still unsure whether the butler was to be trusted “I apologize for leading you astray.”

The old man nodded before her turned to Haru again “I will give you two some time to catch up and shall inform the other staff that our new maid will be your private assistant, so noone will question if you two spend a lot of time together.”

Haru still felt overwhelmed by it all when she stammered “… Thank you, Sato...”

Sato bowed “Breakfast will be served at 8.” he said while retreating out the door.

Haru continued to stare at Hifumi “What are you doing here?” she eventually asked. “You shouldn’t be rescuing me. I did it to protect the others.”

Hifumi uncomfortably shuffled her feet “Getting you out will not be the primary goal of this mission.”

Haru sat down at the foot of her bed and folded her hands.

“The others didn’t want to tell you back when you traveled here because they didn’t want to upset you, but there have been rumors surrounding this factory.” Hifumi carefully said as she sat down beside her.

Haru focused on her hands when she quietly asked “The Phantom Thieves are targeting my father?”

Hifumi nodded “Ohya told us that one of her friends went missing while trying to investigate the factory. There’s been allegations about… inhumane working conditions.”

It didn’t even surprise Haru to hear this. She had spent almost her entire life here after all. And still she didn’t do anything against it but decided to run when the first chance came along. She felt sick all of a sudden. Maybe she came back because she felt like it was the right thing to do. So many people were unable to escape from her fathers grasp. Why should she be any luckier? By running away, she had just averted her eyes from the obvious misconduct of her father. She didn’t deserve to be happy while so many other people were suffering because of her family.

“I’m sorry.”

Haru shook her head “It’s okay. I guess I already knew but never wanted to see it.” she took a deep breath “Who else is here?”

“Mishima and Kaoru are posing as new factory-workers-”

“Kaoru?!” Haru interrupted, unable to hide her surprise. Hearing that Mishima was working undercover came as a surprise too, but Kaoru wasn’t even that involved with them.

Hifumi nodded “The others including Ohya are working from the outside to rally the people. The plan is to unite all the workers and peacefully walk out on Okumura.”

“But who’s protecting LeBlanc2?” Haru asked.

“Sojiro and Shinya stayed behind. They’re being supported by Iwai. He closed up shop for the time being.”

“He… did that?”

Hifumi nodded “He seemed rather angry at the townsfolk in Seiiki so both him and Kaoru were glad to offer their assistance. I think they feel bad for what happened that night.”

Haru fought back tears when she all but whispered “They shouldn’t… It was my fault after all.”

Hifumi reached out and placed a hand on hers “Iwai told us. You are not to blame. You were only trying to help and they reacted harshly. They had no right to treat you like this, no matter your last name.”

Haru shook her head “But they were right. I am an Okumura. And while I could have done something to stop my father, all I did was run away and hid behind the Phantom Thieves, thinking that everything we did would right the wrongs that my father continues to do.”

Hifumi sat upright again when she folded her hands in her lap “Then let’s stop him. Together.”

“But this shouldn’t be your fight. If I had been stronger in the past, we wouldn’t even have to be here and the others wouldn’t have to waste their time.” Haru whispered, slumped.

“Do you think that you could have changed everything on your own back then?” Hifumi asked. “I know I wouldn’t have been able to leave Madarame on my own. And I would have never dared to oppose my mother. Some things can’t be handled solo. You can’t start a round of Shogi with just one piece.” she gave her a gentle smile “Maybe you just needed to assemble your setup first. And we’re here now, so let’s start the game.”

Haru looked up and had to smile “How are there so many Shogi-analogies?” she giggled sightly. She stood up and took a deep breath before she turned to look at her friend “You’re right. I’ve turned a blind eye long enough but now, with the help from all of you, I might be able to make a change after all.”

Hifumi got up and nodded. An uncomfortable look spread on her face when Haru crashed her into a hug but she decided to give in for now.

“Then what’s the plan?” Haru asked after letting her go again.

“Ohya and the others will gather information on your father from the outside. The town you stayed in seems to be a popular resting spot for workers on their way home. They want to gather some information for them to then publish it among the settlements to make as many people as possible aware of his misdeeds. Kaoru and Mishima will try to form an uprising from within.”

“And what about us?” Haru asked.

“I decided to come to make sure that you were okay. At first it wasn’t even sure whether they would take me or not. We thought that a maid would be a position that didn’t need replacement often, but apparently I was in luck.” Hifumi looked around “You know your way around here. Maybe we will be able to find out the buyer of the components after all.”

Haru looked eager when she nodded “Then we’ll do it.”. She cast a look at the clock before saying “Although for now I have to get to breakfast.”

Hifumi bowed “Then I shall see you later, Miss Okumura.”. A smirk was on her face when she raised her head again.

Haru smiled and nodded.

Mishima and Kaorus welcome to the work-place was far less welcoming. It already moved to a bad start as they passed the gate when some grim-looking guard shoved a bundle of work-overalls into their hands and ordered them to change on the spot. Out in the open. While Mishima was a bit more enthusiastic about finally daring to step into action after his identity-crisis and following first kiss, he could have done without having to strip among a bunch of other guys, one of them his ally whose muscles were much more defined than his. Running around shirtless was something that Ryuji would do, but Mishima guessed that that came with actually having something to show off, since both him and Yusuke didn’t display such behavior. As he stood in the middle of the courtyard, hurrying to make the time inbetween wearing clothes as short as possible, he realized that like Ann, Ryuji could also be a show-off about his body. He could only furrow his brow at his derailed thoughts as he quickly zipped up the overall. The Okumura-mansion throned on the end of the cobblestone street. He wondered whether Hifumi already managed to get a hold of Haru. While usually being the strategist in the back, she had been rather quick to volunteer to go in too. He looked through the group that stood with them. Some of them seemed to know the drill already. Besides him and Kaoru, only one other man seemed rather disturbed by the welcoming-practices.

“Alright, you know where you belong.” a guard barked and all the veterans walked off without a word. The door of one of the factory-halls opened and another guard walked out with another seasoned worker. Guard 1 pointed at the man “You. Show the new men around and teach them their tasks.”

The man nodded before all 4 of them where marched into the factory. Conveyor belts after conveyor belts were lined through the hall, all of them with workers on each side, standing shoulder to shoulder, their eyes dead-set on their tasks as to not upset the guards that walked through the lines, a constant eye watching over them and a constant irritable threat breathing down their necks.

Mishima gulped as the seasoned worker lead them towards the staircase that led to the grate-walkways running along the halls walls.

“Alright, I’m gonna show you to your workstations. All of you will start in the smithy where you’ll work with a bunch of seasoned workers. You won’t run danger of screwing up too much there, so as long as the hellhounds don’t see you slacking off, you should be safe.” the man announced as they crossed over into the next hall, where a wall of warm air from the smelters and forges hit them. The picture from the Assembly-hall was the same. Workers were working their butts off while being constantly watched by guards, who didn’t hold back to slap them back into place when they felt that a worker was slacking off. As Mishima looked down on it all, he noticed an older man, his hands propped on his knees as he was gasping for air amidst the heat. It didn’t take long for a guard to appear behind his back, giving the already struggling man a hard hit on the back with a baton, causing him to fall to his knees. The workers around him seemed upset and afraid but were unable to do anything but watch. Mishima felt reminded of his time at Kamoshidas, although concerning harassment, this place seemed to be far more organized and equipped with many people who seemed to enjoy making others feel small, while back then, it was only one egomaniac and a few scared teenagers that had learned to conquer their fear by beating up the even weaker. Mishima forced himself to avert his eyes for now. This would be over soon.

As they descended to the ground floor, the air got slightly cooler yet Mishima still found it hard to breathe. The man led them towards one of the big smelters before slapping a bulky man on the shoulder. “Got some young ones for you.”

The man turned around and grinned, revealing an almost toothless face. His arms were huge. Mishima guessed that if he wrapped both his hands around the mans bicep, he still wouldn’t be able to touch his fingers. If he had the cool that Ren had, he would probably think that this mission would probably help him get buffed up. But he wasn’t Ren and being amidst all of this made him more nervous than anything. Everyone seemed so scared. How was he supposed to get them to stand up and leave? He was ripped out of his rising panic when the huge smith wrapped his enormous hand around his arm and looked at him with squinted eyes.

“This one looks like he’s never lifted anything his entire life!” due to his lack of teeth, he had a bit of a lisp.

Mishima nervously drew away his arm although he was sure that if the guy hadn’t wanted to let it go, his effort would have been for naught. He appreciated the gesture though.

“And this one….” the man said, reaching for Kaorus upper arm before a look of mild surprise appeared on his face. He gave a half-appreciative nod “That one’s alright.” he gave Kaorus arm another squeeze “Didn’t look like it, but this one actually has some muscles.” The man flashed his gums in a grin when he looked at Kaoru “You ever held a gun?”

“Once or twice.” Kaoru replied in an understatement.

After their new supervisor also inspected and intimidated the third new-arrival, their tour-guide gave Mishima a pat on the shoulder “I’ll pick you guys up when the shift is over. We’ll continue with the more pleasant parts then.”. He didn’t give Mishima a chance to answer.

Mishima never would have dared to claim that he ever had to do any hard labor before that day, but as their shift neared its end, he really felt like he never lifted anything his entire life. While before entering Okumuras factory, he had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t act like a wimp in front of Kaoru and all those strangers, he soon found himself grateful for his companion that would eventually cover him when he needed to squat down and take a break. Mishima was close to a nervous break-down when finally their tour-guide from before came back.

“How was your first day, boys?” the man asked. A smirk on his face appeared when he saw Mishimas somehow both pale and flushed face “You don’t look so good.”

“Right… Haha…” Mishima nervously stammered.

“We’re done for the day. Let the big guy close everything down and come with me. I’ll show you the barracks.”

They lost their third newcomer to some other workers, so it was only Mishima and Kaoru following the man to another hall, which looked like a storage for all the raw materials. As they walked through the large walkways inbetween the huge storage-shelves, Mishima noticed a warm light coming from what seemed to be an adjacent room. The closer they got, the more chatter they heard and the smell of food wafted towards them, causing Mishimas stomach to rumble. As they stepped into the secondary room that could have been an office earlier, Mishima saw rows and rows of bunkbeds that were stacked in threes. Hermes had to gulp when he prayed that he wouldn’t get a bed on the far top. He wasn’t that comfortable with heights and the top bunks were so close to the ceiling that one wasn’t even able to sit upright.

“Welcome to the slums.” the man announced and spread his arms “This is where you’ll be spending your time when you’re not working.”

Mishima and Kaoru exchanged a look. They noticed a few doors leading to more rooms in the back but there was no furniture except for the stacked beds to be seen. In a corner two small tables were lined up with a man behind them who stirred what Mishima guessed to be their dinner in three huge pots.

Their guide noticed their hungry looks “Dinner's about to be served, but I’m afraid you’ll be going last since you’re the fresh meat. You still got lots of energy.” he looked at the men who started to get in line in front of the table. Mishima noticed that the ones in front were leaning on makeshift canes and crutches. As the line continued to form, more and more injured men lined up until the line disappeared into the adjacent room.

“Wh… what happened to them?” Mishima asked.

“It’s just the circle of life in here. If you stick around for a few months, you’ll probably see me at the start of the line too.” their mentor said.

“How are they still working?” Kaoru asked, incredulous.

“Barely.” the man replied “But we look out for each other here. All they have to do is manage to get up in the morning when they march us out of bed. When the workday has started, we smuggle them back here. The guards don’t look at this place once all of us are out. Their comrades around them just need to work a little harder to make up for the missing people and then noone notices.”

“And that’s how they burn themselves out too…” Kaoru realized.

The man nodded “It’s just how this place works. As soon as you reach a certain age and a certain… state of body… all we work on is bring them home one more time and hope that they finally realize that they shouldn’t return. For the sake of their own families too.” he shook his head “Nothing worse than seeing your loved ones work themselves to their death against all of your objections...”

“How often will we be able to leave?” Mishima asked.

“Once a month you’re allowed to go home for a weekend.” the man answered “technically, nothing is keeping you from staying away after that, yet all of us keep returning, those in the front for years now.”

“Why would you do this to yourselves?” Mishima asked.

“Why do you?” the man asked.

Mishima and Kaoru exchanged an uncertain look before Mishima replied “To help our families.”

The man nodded “As do all of us. We all got families we have to protect. Each time I see my family, they tell me of shadows roaming around and threatening our town. We’re too poor to buy weapons, so Okumura makes us work for it. Hard.”

“But… can’t anyone help you?” Mishima asked dumbly. “If- If all of you worked together… wouldn’t you be able to drive the shadows away?”

The man smirked “So you’re one of those dreamers too, huh? I gotta introduce you to someone after dinner. Don’t tell me that you believe in those Phantom Thieves too...”

“The Phantom Thieves exist.” Mishima announced “If they knew about your shadow-struggles, they would be there to help in no time!”.

“Kid, we don’t have anything to offer. Why would anyone come to exterminate a bunch of shadows for absolutely no gain but maybe a warm handshake?”

“Because...” Mishima looked for the right words “Because it’s the right thing to do. The Phantom Thieves aren’t about riches. They… just want to help those who need help.”. He was ashamed to admit that he himself, a part of the Phantom Thieves, used to think anything different.

The man smirked “That sounds too good to be true but in that case, I wish I could ask those Phantom Thieves for help. You guys know how to contact them? Do we have to light a beacon or something?” he smirked before walking off to a spot in the line, where one of his friends had kept a spot open for him. Noone complained about someone cutting in line.

“I assume you want to contact the others to tell them to get rid of the shadows?” Kaoru asked as the two strolled to the far end of the line.

Mishima nodded “But we can’t really reach them from here… They surely won’t let us send a letter…”

“If the people think that their families depend on their work here, we won’t be able to convince them of anything...” Kaoru said.

Mishima turned pale “We can’t stay here for a month...”

“I agree.”

Mishima sighed. This was already too much for him after day 1. Ren would know what to do for sure. And he would be able to convince the others to do the right thing, even if the outcome was uncertain. But he couldn’t. He wasn’t a leader. And now he was trapped in this hellhole, along with Kaoru and Hifumi.

When the two guys reached the table, the man serving the food was already scraping on the bottom of the last pot to fill their bowls halfway. As they found themselves an open spot to sit on the ground, they both cast a sad look at the watery stew.

“That’s all we get?” Mishima whined. His arms had already started trembling while carrying the halp-empty bowl and he doubted that whatever this was would suffice to recharge his body.

Kaoru dared to take a spoon-full “It’s… not bad. But I’ve had better.”

The two continued to eat in peace before Kaoru eventually asked “How are you holding up?”

Mishima looked confused “Wh- Why do you ask?”

“You were about to faint about 5 times. You don’t seem to be used to manual labor...”

“Oh… uhm… haha… I’m not...” Mishima sighed.

Kaoru shrugged “Me neither. Well definitely not as much as this here… I always thought that you were the one pulling the strings in the back. I was surprised when you said that you would come along too."

Mishima scratched his head “Well… yeah… I’m actually more of these guys manager… But since they couldn’t come here themselves, I wanted to step in to help…” he nervously looked around to check if anyone was listening before leaning over and whispering “Haru.”

“I see.” Kaoru said “That’s pretty brave.”

“What about you? You don’t know us that much...”

Kaoru shrugged “After what happened back home that night… I felt really bad for her. I know how it feels to question yourself because of your father. If I had known about my… family-situation… earlier I would have been ashamed and I would have wondered too, if I could have done something to prevent it. When I heard how they basically drove her out the city and that that might have been the reason why she went back to live here… I just didn’t want to sit still.”

Mishima nodded while scraping the last remains from his metal bowl. He noticed a pair of feet stopping in front of them out of the corner of his eye.

“How did you enjoy the dinner?” their guide asked with a smirk.

“Well…. um...” Mishima stammered.

“Oh come on, you can be blunt. None of us cooked it.” the man laughed. “We’re getting the grub from the big kitchen, but I suspect that they throw all the scraps from the Masters into three big pots.”

“Does Okumura himself ever come here?” Kaoru asked.

“Pft, please.” the man waved his question aside as if it was the most ridiculous thing ever. “He only comes around when he’s locking someone up.”

“Lo-… Locking up?” Mishima gulped.

“Yup. But you have to do something really bad to piss him off that much. The sentences vary from months up to a lifetime. It’s been a while though since that happened the last time. Must have been about a year, when he locked up that nosy girl.”

Mishimas eyes went wide. “Is… Is she still locked up?” he asked.

The man shrugged “Probably. I don’t think that Okumura orders people killed...”

“Can… we see her?” Mishima asked.

The man raised an eyebrow “I’d keep a low profile, if I were you. We don't even know where this prison is supposed to be and I wouldn't recommend just going and asking one of the guards...”. He chuckled when he looked at Mishimas worried face “You’re here for a day and already think about playing hero, huh?”. He shook his head “Come on. I gotta introduce you to someone who might share your dreams.”

Mishima and Kaoru exchanged a skeptic look but decided to follow him into one of the following rooms.

“Where are you taking us?” Kaoru eventually asked as they passed rows and rows of bunk-beds and its inhabitants. Some of them patched each other up, some of them talked but most of them just sullenly laid on their bed and waited for the time to pass.

“There’s this older man who likes to talk about his ideal world and how he thinks we could get there. He’s all about helping together and so on.” their guide snorted “I know it’s dumb and it will never happen. But some times it’s still nice to sit down and listen to his Utopia… Even if it’s just to escape the factory for an evening...”

As they neared the farthest corner in the last room of the barracks, a warm voice reached their ears. Mishima didn’t need to understand what the man was talking about yet to know that he wanted to fall asleep to this voice.

“… The young ones have the world in their hands, yet all we can pass to them are our own problems. We should strive for a better future for our kids.” an older, round man with black hair and a big nose sat on the edge of his bed. Crowded around him sat a few workers of middle age. “Do you want your children to end up in this very spot?”. He looked up when he saw the three approaching. “Ah.” he smiled a warm smile “I see that we have two new arrivals.”

Their guide pointed to Mishima and Kaoru “Had to show them around today and thought why not introduce them to the factories optimist.”

The other man chuckled before he looked at the two teenagers “Welcome. My name is Toranosuke Yoshida.”

“Or No-Good-Tora!” someone called out from three bunks away.

No-Good-Tora grimaced over the use of the nickname but hurried to not show it to them. “Please. Come sit with us.”

Mishima reluctantly sat down beside some other workers. He was itching to ask how Yoshida had gotten the nickname of No-Good, but he was too scared to seem rude on his first day. Besides, if he was one of the only ones who shared their dreams and ideas, he might be an important ally to gain.

“You two are rather young. It’s always a shame to see that the young ones already have to sell themselves to the rich to survive… I can’t imagine the hardships you had to endure at your very young age.”

Both Mishima and Kaoru gulped. Mishima felt like he had his fair share. Being Kamoshidas punching bag sure wasn’t the pinnacle of his youth and he hadn't been really happy with his life before that either. His parents were kind people, but the more they hinted that they wanted him to take over their business, the unhappier he had gotten. He had thought that venturing out and going somewhere new would offer him so many opportunities, but he ended up with Kamoshida anyway and when he let his parents know that he was with The Kamoshida, they were probably more than ecstatic, that their undecided son finally did something useful. And for a while, he felt so too. He had felt like providing for them with something while not having to work as a merchant. When Kamoshida was conquered, he had told some of the guys from his hometown to tell his parents that he was okay. He knew that he should probably have visited them at least once. But somehow he had always been scared of going back. He wasn’t meant to be what they were. Back then, he had no idea what he was supposed to be, but now that he was with the Phantom Thieves, and even on undercover missions, he felt like he had found his place, even though he was scared out of his mind. Maybe he was a dreamer like No-Good-Tora. But maybe that’s what the world needed.

Yoshida smiled at the two teenagers “Since you were brought to me, I assume that you must be interested in how to make a better tomorrow too?”

Mishima took a deep breath before leaning forward “We might already have an idea on how to do it too.” he whispered with all his strength.

The speaker smiled and nodded “That is the right mind-set.”

Mishima shook his head “No, we really do. We came here to close down this factory for good.”

Yoshida couldn’t hide his surprise but ended up shaking his head “You have fantasy and you’re looking for creative solutions. But maybe we should start to change the world with smaller and more doable actions.”

“But why start with something small when the biggest problem is this?” Mishima asked while motioning at the rows and rows of bunkbeds, the only lights coming from candles and lanterns. “We can do something about this! If all of us work together, Okumura and his men won’t be able to stop us!”.

The man sitting beside him spoke up “And assuming that we “stop” Okumura, then what? Noone forces you to come back next month but all of us need this job to keep our families safe.”

The other listeners nodded.

Yoshida raised his hands “Now, now. It’s been a long time since we’ve had some fresh thoughts and every idea should be heard.” he smiled at Mishima “Your view is very refreshing. If we had a bit more fight left in us, you might have been able to form a resistance.”

Mishima huffed. That’s exactly what he was here for, but how was he to do that now that when absolutely noone wanted to do anything?

While night had already fallen, the gardens of the mansion were dimly illuminated by standing torches. The plants and bushes in the garden all were her mothers legacy. She recalled following her around when she was a little girl, helping to water them when the watering can was empty enough for her to carry it. Noone ever doubted that Haru had inherited her green thumb from her mother. After her mothers passing, she had avoided the gardens for a long time until she finally felt ready to enter them again. But tending to flowers never stopped bringing back bitter-sweet memories. Since gardening seemed to run in her DNA though, she soon started to develop an interest in growing her own vegetables. Since their kitchen was always stacked with fresh fruit and vegetables, she never had troubles with snatching some seeds to then try to grow them in her little patch. It was still one of her proudest moments, when their head-chef used her potatoes for a dinner and complimented their taste. Of course her father hadn’t cared, when Sato was kind enough to announce the side-dishes heritage as he served the plate. The appreciation from the chef was still something that she would never forget.

In the back of the garden stood a cherry-tree with an intricate gravestone standing in front of it. She folder her hands as she stood in front of her mothers grave.

“Hello mother...” she whispered “I’m sorry that it took me so long.”. A gust of wind brushed the rose-bushes around her. “I’m glad that the staff continues to take good care of your garden. We all know how much work you put into it.” she looked around “I… built an entire vegetable-garden from scratch where I lived.” a small smile played on her lips. Her talking to her mothers gravestone must look crazy, but she had often found herself walking out there and talking to her mother while imagining that she would probably listen to her worries and achievements, compared to her father. “It manages to sustain a house of 12…. 11 now...”. Haru threw a look over her shoulder to look at the mansion. She noticed her father standing and looming over the garden from his bed-room. Haru wrapped her arms around herself and looked back at her mothers final resting place. “Have you ever been met with hostility after taking on fathers name?” she asked before immediately shaking her head “Of course not… Father used to be different back then.”. She strained her memory to recall the times when her father had actually loved her. How he would take them out for drives in one of the perfectly preserved cabriolets from the garage and how he would smile when he looked at his wife and daughter. Haru tended to forget how warm his smile was. She guessed that it was easy to forget, when she hadn’t seen it in years. She looked at the gravel-path beneath her and let her tears fall to the ground “If you would still be with us… None of this would have happened.” she let out a short sob before gathering herself again. If her mother hadn’t passed away so early, she also probably would have never met the Phantom Thieves. She shook her head. No. She would have met them at some point. Just not under these particular circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see that coming? ;)
> 
> I've had some thoughts about this arc even before Medjed. Mishima was always supposed to be the one ending up in the factory since the others couldn't go but combined with what happened inbetween the arcs, it all blends together into an overall-picture. Combined with his previous redemption, him stepping up and trying to be the hero that he wishes he could be, will be a sweet story. You'll just have to wait and see how everything pans out. 
> 
> Thinking about the overall concept of the story, I was a bit worried about how to incorporate Yoshida into it all, until the scales fell from my eyes and I realized that he fits perfectly into this setting. So far, the workers only see him as this cooky prophet with utopic believes but who knows what might come next?
> 
> I know I've kept you waiting for a long time, but tuesday is finally the day to reveal how Phantom Thief No. 8 came to join the gang;)


	54. Noir

14 months ago

“Lady Ann! Can I help you with cleaning up?“ Morgana asked as he trailed the blonde girl through the tavern as she was wiping tables for the evening.

“That‘s sweet Morgana but it‘s probably faster if I do it on my own. You know… routine...“ Ann smiled and ruffled the kids hair.

“Okay…” Morgana sighed before his eyes got stuck on Ann as she leaned over a table to reach towards its very end at the wall.

“Hey.” Sojiro interrupted his focus and gave him a raised eyebrow. That kid clearly made it no secret that he had it for Ann. Yet still, all this staring couldn’t be healthy.

“He’s simping again.” Futaba sighed.

“A-… Am not!” Morgana hastily exclaimed.

“Isn’t it a bit early?” Ryuji asked “Aren’t you… twelve or something?”

“I-… I don’t know!” Morgana shrieked with a red head. “Aren’t you a bit old to be so dumb?”

Ryuji set down the glass that he was polishing and glared at the kid.

“Wait, you don’t know how old you are?” Makoto asked, surprised.

“I met him in the middle of nowhere and he had no clue what happened to him…” Ren muttered to her.

“Oh, that’s horrible… I’m so sorry Morgana.” Makoto looked sad.

“Given his size I’d say he’s about 11...” Sojiro shrugged. “But I can only draw reference from Futaba...”

“Hey, stop telling them how small I used to be! It’s embarrassing.” Futaba exclaimed.

“Were you simping after someone too?” Yusuke asked.

“Well, there used to be that one boy...” Sojiro started.

“LALALALALA!” Futaba loudly sang to drown his voice until he stopped talking.

“And I wasn’t simping!” Morgana defended himself, his head still bright red.

“Oh really? Why were you staring at Anns ass then?” Ryuji asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” Ann picked herself up from the table again.

“You have to admit that you make it pretty hard not to look at times...” Futaba pointed to her and the table.

“And Ryuji does it too!” Morgana stabbed his finger at the blonde behind the bar.

“Shut up you little snitch.” Ryuji growled through gritted teeth and with flushed cheeks.

“I just wanted to help her!” Morgana protested.

“You can chop some vegetables with us.” Makoto said before reconsidering “Or maybe not… I just sharpened the knives.”

“I’m not a baby. I know how to handle a knife.” Morgana stubbornly replied.

“Oh trust me, they’re sharp.” Ren held up a bandaged finger.

“Sojiro and I will tend to the garden but we don’t have tools for one more...” Futaba said as she hopped off the chair.

Morgana crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted.

“There’s some crates in the front. You can help Ryuji with carrying.” Sojiro offered.

That seemed to appease the kid when a smile spread on his face. “Consider it done.” he proudly announced before walking out the door after the blonde boy.

Makoto and Ren exchanged a look before he eventually said “Sending those two to cooperate alone never ends well...”

A smile played on Makotos lips when she said “You should probably check up on them then.”.

Ren smirked when he stepped out of the small kitchen. Makotos nature had made her the groups stern mother rather quick. He couldn’t say that he hated it. While it probably should have felt weird that he saw both of them as the groups parents, it also left a warm feeling in his stomach that flustered him terribly.

When he stepped outside, he didn’t see the two but could already hear the voices from around the corner.

“Okay, I’ll take this one and you the other.” Morgana confidently announced.

“Are you crazy? That’s far too heavy for you.” Ryuji exclaimed.

“I’ll show you--- Hhhhngh...”

“Dude stop, you’ll just break your back.” Ren heard Ryuji say. “Come on, it’ll be faster if I do it.”

“NO!” Morgana protested. “You all think that you’re so much better than me just because you’re older! I can do things too!”

“Well apparently you can’t lift huge crates.” Ryuji sounded irritated.

“I’ll show you...” Morgana cursed before Ren heard little footsteps running off.

When he rounded the corner, he found a perplexed and annoyed Ryuji.

“What the eff…” he groaned. “Can’t believe that he’s such a baby sometimes...” he picked up the crate with ease. “Come on, help me carry those inside.”

Ren did as he was asked. As they entered the tavern again, Ryuji dropped off the crate in the kitchen with another loud groan.

“These look heavy.” Yusuke noted from one of the booths. “Was Morgana even able to handle cargo this large?”

“He didn’t. That’s why he threw a tantrum and ran off.” Ryuji rolled his eyes and dropped down on a bench.

“What? Shouldn’t we go and look for him then?” Ann asked, worried.

Ren shook his head “You know him… he’s gonna cool down on his own and he’ll be back in no time.”

Ann squinted her eyes at Ryuji “Did you say something mean to him again?”

“He’s mean to me all the time! Why is noone ever calling him out on that?” Ryuji exclaimed and pushed himself up again “If anything, I prevented him from breaking his back but nooo, I must have said something mean to piss him off. You could have just let him help with wiping tables and he would have been happy.” he angrily replied towards Ann.

“How is this my fault?!” Ann glared at him. “It’s you two that always fight about everything!”

“Guys, arguing won’t change anything.” Makoto tried to defuse the situation between the two fuming blondes. She looked at Ren “Are you sure that we shouldn’t go and look for him?”

Ren shook his head “He’s small, he’ll climb into every nook and cranny so we wouldn’t find him anyway. He’ll be back by tonight, I’m sure.”

When the tavern opened and Morgana still hadn’t returned, Ren started to get uneasy. Morgana was hot-headed, but he was aware of his duties and he normally would never neglect them.

“Where’s Morgana?” Futaba tugged at his arm. “I can’t do the dishes and the kitchen at the same time...”

“You said that he should be back by now, right?” Makoto asked from his other side.

Ren swallowed and tried to keep his cool “He’s probably just trying to prove a point. Makoto, can you do dish-duty today and Futaba and I will handle the kitchen?”

Makoto nodded. She had been able to watch the ropes of the tavern for long enough now and while she was more than comfortable with being on cutting-duty every afternoon with Ren, she still didn’t dare to take over the kitchen when it was time to open.

They managed everything smoothly, yet all of them couldn’t hide their worry with every passing minute that Morgana didn’t reenter the tavern. Ren was standing behind the bar with Ryuji when Ann leaned over the counter.

“Morgana still isn’t back, right? What if something happened to him? He’s still a child, what if he’s been abducted or something?” she muttered.

Ryuji bristled “If he got abducted while trying to prove that he’s such a strong adult, then tough luck for him. He just wants to mess with us. That’s why he’s not back yet.”

Ann shot him a look “I’m sure you said something that hurt him and that’s why he ran off.”

“I. Didn’t.” Ryuji growled. Their foreheads were almost touching.

Even though the situation was serious, everything Ren could think about was that they were probably the only two people who could argue about a missing child with obvious sexual tension between them.

Sojiro was the one to break up the blondes stare-off when he slammed down two full glasses between them. “Table 7.” he grimly said.

Ann and Ryuji continued to glare at each other before they each had to turn around again to follow their respective tasks.

“That kid better not be hurt.” Sojiro mumbled when he passed by Ren.

While normally the tavern closing left all of them behind tired, that night it only was the signal for them to definitely get worried about the missing Morgana.

“Okay, I’m calling it. We’ve lost Morgana.” Futaba panicked.

Ryuji sighed “Don’t you see that he’s just playing with us? He’s pissed off because he doesn’t want to be treated like a child and now he sits somewhere, pouting.”

“How can you be so cold?” Ann replied angrily “He could be hurt or worse!”

“He’s fine!” Ryuji argued. “And you’re playing right into his hands! He’s dumped us the entire evening and all of you will still go running when he comes back, glad that he’s okay.”

Ren shook his head “Let’s just hope you’re right.”

Yusuke was about to sketch up some Missing-posters when the door flew open.

“Morgana!” Futaba exclaimed with relieve “You’re okay!”

“Pft. Of course I’m okay!” Morgana said before glaring at Ryuji “I know how to take care of myself.”

“That’s what I kept telling you!” Ryuji groaned “See? He’s not even aware that he upset you!”

“Morgana, we were worried about you.” Ann looked at the kid.

Morgana gulped “You… were?”

“Of course we were.” Ren said.

“Well… you didn’t need to.” Morgana replied “Since all of you like to treat me like a child, I decided that I'll show you that I’m more than that.” he arched his back and proudly announced “I got us a job.”.

Yusuke was perplexed “But we already have a job.”

“But this one is paying.” Morgana bragged.

“Will it also give you a roof over your heads and fill your bottomless pits of stomachs?” Sojiro grumbled.

“I was walking across the market-square when I met two men who were looking for bodyguards. So I signed us up for the job.”

“You did that without consulting with us?” Makoto asked.

“It’s just a weekend-thing.” Morgana looked at Boss “You always complain about not having enough money!”

“Still, you should have at least talked to us about it.” Ren said. “We aren’t mercenaries or bodyguards. Where does it even take place?”

As Morgana realized that his brilliant plan was met with much more doubt than he thought, he started stammering “Somewhere over a days drive away?”

“WHAT?” Ryuji jumped out of his seat.

“Who even has enough resources to look for personnel this far away?” Makoto asked.

Ren massaged his temple “Yeah, No. We’re not doing this.”. This smelled fishy from over a days drive away.

“Well…” Morgana shuffled his feet “I… might have already told them that we’re in.”

“You have got to be kidding...” Ren groaned.

“Hey, I thought it was a good idea! When was the last time that we went on a big expedition? They have a car! We can go places that we’ve never been to before!” Morgana protested.

Makoto shook her head “Morgana, that was a very rash decision. You should have talked to us before making arrangements in all of our names.”

“Yeah! Listen to Mom-koto!” Futaba nodded.

Makoto flinched at the new nickname “That’s… not what I intended...”

Futaba grinned “It’s okay. We totally needed a mother-figure around here and it definitely wasn’t to be Ann or me.”

“Hey, I care about all of you.” Ann protested.

Futaba gave her a raised eyebrow “Yeah, but it feels so wrong to call you the mom of the group when you constantly bicker while also wanting to tear one of the symbolical “childs’” clothes off all the time.”. Anns jaw dropped and Ren felt obligated to give Futaba a fist-bump.

Morganas focus was fixed on the ground “Sorry… But.. they’re going to pick us up tomorrow morning.”

“It’s tomorrow?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Then you’ll tell them tomorrow that there’s been a change of plans and that we’re not going with them.” Ren said with crossed arms.

Sojiro shook his head “Back in my days, we were taught that we shouldn’t get into cars with strangers.” he sighed.

“Why?” Ryuji asked.

“Ya know… abductions?” Futaba said.

“Whoah… for real?” Ryujis eyes went wide. “You think that they want to abduct us?!”

“I’m pretty sure that they would have just taken Morgana if they felt like it...” Ren said.

“Hey! I would have been able to defend myself!” Morgana protested.

Sojiro sighed “Well, I’m glad that everyone is okay. I’m going to bed.”

Ren nodded “Yeah, all of us should.” he pointed at Morgana “And you better prepare what to tell them tomorrow. I’m not getting into a car with mysterious people to drive to mysterious places.”

The large van smoothly rolled over the mostly still intact high-way.

“I can’t believe that we’re here...” Ren threw a look at Morgana.

“Well...” Morgana stammered. “How was I to know that they would take our arrangement so serious?”

“I told you. I told all of you.” Ryuji felt validated one row behind them.

“Oh shut it. You’re acting like you called that they would pull their guns on us.” Ann hissed while leaning over Yusuke, who had ended up sitting between them.

Makoto looked out the window and said “Let’s just hope that Morgana really signed us up for a job.”

“I’ll be so pissed if we get locked up again.” Ryuji muttered. “Already sucked at Jinbocho.” he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Makoto nervously brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

“At least Futaba was able to dodge the bullet.” Yusuke noted.

“I’m pretty sure she’s pissed enough about having to throw the tavern alone with Sojiro on a weekend.” Ren replied.

“I’d wanna switch...” both blondes and Yusuke said at once.

The closer they got to their destination, the bumpier the road got. Ren had finally managed to fall asleep when he was shaken awake again. As he looked around, he found that he wasn’t the only one. Beside him, he saw Morgana clutching Makotos arm who tried to stabilize both of them by holding onto a handle.

On the bench behind him, Ryuji was violently bumping up and down on the bench. Ann tried to anchor herself with two outstretched arms while Yusuke had one hand clamped on her thigh to stabilize.

“Yusuke, watch where you’re touching!” Ann complained before an extremely big pothole caused her to bump her head against the window “Oooow...” she whined.

“Thanks. Morgana.” Ryuji growled.

It was wide after midnight when the van rolled back up onto smoother roads. Ren looked out the window when they stopped in front of a large metal gate. “Okumura Industries.” he read aloud from the metal letters on the brick wall.

“The gun factory?” Ryuji bolted up and yelled much too close to Rens ear.

“We’re hired by Okumura Industries?” Makoto asked, surprised.

“Well, that explains the cars, the money, the everything...” Ren said.

After a brief halt, the gates slid open and the van drove inside. It was hard to make out anything in the dark. The car eventually stopped and the door slid open to reveal one of their captors/contractors.

“We’re here.” he pointed a flashlight at their faces before motioning for them to step out. He led them towards a small brick-house. “You can rest up in there. We’ll pick you up in the morning for the briefing.” he opened the door for them.

“This won’t be locked, right?” Ren asked as the others stepped inside.

The guard chuckled and shook his head “Noone can leave these walls without permission anyway.”

“Lovely.” Ren replied.

When the door closed behind them and left them standing in the dark, Ren found a light-switch. Without any hope, he gave it a flip only to see the lights to flicker to life.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed. “This place has power!”

“And look at those beds!” Ann exclaimed. The bed-frames were made out of steel-rods, but every mattress was covered by spotless white sheets, freshly laundered and pressed. “And there’s even a bathroom?!”

“See?” Morgana said “We’re not their prisoners.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “There’s no way you could have known that.”

Ryuji dropped down on one of the beds with a loud groan “This is heaven.”

Yusuke yawned “I don’t think that I have ever seen a lodging this attractive.”

“I wish that we would have gotten the chance to pack some pajamas...” Ann said.

“I have to admit that we have encountered worse...” Ren admitted.

“We still don’t know what awaits us tomorrow.” Makoto said. “I say that we better rest up as much as possible.”

Ren didn’t remember falling asleep. The mattresses didn’t only look appealing, they also were comfortable. He groaned internally when all of them were woken up by a loud banging on the door. When it didn’t seem to stop, Ren reluctantly rolled out of bed and trotted to the door. The same man from yesterday stood towering in front of him.

“It’s time to go.”

“Yeah, we kinda had a rough night so could we get 10 minutes?” Ren asked.

“You get 5. After the briefing you will be served breakfast.”

“What a service.”. Ren closed the door and looked into the groggy faces of his teammates “Rise and shine. Work is calling.”

“I’m not used to this… I work at a tavern.” Ryuji groaned.

Yusuke looked half-dead when he slowly dragged himself towards the bathroom.

“Lady Ann, you need to get up.” Morgana called out as he put on his boots.

“Just a few more minutes...” Ann murmured into her pillow.

“We don’t have those...” Makoto said as she tried to adjust her hair as much as possible. While usually so diligent, she also had to stifle a yawn for once.

“Yeah, yeah...” Ann mumbled with no intention of even opening her eyes.

Ryuji sighed and walked to the foot of her bed. “Come on. Time to get up.” he sullenly said before reaching under the blanket to grab her by the ankle.

A sharp squeal rang through the shack as Ryuji pulled Ann out of bed, letting go of her ankle in time so she was able to stop her fall.

“Ryuji!” Ann shrieked, her hair a mess.

“You drooled.” Ryuji simply pointed out, causing her to quickly wipe the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

Ann was trying to tame he hair to no avail as they were marched towards a huge manor. The guard led them in through the service-entrance to then walk them into a huge dining hall. Rens stomach started to rumble when he saw the wide arrangements of fruit and other delicious dishes all set up on the table for what appeared to be one single person, sitting at the head and looking at a stack of reports.

When he saw the 5 messy teenagers and a child enter, he looked up from his read “You must be the bodyguards. I heard that there was a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“Closing deals with a child can lead to that...” Ren said. He already felt the daggers shooting from Morganas eyes, but Makoto seemed to hold him back.

“Well, I hope that you understand that since we’re a bit under pressure, we had to take measures.” the man replied. “Besides, you will be rewarded accordingly by the end of the weekend.”

“I hope that we also get a ride home.” Ren quipped.

The man in front of him didn’t seem to find him funny. “While you are here, you will be provided with everything from weapons to food and attire. This is an official occasion after all.”

“What is?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“My daughters wedding.”

“You need bodyguards for a wedding?” Ren asked.

“It’s an important union between two influential families who each bring their own set of enemies with them. Providing safety at an event like this is of utmost importance.” the man who must have been none other than Okumura himself explained. “You will be the personal guards for the bride and the groom. My staff will provide you with a detailed plan of the weekend. The grooms family and the special guests will arrive throughout the day to partake in the banquet tonight. Tomorrow will be the official wedding ceremony. The day after tomorrow my daughter will be married and you will be returned to your home.”

“Pretty packed weekend.” Ren said. 

Okumura nodded “My staff should have already delivered breakfast, attire and weaponry for the day to your quarters. As soon as the first guests arrive, I will have three of you picked up and taken to my daughter. You are not to leave her or her fiances side until I release you for the day. Is that understood?”

Everyone nodded.

“Very well. You can go.”

After being accompanied to the exit, the six were allowed to walk to their quarters on their own. As Ren opened the door, his eyes went wide when he spotted the push-cart of food in the middle of the shack. He was still not as enthusiastic as Ryuji, who almost barreled him to the ground at the sight of their breakfast.

“Finally. I’m staaarving!” he groaned before loading one of the plates with a bit of everything.

“They didn’t even provide us with food on our drive yesterday.” Yusuke noted.

“Then this has a lot to make up for.” Ren said. There were fresh fruits and vegetables on the cart, along with some porridge and even warm pancakes with what he guessed was honey.

Ryuji groaned loudly when he bit into one of the pancakes “Do you think that guy would adopt me? I wanna eat like this every day!”

“I’m pretty sure noone would adopt you.” Morgana cackled.

“And he definitely didn’t look like fun..” Ann noted.

“Marrying into the family is off the list too, I guess.” Ren smirked.

“But the pancakes.” Ryuji smiled with stuffed cheeks

While working on her plate of fruit, Ann looked around the shack. “They really gave us guns too.” she noted when she saw a black bundle laying on every bed.

“They’re putting a lot of trust in us already...” Makoto noticed.

“I guess Okumura is pretty sure that we’d do anything for that reward.” Ren said. “I mean, now that we’re here, why not get Sojiro a new pair of shoes?”

“I didn’t know that he needed new shoes.” Ann said.

Both Ren and Makoto sighed and shook their heads “It’s a figure of speech.” Makoto explained. Why did it make Ren so happy to finally have someone who got his remarks?

They decided to get ready after breakfast, in case they were called to duty. Todays attire consisted of black pants and a tight black turtleneck.

“Who got the idea of turtlenecks in the summer?” Ryuji complained.

“At least the material is light.” Yusuke said.

Ren checked out the new gun when the bathroom-door opened to reveal the two girls. Seeing Makoto all dressed in black was nothing new. Black pants and a turtleneck was the outfit that he had seen her in for the first time and she still looked stunning in it. Only this time she caught his looks, so he nervously had to avert his eyes. When he looked at Ryuji, he noticed that the blonde guy wasn’t entirely left cold by Anns attire either but Ren figured that skintight already sealed the deal for the blonde. What came as a surprise though, was that Ann seemed a bit flustered by how well the tight black turtleneck fit Ryuji too. Ren had to admit that the fabric did wonders for his muscles. Even he himself looked like he had some.

“Ugh… whose idea were the turtlenecks?” Ann sighed.

“At least you got them your size!” Morgana complained as he rolled up the sleeves to half of their length.

It was around midday when there was a knock on the door. One of the guards came to escort them to their protegees. Ren, Yusuke and Ann were assigned to the bride while Morgana, Makoto and Ryuji were directed to the groom.

Ren and the other two were accompanied to the first floor. They walked along a hallway with a bunch of portraits before they were all but shoved into a huge bedroom.

“Miss Okumura, these will be your personal guards for the weekend.” the guard showed his polite side for once.

“Thank you.” an all too kind voice replied before the girl it belonged to stepped into view. She had chin-long, light-brown and curly hair and must have been about the same age as them. You only needed to look into her face to know that she must be the kindest soul. Ren had to hide his surprise. She was somewhat of the exact opposite that he imagined an heiress to a gun-mogul to be. When the guard left her alone with her personal bodyguards, the girl curtsied with a small smile “My name is Haru Okumura. I appreciate your service.”

All three of them were baffled that their protegee just actually thanked them for their presence.

“Um… it’s our pleasure?” Ren said. “You can call us Joker, Fox and Panther.”

Miss Okumura looked surprised at the code-names but politely nodded nonetheless. As their introductions were over, they uncomfortably looked around her luxurious and huge bed-room.

“I assume that my father has instructed you to stay by my side at all times?” Miss Okumura asked eventually.

Ann nodded “Yes. He must be very concerned about your safety.”

The girl smiled a sad smile while she shook her head “I’m afraid that it’s not because he fears for my safety as a person, but rather as his goods that shouldn’t be damaged.”

The three exchanged an uncomfortable look before Ann nervously started to chuckle “Do… you really think so?”

Miss Okumura actually looked sorry for Ann when she answered “I’m afraid I know.”

“Then this wedding...” Yusuke started to think out loud.

“Is beneficial to Okumura Industries.”

“You’re being married off?!” Ann asked wide-eyed. “You didn’t get to choose your own husband?”

Miss Okumura shook her head. “My father has made an arrangement for me and I will have to take it.”

“But you don’t want to, do you?” Yusuke asked when he saw through the facade.

Miss Okumuras face twitched for a millisecond, showing the briefest hint of fear before she took a deep breath and recomposed herself “I’m afraid that I am in no position to negotiate. It’s my duty as an Okumura to secure the companies future and if that can only be achieved by me marrying Sugimura, then I will do it.”

“Do you believe that your fathers company is more important than your own happiness?” Yusuke asked.

Miss Okumura smiled “It’s not just my fathers company… it’s supposed to be a part of me too, as it was for every Okumura before me.”

“That’s… messed up...” Ann whispered. “Shouldn’t your father want you to go your own way?”

The fluffy-haired girl didn’t have an answer to that. She decided to change the topic “I should get ready so I can welcome the guests before dinner.”. She took another deep breath before she hurried off into her private bathroom.

“We… don’t have to follow her there, do we?” Yusuke asked uncertainly.

“Of course not!” Ann exclaimed before quietly adding “I think. After what we just learned about Okumura, I’m not so sure anymore. He doesn’t seem to give a damn about his daughter.”. She frowned “This makes me so mad...”

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder “Keep it together. I know that this is a real shit-show, but we can’t do anything. She’s so brainwashed that she actually believes that it has to be this way.”

“This is messed up.” Ann muttered “I just hope that her father picked her someone nice.”

As the evening arrived, the three reconnected with the others again when they were allowed to catch a quick break while everyone was at dinner. They too were served something probably a little less exclusive but still delicious in one of the staffs break-rooms.

The entire time while watching the heiress getting ready, Ren had noticed Ann nervously chewing her lip. He figured that she was a bit more bothered by the arranged marriage. She didn’t have to say it out loud, Ren knew her well enough to know that she believed in true love and that marriage – even while absolutely pointless in these times – should be something with a deeper meaning than corporate benefit. Funny enough, it seemed like all of them had something on their mind since they didn’t eat their food as enthusiastically as anticipated.

“So… how is Miss Okumura?” Morgana eventually asked.

“She’s nice.” Ann said while poking at her steamed vegetables.

“Shit...” Ryuji muttered before Makoto elbowed him in the side. But he had already garnered everyones attention. He sighed “I know that Queen doesn’t want me to say it, but that guy’s an asshole.” at least he made the effort to whisper.

Ann almost dropped her fork “He is?”

Morgana decided to break his silence too “He says really mean things about Miss Okumura, like how she’s definitely not the type of girl he would have went for and then he said that it’s okay, because he can still find someone else to play?”

“Is he forced to marry her too?” Yusuke asked.

“Maybe a bit, but he doesn’t seem to be upset about it.” Ryuji muttered “His brother is always around him too and that asshole constantly tells him about how he can’t wait to finally get his hands on her. The worst thing is that Okumura seems to know of his intentions. As soon as they’re married, he will be the heir to Okumura Industries too.”

“Her father is giving away her claim?” Yusuke asked “Do you think that Miss Okumura is aware of this?”

“I don’t know but I certainly wouldn’t care about doing anything for my father if that’s all it would get me.” Ann grimly replied.

“Guys...” Makoto called everyone to order “I don’t know if we should meddle in this. We’re here on a contract and there is no way that we could help her.”

“That’s just a really lame excuse to not care, don’t you think?” Ann glared, causing Makoto to recoil.

“That’s not it...” she stammered.

Ren raised his hands in an attempt to calm everyone down “Let’s… continue looking. We’re here for another entire day.”

The six spent their evening with standing against walls and observing the apocalypses high society. No matter where they were, Okumuras iron stare dominated the room. He didn’t look like the events of this weekend were a day of joy to him but rather a business deal. The guy that Ryuji identified to him as the fiance was constantly by his side, talking to him and probably crawling up his ass. Miss Okumura looked like she was forced to stand beside her fiance. A forced smile was on her lips but her eyes told an entirely different story.

Watching the heiress suffering through the whole evening made Ren question how she would manage the day to come. As the party came to and end, they were approached by the undoubted Master of the house.

“You’re released of your duties for the night. You will be picked up after breakfast tomorrow morning.”

Ren nodded and Okumura walked off.

Ryuji yawned “I’m already looking forwards to that mattress...” he smiled.

Ren absentmindedly nodded as he watched the heiress walk upstairs. He raised his eyebrow when he noticed Sugimura following soon after. “Hey… where does the groom stay?” he asked Makoto.

“The guest-rooms are right down the hallway.” Morgana said.

“What’s wrong?” Ann asked.

Ren shook his head “Nothing, I just want to check something real quick. Yusuke?”

The artist looked confused but nodded.

Ann furrowed her brow “Hey, where are you going? Is it something about Miss Okumura?”.

Ren motioned her to calm down “We’re just making sure that she’s okay. You should go back so they won’t wonder why we’re still here.”

Ann was about to walk with them but was then held back by Ryuji. “Ren and Yusuke got it under control. Come on, before someone gets suspicious.” he calmly said.

Ann looked torn but she eventually gave in to Ryujis arguments and followed the rest while Ren and Yusuke hurried up the stairs. They heard her voice before they saw them.

“Please… you’re hurting me!” Miss Okumura nervously pleaded.

“Come on. We’re getting married tomorrow, what difference will one night make?”

“No… Please…”

Ren and Yusuke exchanged an alarmed look before picking up the pace. When they rounded the corner, they spotted Sugimura who had his hand closed around the heiresses wrist, who was trying to break free while still being afraid to cause too much commotion. The panic in her eyes showed that she was scared for her life though.

“Miss Okumura?” Ren called out to announce their presence.

Sugimura turned around and sneered at them, his arm still wrapped around her wrist “Just a little lovers quarrel with my fiancee, gentlemen.”. Distracted by the sudden interruption, his grip on his wife-to-be seemed to loosen for when she made another attempt to break free, she was successful but tumbled to the ground from the momentum.

“It looked like you were bothering her.” Ren said as he and Yusuke walked up to them and positioned themselves in front of her.

Yusuke was facing the heiress and offered her his hand with a polite bow “MiLady.”

Miss Okumura was perplexed but took his hand eventually.

Sugimura smirked “She’s my fiancee. I’m sure that we can figure things out.”

“I’m sure the lady is a bit tired. She’s got a big day tomorrow.” Ren replied.

Sugimura furrowed his brow but ultimately decided to walk away. After he was out of sight, Ren turned around to check on the heiress who was back on her feet. She looked upset but seemed to calm down a bit now that her fiance was gone. “Come on.” Ren said “Let’s get you to your room.”

The girl timidly nodded and let herself be guided to her room. When Ren closed the door behind them she turned to them and took a deep breath. Her eyes were still full of panic, yet she forced herself to smile again “Thank you for your aid.” she curtsied.

“Did he hurt you?” Yusuke asked.

The girl shook her head “I’m okay. Thank you for stepping in and deescalating the situation. I’m sorry that I kept you from your rest.” she smiled another forced smile “Well… good night...”

Ren and Yusuke exchanged a look before they reluctantly stepped out of her room. They stood in the hallway for a few seconds before Yusuke said “This isn't right...” he turned on his heel and barged threw the door again.

While Ren was worried about his friend walking in on an heiress getting changed, he had to admit that Yusukes hunch was right for when they stood in her bedroom again, the girl was cowering on the floor and crying. The sudden entry by her two bodyguards was too quick for her to put on her face again, so her head shot up with tears streaming down her face and puffy eyes.

While Yusuke closed the door, Ren approached the heiress and squatted down beside her. He carefully put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. When Yusuke knelt down beside her too, all dams seemed to break when she sobbed uncontrollably “I…. I can’t do it. I… can’t… marry him….” she sobbed with her face buried in her hands.

Ren squeezed her shoulder.

“I’m… I’m so scared of him. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.” she sobbed “I.. can’t marry this man...”

“Is there any way that you can talk to your father?” Ren asked.

Haru shook her head “I’ve voiced my concern about him every time he came to visit. But his family is an important ally to ours.”

“But that shouldn’t be the priority.” Yusuke objected.

“But it is.” Haru sniffed. “I have to marry Sugimura tomorrow and then noone can help me. I will never be safe, not even tonight. You calling him out will just make him more angry and he will just come back later...”

“Would you feel better if Panther stayed here with you tonight?” Ren asked.

Miss Okumuras eyes went wide before she slowly nodded.

“Then I will fetch her at once.” Yusuke nodded before taking off again, leaving the heiress and Ren sitting on the floor.

Ren could already guess where this was going and mentally kissed their reward good-night when he started “Miss Okumura...”

“Please… call me Haru.” she quietly said.

Ren nodded “Okay. Then you can call me Ren.”

“Very well… Ren.” Haru wiped away a tear.

“Haru… Do you want to leave this place?”

Harus eyes went wide “Leave?” she asked “But… where would I go?” she shook her head “I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid that my fate has been sealed.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Ren pointed out. “Are you okay with your father dictating everything about your life and giving away your claim to the highest bidder?”

Haru squeezed her eyes shut “I’m not. But what choice do I have?”

“You have one now. I have absolutely no idea how but if you say so, we will stay up all night and work up a plan to get you out of this place.”

Haru seemed surprised by the seriousness in his voice.

“You don’t have to have your life dictated by someone else.” Ren said “If you don’t know where to go, you can stay with us for a while. Although I have to warn you that I told that to both Fox and Queen and they’re still here to this day with no plan of moving out.”

Haru made a noise that could have been a giggle before she turned serious again “I… always wondered what life would be like if I didn’t have to worry about… all of this...”

“If you want to live your life away from Okumura Industries, then noone should stop you.”

Haru slowly nodded. She flinched when the door opened but visibly relaxed when Yusuke returned with both Ann and Makoto. Ann looked incredibly worried when she squatted down beside Haru.

“Fox told us everything. Are you okay?”

Haru slowly nodded “I was lucky that my bodyguards were here in time.”

Ann nodded and pointed to Makoto “This is Queen. We’ll stay with you for the night, so you don’t have to worry.”

“You’re very kind. Thank you.” Haru bowed her head before she turned to look at Ren again “I… don’t think that I can take you up on your offer.” she slowly climbed back to her feet “I feel very flattered but I’m afraid that it’s too late for me now.”

Ren shook his head “It’s up to you. We won’t force you to anything. If you should change your mind, you know where to find us.”

Makoto already seemed to smell the trouble for she gave Ren a worried look. When Yusuke and Ren left, they were followed into the hallway by Makoto.

“What did you offer to her?” Makoto asked, her eyes piercing with suspicion.

Ren wondered why he found this so attractive. “It’s good that you ask, we can definitely use your brain working on this too.” Ren said before whispering in to her ear “If she should change her mind, there might a be a possibility that we’re stealing the bride.”

Makotos eyes went wide but she was too dumbfounded to say anything before Ren and Yusuke left.

Watching Haru Okumura getting ready for her wedding the next morning was painful to watch. She had an entire squad around her to help her dress, arrange her hair and do her make-up but she looked miserable, no matter how much powder the stylist dusted onto her pale face. Ren was sure that Ann noticed that the heiress was on the verge of crying at least three times, for the blonde girl was nervously chewing her lips. Yusuke wasn’t left cold by the entire event either for he nervously tugged at the buttoned-up collar of his white dress-shirt before adjusting his black tie for what felt the fiftieth time. They had all been provided with black suits that mysteriously felt like they had been tailored to their exact measurements. Especially the girls fitted pant-suits looked like someone had made them for their bodies exclusively. Ren was glad that Makoto had been too busy with tugging at her clothes and giving a raised eyebrow to Ryuji and Ann, who both had stood frozen for what must have been minutes after they first laid eyes on each other in todays attire.

“Do we really have to watch this?” Ann leaned over and whispered into his ear. “I don’t know how much more suffering I can bare to see...”

Indeed, as her squad stepped away from her to let her take a look at herself, Miss Okumura seemed like she was about to crumble before she forced another smile on her face and said “You’ve done a remarkable job. Thank you very much.”

Ren leaned over to Ann to reply “You know that I offered. If she says No, then we’re not going against that. She seems to be disrespected enough already.”

“Yeah, but is this really the right moment to be respectful? She’s clearly suffering!” Ann whisper-shouted into his ear.

“I can hear you, you know?” Harus voice caused both of them to flinch and to stand up straight again. The fluffy-haired girl just shook her head “I’m sorry, if I make you uncomfortable.”

Ann energetically shook her head “NO! No, no, no! That’s not what I meant.” she rambled.

“She meant that you don’t look very becoming of a bride.” Yusuke said.

“Yusuke!” Ann gasped. “That’s not what I said!”

Haru shook her head “I can’t say that you’re wrong. I used to believe that weddings were supposed to be a happy occasion too…”

“I’m so sorry… It’s just so obvious that you’re scared.” Ann said “Why do you let your father decide something so personal for you?”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” Haru asked weakly.

“There’s always a choice!” Ann replied before pointing at her and the two guys “All of us… we had to make hard decisions too. But you won’t be alone. You’ll have us and we’ll help you find your place. Not the place that your father makes for you, but the place that You belong to.”

Harus eyes were watering for the tenth time when she quickly reached for a tissue to avoid ruining her make-up. “I… I’m sorry… I can’t.”

Yusuke looked at the clock on the wall “It’s almost time...”

“But...” Ann tried to object before Ren placed his hand on her shoulder

Yusuke offered the bride his arm “Are you ready?”

Haru took a deep breath and adjusted her hair-decoration before she hooked her arm around his and nodded. When she walked out of the room with Yusuke, Ren turned to Ann “Go intercept Morgana. I want you two to have an eye on the situation from a distance. If she should change her mind, we’ll need a fast escape.”

Anns eyes went wide “But she said No...”

“She did, but the worst part is still ahead of her…” Ren replied.

Ann nodded “Close to the kitchen, there’s the station for food-deliveries. Maybe we can take a car from there...”

“Do it, but do it discreet. Pop out the charm and send Morgana sneaking around.”

Ann nodded before hurrying off.

The large doors to the garden were already open and all the guests were standing on the neatly trimmed, green lawn. Sugimura and her father were standing close to the door in anticipation for her arrival. Both of their faces didn’t exactly show the fitting emotions for such an event. Close to the groom stood Makoto and Ruyji. Morgana was already gone, hopefully with Ann.

“You’re late.” Okumura pointed out when Haru stopped in the door.

“We’ll have to work on that once we’re married.” Sugimura said in his slimy voice. Yusuke felt Harus entire body shivering through her arm around his.

“Now that everything is in place...” Okumura motioned for Sugimura to walk to his position down the aisle and gave the string-quartet the cue to start the music. When he walked up to the bride and her guards to take his spot beside her, Haru wrapped her arm around Yusukes tighter, shivering violently all the way like a scared puppy.

“Is this how you want it to be?” Yusuke quietly asked. “Scared for the rest of your life? A spoiled childs plaything? A brick in your fathers road to influence?”

Harus eyes were on the ground when she replied almost inaudibly “I don’t.”

“Then get mad.” Yusuke said “Get mad and take back your life!”. Okumura had almost reached them when he felt Haru taking a long breath before she drew back her arm from him.

“I’m calling off the wedding, father.” she said with a shaky voice.

Okumura didn’t even bother to raise an eyebrow “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course you’re going to marry Sugimura because that’s what the company needs.”

Haru shook her head “Sugimura is a horrible person and I don’t ever want to be alone with him. Doesn’t this mean anything to you?”. She seemed to be well aware of the attention that shifted towards her.

Okumuras stare intensified “You will do as you’re told.”

A tear rolled down Harus cheek when she said “I’m nothing more than a pawn to you, am I?” she shook her head “But not anymore. Farewell, father.”

Okumura took a step forward and wanted to grab Haru by the wrist when Ryuji and Makoto appeared into sight, their guns covertly pointed at Okumura.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Okumura seethed.

Ren smirked “You’ve hired too good a group of bodyguards for your daughter, it seems.”

“You idiots made a big mistake. How do you plan to leave this compound?” Okumura warned.

“We’d be stupid to tell you that we found a hole in the wa- OW!” Ryuji exclaimed when Yusuke elbowed him.

“For fucks sake, Skull...” Ren sighed before drawing his gun too. “We’re leaving. Run!”

Yusuke reached for Harus wrist and the four teenagers and the bride started running, Makoto and Ren making the rear, their eyes and guns directed backwards to check for guards following them. Their idea seemed to work, for only a few men came running after them with Okumura, the rest of them was hopefully sent to investigate a non-existant hole in the wall. They made their way through the kitchen to bust through the exit where the food-deliveries arrived. After blocking the door, they already saw a guard laying on the ground, unconscious, with both Ann and Morgana feverishly searching his body.

“Why isn’t the car running already?” Ryuji exclaimed.

“He doesn’t have a key!” Ann whined before turning to Morgana “You said that you already saw them somewhere on him before we knocked him out!”

“I did!” Morgana protested before checking underneath the white delivery-van. “There! It’s under the car!”

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Ann shrieked before giving the kid a good shove and sending him sliding on the smooth concrete underneath the van on his belly.

“Hey! Don’t throw children!”

“I thought you weren’t a child!” Ryuji pointed out.

Someone was trying to break through the blocked door when Morgana scrambled out from underneath the van again. “Here!” he tossed the keys to Makoto who was already on her way to the drivers cabin. “Everyone else goes in the back!” she ordered while climbing into the drivers seat and starting the engine.

Yusuke and Ren ripped open the rear doors before ushering everyone else in. They were about to reach for the double-door to pull it shut when a guard burst through the door, Okumura and Sugimura behind him.

“GUN IT!” Ryuji yelled and almost fell out when Makoto did just that but Ann and Haru caught his arms in time. When everyone found their footing again as Makoto barreled down the cobblestone-path towards the main-gate, all of the passengers helped together to pull the huge doors shut, leaving them in complete darkness except for the one small window that led to the drivers cabin.

Haru was clutching both Yusukes and Anns hand when Makoto stopped in front of the gate. Ren ducked underneath the window and listened.

“Where are you off to?” the guard-post asked.

“We’ve run out of vegetables for the feast. I was tasked with organizing new ones.” Makoto replied.

The guard was about to say something when the walkie-talkie in his little guard-house crackled to life. He was about to move back to listen when Makoto pulled her gun. He froze immediately.

“It’s urgent.” she said.

The man nodded and activated the switch, causing the gate to slide open. Makoto didn’t wait for it to open completely when she squeezed through the smallest crack and sped off.

In the back, everyone sank to the ground and let out a collective breath.

“We did it.” Yusuke said, relieved.

“Man… that was an adventure.” Ryuji sighed.

“Nice acting there, Skull.” Ren said. They had come up with the idea last night after Ren and Yusuke had returned to their quarters and spit-balled with the idea of crashing the wedding.

“Hah, thanks. But I don’t get why I had to play the idiot...” the blonde answered.

“And I don’t get why the top buttons of Anns blouse were unbuttoned.” Yusuke pointed out.

“Hey!” Ann exclaimed “Someone had to distract the guard so he wouldn’t see Morgana coming! And just where are you looking?!”

Ryuji sighed “Did you pretend that you got lost again?”

“No!” Ann protested “Well… yeah… technically… I told him that I was looking for the garden...”

“With your acting?” Ryujis raised eyebrow was audible.

Ann let out an annoyed grunt that caused Haru to giggle.

“How are you feeling, Haru?” Ren asked.

“I feel… free.” she answered.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Morgana asked.

“Yes.” after a brief moment of silence she added “I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve risked so much just to save me, a complete stranger. I will forever be in your debt.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Ryuji said.

“Yeah. We’re just happy that we could help.” Ann agreed. “You’re coming with us for now, right?”

“If you will have me.”

“Of course.” Ren said. “Do you think that we’ll have to worry about your father coming after us?”

“I propose that we ditch the car at an adequate distance.” Makoto called out from the front.

“Agreed.” Ren said. “Besides, we got a long drive ahead of us. We’re living rather far away.”

“Yeah, but he knows where we live...” Morgana replied.

“If I know anything about my father, it’s that he doesn’t run after his assets. I’m afraid I’ve fallen out of his favor and out of his life now.”

“I’m so sorry, Haru...” Morgana said.

“It’s okay.” she replied with sadness in her voice “It needed to happen.”

“We can still enjoy the ride for a bit before we have to take a walk” Ren said and leaned back against the naked steel walls of the delivery van.

“I’m afraid I have to tell you that we are nearing the uncomfortable part of the road again.” Makoto warned.

“Oh great...” Ryuji sighed.

After another bumpy ride and a long walk later, Ren was relieved to push open the door to LeBlanc again.

“Where did you get suits?” was the first thing that Sojiro asked when he noticed the not-so-white dress-shirts, black pants and jackets on the group.

“First of all: Hello.” Ren said before adding “And the suits came with the bride.” he stepped aside to lead in Haru, who looked around the tavern with awe.

Sojiro shook his head “I guess you didn’t get the reward?”

“Nope.”

The old man looked at the fluffy-haired girl with a small smile when he said “Welcome to LeBlanc.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's how the Phantom Thieves crashed a wedding. 
> 
> I'm not a fan of the Morgana-drama, so this one was a on the very light side, but since Morgana is the reason why the Thieves meet Haru I just had to do something resembling it;)
> 
> A few chapters ago, I've celebrated 50 chapters and today I want to say thank you for over 200 Kudos! Another huge milestone for me and this project. Whether you just started reading recently or you've followed this story since the start: Thank you so much! Fell free to leave a comment too, if you enjoy the read! I really like hearing your thoughts about the story ;)
> 
> It's been a while since I've posted a chapter as long as this. Let me know what you thought of Harus backstory. Little teaser for next Chapter: There will be a short flashback where we'll see how she got her codename;)


	55. Tunes From The Past

“ _We’ll go there, get some answers and then we’re on our way again.”_

Ren slowly opened his eyes. They’ve been staying at the Inn for a few days now. When they had approached the Innkeep and explained that they would be staying for a while, she had set them up with a room in the roof structure to give them a little more privacy. It wasn’t more than a large area of mattresses but it made for a better room to talk strategy than the shared dormitory downstairs. Ren slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had told Haru that she wouldn’t have to stay at Okumura Industries. In the end, it had been her choice to sacrifice herself but Ren couldn’t help but feel guilty. He could have figured, that Okumura would try something funny. He remembered Harus scared expression one year ago, when Yusuke and he had found her cowering on the ground, crying. He just hoped that Hifumi had been able to reach her already and that she was able to provide some comfort for her. As he reached for his shirt, he noticed that Ryuji and him were the only ones left.

“Mornin’” the blonde yawned before fishing a long, blonde hair out of his mouth with obvious disgust on his face.

“Morning.” Ren nodded before looking around “Guess we’re the last.”

Ryuji nodded “To be honest, it’s really weird to just sit around and wait for the others to work… Ohya says that we can’t help her either, so all we can do is wait for Mishima and Kaoru to set everything up.”

“I’m getting a bit anxious too. Not because I don’t trust them but it’s just… strange to not be in control for once...”

“Right?” Ryuji smirked before he turned serious again “I wouldn’t hesitate to go work at the factory too, if Okumura didn’t know our faces...”

“I know. Me too.” Ren agreed.

“Ya think Mishima and Kaoru can really pull it off?” Ryuji asked.

“I sure hope so.” Ren answered. “Besides, they’re not alone. We have Ohya, who will hopefully be able to rally all the workers on their way to or from the factory to spread the message inside.” he put on his boots while continuing “We just… have to convince enough people. What sucks is that we don’t know how long it will take...”

“I feel for Haru… It must be horrible to be back in this fucked-up place and with her old man too..” Ryuji said.

“Yeah...” Ren nodded “I keep wondering if I should have told her to stay behind...”

Ryuji shook his head “She would have never allowed that.” he scratched his head “Besides… If it wasn’t for her, we would have never left that factory in the first place.”

Ren recalled Okumuras words about him playing their weaknesses to get them to obey. As much as he wanted to say that Harus surrender could have been avoided, in the end he always had to admit that if she hadn’t done what she had, none of them would have left the factory.

“But man.. I feel so shitty. We saw that she was suffering and we couldn’t do anything to cheer her up. I think we just accepted that she was sad and decided to blend it out because we didn’t know how to help her.” Ryuji sighed.

Ren smirked “What an elaborate way to justify your hangover...” when Ryuji was about to object, he raised his hand to signal that he was just joking “I think you’re right. We weren’t the friends to her that we should have been. And yet she still sacrificed herself for us.” he shook his head “She really is the kindest soul of them all..”

“Yeah. But we’ll get her out.” Ryuji said and got to his feet with a groan.

“Already missing your mattress?” Ren smirked.

Ryuji scratched his head “Yeah. That and privacy...”

“Just don't upset the people by doing something upsetting in public.” Ren grinned.

“Dude, what the eff?” Ryuji said with bright-red cheeks “We… We don’t do stuff like that.”. His demeanor immediately changed when he found a counter-argument “It wasn’t us who disappeared to the hunting shack all the time before we moved in together.” he smirked. “So maybe I should be telling you the same thing.”

“I knew that someone would figure it out eventually...” Ren sighed, slightly embarrassed. “Just… don’t tell Makoto that you know.”

Ryuji smacked his upper arm and squeezed his lips shut before he opened the door. They were about to walk to the ladder when Ann appeared into sight.

“Hey you two. Up already?” she smiled.

Ren nodded “I assume that we didn’t miss a lot?”

Ann shook her head “Makoto talked to the Innkeep today and she told us that the factory-workers pass by mostly on fridays and sundays, so things should start to get interesting tomorrow.”

“Those guys that we met last weekend after we got here didn’t seem too talkative… Let’s hope that the next badge will be a bit more willing to cooperate..” Ren said.

“She also gave Ohya directions to some of the villages nearby, where apparently a lot of the workers live. We were thinking about going to those today. There might not be workers there at the moment, but maybe we can find the families of those who went missing?”

“Great. We’ll get breakfast and then we can go right away.” Ren nodded.

“Aaactually...” Ann looked at Ryuji “Can I.. talk to you for a moment?”

Ryuji didn’t need to be told twice “Sure.” he reached out and grabbed her hand before calling out to Ren “We’ll be down in a sec.” as they walked back to the room.

“Just… lock the door! And stay on your mattress!” Ren called after them with a shake of the head.

As soon as she was in the room with him, Ryuji spun around and shut the door with his back before leaning against it. He pulled Ann into a passionate kiss.

Ann gave in to him with a giggle while her hands wandered from his chest to his neck before she wove her fingers through his hair. Ryujis hand slid into the back-pocket of her pants while his other hand carefully cupped the back of her neck.

Minutes passed before their lips parted again.

“Damn I miss our room...” he muttered.

Ann smiled and leaned against his chest “We had to share quarters with all the others before too.”

“Yeah, but that was before we started kissing and doing everything that goes along with it.” he sighed.

She smirked and traced her finger along his chest “Something like this?” she asked innocently.

“Now you’re being mean.” Ryuji groaned.

She stopped and looked up at him “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”. She stood on her tip-toes to put a quick kiss on his lips. "I miss our place too. That's why I wanted to catch you alone for a bit. But break’s over now, if we don't want Ren to get any weird ideas... So let’s go downstairs.”

Ryuji sighed “Maybe they’ll just go without us if we stay up here long enough...” he leaned down so his lips were close to her ears before muttering “We’d have the room to ourselves for a bit longer too...”

Ann smirked before she reached down beside her to pull up his backpack “Come on. We got work to do.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes. He used the hand in her back-pocket to press her against him one more time and planted a kiss on her forehead before he took the backpack from her hand “Let’s get to work then.”

One corner of the tavern wasn’t to be recognized again after Ohya had set up her newspaper there. It was a mystery to all of them, how she had managed to turn the table into an almost exact replica of her work-space at the Crossroads in such a short amount of time. The Innkeep didn’t seem entirely happy about the chaotic journalist, but she was getting enough money and other bribes from all of them during their stay. And since Ohya conducted her interviews in the tavern, almost everyone ordered something to drink when coming in to talk to her, so that was another that seemed to appeased the surly Innkeep.

As Ryuji and Ann arrived downstairs, they saw noone but Ren eating breakfast and Ohya feverishly hammering into her typewriter. When the two blondes dropped down at Rens table, the black-haired leader pushed a bowl of oatmeal towards Ryuji.

“Thanks man.” Ryuji grinned.

“Where are the others?” Ann asked.

“They’re already on their way to the first village. We’re taking on another once we’re done with breakfast.” Ren said with his mouth half-full.

“How far?” Ryuji sighed.

“Not very.” Ren said “That’s literally what the Innkeep told us. Let’s just hope that the direction she pointed to was a little less vague.”

“Guess we’re bringing our weapons then.” Ryuji mumbled while scraping his bowl clean.

“We weren’t in a hurry, you know?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow as he compared his still half-full bowl.

“Oh...” Ryuji scratched his head “Must have gotten carried away.”

“There’s no way of knowing if the three got in alright, right?” Ann chewed her lip. It’s been four day since they had sent off Hifumi, Mishima and Kaoru.

“I was wondering whether we should ask the people coming through whether they saw them or not.” Ren said. “But what should have happened to them after a few days? Okumura has no idea who they are.”

“Yeah, but they have to work in a factory. Mishima will struggle with labor for sure...” Ryuji pointed out.

“He’s smart, he knows how to lay low. And he has Kaoru with him, so let’s hope that they back each other up.” Ren replied.

“You’re right. I’m sure that Hifumi won’t blow her cover either.” Ann nodded. “I hope that she’s reached Haru by now.”

“All we can do is do our part out here and trust that the others are doing their part in there.” Ren took his last spoon-full “And then we’ll hopefully meet in the middle.”

After the two guys were done with their breakfast, the three got up and took their bags before making their way towards the exit.

“Not so fast my junior field-reporters!” Ohyas voice rang through the tavern and made them turn over and stop by her office-corner. After a stern lecture from Makoto, she had grudgingly promised to restrict her alcohol-intake for the time being. But even after being completely sobered up (except for the two drinks she was allowed at night), she was still her peppy and loud self. When the three reached her table, she shoved a stack of paper into Ryujis hands “Here. While you’re on your way, you can start distributing the first issue of the “The Phantom Resistance”.” she proudly announced “I thought that we should spread the rumor before we hit them with the real tough interviews that are hopefully coming tomorrow.”

“The Phantom Resistance?” Ann read out loud.

“Catchy, huh?” Ohya smiled. “I felt that the occasion called for an entirely new name.”

“Sounds mysterious, alright...” Ren nodded.

“Oh!” the journalist called out before rummaging around her bag “Since you’re going to talk to some people for the news, you need to look the part too.” she shoved a notepad and a pen into Anns hand.

“Thanks?” Ann said.

“I hope you have a pretty handwriting, I’ll be needing those notes later on.” Ohya said.

Ren nodded “She has. She’s managed to turn many a head with her calligraphic skills.”. He chuckled when Ann elbowed him in the side with an annoyed look.

“Well…” Ohya seemed confused “don’t get your hopes up, but I’ll still be looking forward to these notes.”

“See you later then.” Ren smirked.

“Why did you have to bring that up again?” Ann whined when they stepped outside. “She seemed so weirded out...”

“Oh come on. You had fun, right?” Ren replied.

“I still remember that rancid lipgloss.” Ann said with annoyance.

“Me too...” Ryuji muttered beside her with a disgusted face before he looked at the stack of paper in his hands “The Phantom Resistance, huh? Gotta admit, that sounds hella badass...”

“It makes us sound like superheroes.” Ann giggled. “It was pretty surprising to hear that even here, some people have already heard something about the Phantom Thieves.”

“They really seem to think that they’re some avengers hiding in the shadows.” Ryuji said before chuckling “If only they knew, that they’re already among them.”

Ren shook his head “I’d rather keep it that way. Let them believe what they want, as long as they think that we’re just the ones advertising them, it’s safer for us to roam around under the radar.” he looked around to check for potential listeners “Who knows if people would even join our cause if they knew that the Phantom Thieves are just a bunch of teenagers.”

Ryuji and Ann nodded “Then we’ll just have to continue playing reporters for now.” Ann said.

Her old training yard was still how she had left it behind a year ago. The axe still stuck in the wooden chopping block in the same angle that she always used to stick it in. The estate only ever needed chopped wood for the decorative fireplace and when Haru had realized how much fun it was to chop things with an axe years ago, she had spent so much time with chopping wood that she must have provided the house with firewood for the next 5 years. She smiled when she traced her finger along the wooden hilt. Despite growing up in a gun-factory, she had never been particularly interested in guns. After seeing them displayed everywhere around the house, she didn’t really see them as something special. She had also grown up in the believe that she had inherited the pacifism and kindness of her mother, so she had never really felt the need to fight (But boy, had she been wrong there..). Until her father started to view her as his subject more than his daughter, at least. After she had watched his face transform from the kind and gentle expression of the father that she so loved, who would sometimes just grab his mother to dance in the lounge when his favorite song played on the antique record-player, to a constant sneer and scowl, something changed in her too. She knew that she would never fight him. He was her father after all and there was only one way to use a gun to make a shot count. One day of particular frustration after her father had berated her about not sucking up enough to some guests, Haru found the axe and the chopping-block not far away from the garden. She still remembered the feeling she had when she first picked up the weapon that would turn out to be her favorite. It had been heavy. And it looked so rough and not-delicate. The exact opposite of how everyone seemed to view her. She had loved the feel of it from the very first moment. And while she had absolutely no idea how to handle an axe, she had decided that she would learn it. It would be her thing. Far away from her fathers piercing eyes that only seemed to see flaws in her now that all the love had been drained from them.

Haru took a deep breath and pulled the axe from the block. It felt so much lighter now, after all these expeditions with intricate and even more brutal and even less classy double-edged Greataxes. She couldn’t help but smile when she tossed the axe and caught it again with one hand. She bent down to pick up a stray piece of wood that was laying on the ground. A smirk spread on her face when she tossed the wood into the air before doing a spin and cutting it into two even pieces.

“Wasn’t I graceful?” she giggled to herself before she slammed the axe back into the chopping block. She remembered the first time that she had gotten the opportunity to try out her home-learned skills on a real shadow.

_1 year ago_

“ _Someone complained about shadows roaming through the forests.” Sojiro said while cleaning the bar._

“ _Sounds like a job for us.” Ryuji grinned and looked at Makoto “Ready to punch some shadows, Fist of the Phantom Star?”_

“ _I told you, that’s not my nickname.”Makoto objected._

“ _Speaking of nickname, what will yours be, Haru?” Ann asked._

“ _Oh… you mean like the ones you introduced yourselves with?” Haru asked._

“ _Yup! It’s probably useless, but it’s still fun!” Futaba said._

“ _Well… I’m not sure...” Haru pondered._

“ _Maybe something classy and elegant.” Ann pictured “Oooh, what about Pearl?”_

“ _That sounds like a grandmothers name...” Futaba replied._

_Ann stuck out her tongue at the orange-haired girl before turning to Haru again “Just pick whatever sounds good to you. What are your hobbies? What things do you enjoy?”_

“ _Hmmm...” Haru hummed. She tried to look for inspiration in her clothes but as she looked down at herself, she realized that she wasn’t wearing her usuals anymore. While she started to see the appeal of wearing trousers, she still missed her polka-dotted dresses a bit. Compared to everyone else, she figured that her style was very different. She had decided to wear dresses like those on a whim after watching so many Noir-movies with her mother and since they had a tailor, it was easy to request dresses like the ones from her favorite movie-characters. “I would like my name to be Noir, if you don’t mind.” she eventually said._

“ _Noir...” Futaba rolled it around her tongue “Sounds mysterious. I like it.”_

“ _If that’s your choice, then we’re not objecting.” Ren said._

“ _Thank you.” Haru smiled. Even after a month of staying with them, she still wasn’t used to not being eyed disapprovingly all the time by someone. Her actually being given a choice in her codename was a pleasant feeling too._

“ _Back to business, I think we have some shadows to eliminate.” Makoto got up from her seat “Shall we go straight away?”_

_Ren and Ryuji nodded._

“ _May I… join you?” Haru dared to ask._

_Ren looked a bit surprised but he didn’t seem mad “Are you sure? Have you ever seen a shadow before?”_

_Haru shook her head “I never battled one before, but now that I’m not under my fathers protection anymore, maybe I should learn it.”_

_Ryuji shrugged “She’s not wrong. Gotta be a first for everything, right?”_

_Makoto looked a bit skeptical before eventually saying “I assume that you already have experience with handling a gun...”_

“ _Oh! No… I never operated a gun before.” Haru quickly pointed out._

“ _For real?!” Ryuji looked confused._

“ _But don’t worry. I’ll take something else.” she quickly hurried out the back before returning with the taverns axe._

“ _Uh… You sure about that?” Ryuji asked while scratching his head. He gave Ren a questioning look, whether to take the crazy girl with them._

_Ren looked a bit amused when he shrugged “Sure.. why not. It’s at least something to protect yourself. We’ll go and check it out. If the shadows are too tough, you’ll just stay behind and watch, okay?”_

_Haru nodded. She had no idea what was about to await her. She had never fought a shadow – or anything really – before, but somehow the axe in her hand gave her a reassuring feeling._

_Haru strolled through the forest with Ren, Ryuji and Makoto. Aside from the revolver at her hip, the brown-haired girls weapon of choice seemed to be knuckles, which Haru found very exciting. Maybe she just wasn’t to be impressed by guns._

_After a while of stalking around the forest, Ren motioned them to stop before pointing to a tall shadow that was surrounded by two feminine-looking ones, who seemed to wear long green dresses and had fragile wings on their backs, which they used to flutter around the large, muscular shadow roaming in the middle. He wore golden armor, a helmet and carried a hammer in his hand._

“ _That one looks tough...” Ryuji muttered before he turned to Haru “You stay back, okay? We’ll find you some other shadows to practice on later.”_

_Haru obediently nodded and watched the other three storm off into the shadows direction, their weapons drawn. Ryuji was occupying the large one while Ren and Makoto each fought one of the large fairies. Makotos punches seemed to work well on her opponent but Ren seemed to struggle against his. Harus heart started to beat faster when she made eye-contact with Rens fairy, who now started to fly towards her. Ren was quick to notice and hurried after his opponent but since Haru was standing in the same line, he could neither shoot nor throw his knife to stop the shadow._

_As the eyes and the shadows facial features started to grow the closer she came, the more relaxed Haru got. She had her hand wrapped around the hilt of the axe with a firm grip and while she had no idea how to fight a live-target, she didn’t worry. The shadow slowed down and came to a stop in front of her. Haru had no idea what the shadow was about to do when the feminine figure moved her hands but she just did what felt right and that was charging at it with full speed before bringing down the axe into the shadows side. A giggle escaped her when she caught the shadows surprised expression as it toppled to the ground. Her arms were already burning a bit after the large swing but she didn’t hesitate to bring the axe down into the shadows rib-cage. As the fairy disappeared, she turned her head to look at a perplexed Ren before she noticed that the other two seemed to have their hands full with the remaining big one. She didn’t wait for Rens reaction when she started running towards them, hungry for more. As she was close enough but still at a safe distance, she noticed how huge the shadow was. It had both its hands punched into the ground and was being attacked from both sides by the other two. Without thinking much, Haru grabbed the axe with both her hands, lifted it above her head and threw it at the shadows head with all her might._

_A satisfied smile spread on her face when she noticed that the blade stuck in the shadows forehead. It didn’t stay there for long, for soon after the shadow started dissolving._

_All three of her team-mates stared at her._

“ _What the HELL was that?!” Ryuji seemed to be the only one able to bring out words._

_Haru only then realized that she might have done something wrong. Had she insulted them? Had she undermined their authority by just going with whatever her gut told her? Were they mad at her now? She took a nervous step back when Ryuji barged up to her._

“ _That. Was. AWESOME!” his face turned from confusion to amazement when he shook her shoulder.  
_

_Haru let out a distressed giggle “Thank you… You’re not mad at me?”_

“ _Why would we be mad? You were a BADASS just now!” Ryuji still couldn’t believe it._

“ _Where did you learn how to fight like this?” Makoto handed the axe back to her._

“ _Oh, I didn’t really learn to fight with an axe but I trained a lot on wood back home… I just did what felt right..” Haru stammered._

“ _You must be a natural.” Ren sounded amazed. “With an axe nonetheless… I wouldn’t have taken you for an axe-fighter.”_

_Ryuji still seemed high on adrenaline when he wrapped an arm around Harus shoulders before telling the rest “Who cares? That was insane! I can’t wait to tell the others!”_

_Ryuji really couldn’t wait for he was the first to push open the door to LeBlanc to announce “I can’t believe you missed out on what we just saw!”_

_Haru hadn’t heard any praise about herself over the last years, so she thought she probably wasn’t used to a lot but Ryuji didn’t seem to be able to stop talking about her axe-skills. She thought it was nice, despite her starting to get uncomfortable._

“ _It’s a bit early for a beautiful sunset...” Yusuke guessed._

“ _Haru slaughtered two shadows with a fucking axe!” Ryuji couldn’t keep it in for more guesses from the others._

“ _Well.. it wasn’t me alone...” Haru tried to reason._

“ _Oh, you had a major part!” Ryuji argued when he dropped down in one of the booths “You should have seen it! Right in the face!”_

“ _Now I really wish I was there...” Futaba looked intrigued._

“ _Congrats, Haru!” Ann smiled. “The first fights with shadows are always tough but it seems like you didn’t struggle.”_

“ _That… really was something...” Ren nodded._

“ _She was a BEAST!” Ryuji exclaimed._

“ _Maybe that should be your codename then.” Futaba cackled._

“ _Huh..?” Haru flinched before feverishly shaking her head “Please don’t. I think I prefer Noir.”_

_Ren smiled at her when he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down “She was just joking. Besides, you’re with us now. We won’t force you to do anything.”_

_Haru slowly nodded “Yes… Thank you… I keep forgetting, but I’ll hopefully learn...”_

“ _You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Ren said “Except for gardening duty. Sojiro seems to be pretty amazed with what you’re doing to his plants.”_

_Haru giggled lightly “I’m happy to hear that I’m able to help out around here.” she looked into the eyes of her friends “You’ve all been so incredibly kind to me. I’m truly glad that I’m able to repay you in some way.”_

“ _Haru, if you don’t want to stay with us, you don’t have to because you think that you still owe us.” Makoto spoke up. “We love having you here but we don’t want you to think that you have to stay, if it’s not your wish.”_

_Haru shook her head “Don’t worry, Mako-chan.” she smiled at the other girls confused face about her nickname. She had only known them for a month know but she could already tell that each and everyone of them had their own fair share in life. “I think I found my place for now.”_

Haru had to smile at the fond memory. After experiencing the feeling of freedom, being in captivity again managed to feel even worse than the first time. She looked at the back of the large mansion. There used to be a time, where this house felt like her magic castle, filled with love and laughter but everything looked so much more grim and darker now, even though the sun was shining.

As she returned to the house through the large glass-door, in which she had stood when she had told her father that she wouldn’t marry Sugimura, her eyes fell into the lounge, where the old record-player stood. If Sato and the staff hadn’t kept it clean, Haru was sure that a thick layer of dust would lay on the record-players see-through lid. His favorite record was still ready to be played too. All that was missing was her old father.

Haru carefully lifted the lid and powered up the record-player with a few turns on the hand-crank before she carefully set the needle onto the far outside of the record. Goosebumps rose on her arms when the all-too-familiar tunes filled the room and the hallway. She quietly hummed along as she walked past the wall-high shelves, filled with books, small statues and decorative pieces as well as a few framed photographs. Haru stopped and picked up a delicate golden frame, that was laying face-down on the shelf. The picture showed all three of them with her father having an arm wrapped around her mother while carrying a little girl on his shoulders. She must have been 4 back then. All of them looked so happy in the picture. She wondered why it was laying face-down.

“She loved this record.” the voice of her father startled her and almost caused her to drop the frame.

She forced her hand to stop shaking and put the picture back on the shelf before she turned around to see him standing in the doorway. “She did.” she nodded.

“Every time that you had troubles falling asleep when you were little, she would carry you in her arms and sing one of those songs to you.” he replied.

“Oh… I don’t remember.” Haru replied, perplexed. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had had something of a real conversation with him.

He shook his head “You were very young back then.”

Haru looked at the record-player “I remember you dancing a lot.”

“Times were different.” her father stared into the distance before his gaze traveled to the piano that stood by the large window “You used to be a talented piano-player too.”

Haru looked turned around and looked at the instrument. She had started presssing the keys before she was tall enough to reach the pedals below but as time had passed and she grew up to reach them, Sato had taught her how to properly play with the right technique. She slowly walked over to the polished piano and lifted the lid. The bench was still creaking like in the old days when she slid into the middle. The piano was a bit out of tune after so many years of just being decoration but Haru still found her old skill-set fast enough when she slowly started to recall the patterns to the classical tunes that Sato used to drill into her. She could almost see Sato standing beside her and looking at her fingers with a stern look while her mother would sit on the two-seater and read a book, apparently unbothered by Haru going off-key some times. When she dared to look at her father, she found him still standing in the same spot. His eyes were closed and he seemed lost in thought. Haru continued playing while wondering. His demeanor was still as stern as ever but his behavior towards her was different. Reminiscing about the times when her mother was still alive was something that she couldn’t remember ever doing with him. Ever since her passing, mentioning her was something of an unspoken taboo. What had changed? She was so lost in thought that she hit the wrong key. She flinched at the wrong note before she turned to find her fathers eyes opened again. The record-player was still playing a tune of his own in the background as the two Okumuras stared off into the distance, together yet still apart.

“I really miss her.” Haru eventually said as she looked out the window and at the rose-bushes.

“She is missed by everyone.” her father sternly replied “Missing her won’t bring her back. Nothing will.”

“That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t express it at times.” Haru carefully replied.

“Saying it is nothing more but stating the obvious. It’s a waste of time to mourn what can’t be changed.”

Haru sadly looked at the black and white keys of the piano “You used to have so much heart. Where did it go?”

“Sato once told me that it must have gotten buried with my wife.” he bitterly replied.

“Is there really nothing left of the person that you used to be, when she was still with us?” Haru asked.

Her father grimaced as he looked around the living room, like all of a sudden he saw something that disgusted him.

“Didn’t you use to love me too?” Haru asked, struggling not to cry in front of him.

“Just turn down the music.” he said before walking away, leaving Haru alone in the lounge. The record-player kept on going but the happy song just felt out of place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking the Haru-screentime very serious, as you can see. And since last chapter hasn't really brought out badass-Haru, I felt that it was necessary to show how she became our beloved axe-swinger. Today was mainly focused on Haru and her issues with her past and her father with a small glance at what the other Thieves are doing right now. We'll check on Mishima and Kaoru next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this small detour into Harus mind. 
> 
> Also: Once again it's time to say a massive Thank You, because we've reached 10.000 hits! So thank you. Seriously. So much. I hope you continue to enjoy this story:)


	56. Welcome To The Working Class

Mishimas initial worries of oversleeping turned out to be baseless. As soon as the sun started to go up, the barracks slowly came alive. Since the rooms in the far back were much more popular and reserved for the veterans and those that needed to be hidden away during the days, Mishima and Kaoru had to settle with two beds in the first room, where the meals were being distributed too. Of course none of the bottom bunks were empty for them, but Kaoru had been kind enough to take the top bunk, so Mishima only had to worry about a small drop, if his bad luck and clumsiness would ever cause him to fall.

As he opened his eyes, the first thing he felt were his arms. It’s been four days of hard work and while Mishima had thought that his sore muscles couldn’t get any worse after his first night, he was taught the true meaning of pain now. He groaned internally. What a wimp he was. If Shiho could see him now, she would probably regret kissing him. Had she even meant it? He was still confused every time he thought of it. One time in Kamoshidas dungeon, she had told him that willpower was also a kind of strength. Right now, he felt like he was lacking every kind of it. He stared at the bottom of Kaorus mattress and contemplated his life, until eventually Iwais son climbed down.

“Ready for day 5?” Kaoru asked as he got dressed.

“No...” Mishima sighed.

“Today’s friday, so some of the workers get to go on their break.” he noted. “Maybe we’ll finally be able to get a full bowl of stew for once...”

The man on their bottom bunk cackled “You wish. They make adjustments to the portions on weekends.”

“This was a mistake.” Mishima whined. “Everyone suffers but they don’t want to do anything about it. Even the optimist of this camp thinks we’re joking...”

“Maybe it wasn’t the wisest move to blurt out your idea on the first day.” Kaoru replied. “They don’t trust us yet. We’ll just have to keep working and blending in, maybe make some new friends. If it was that easy to cause a strike, then someone would have already done it, right?”

“You’re right...” Mishima sighed.

“At least some of the guys that go on break today will pass by the others. The more people start talking about it, the better the chances.” he gave Mishima a compassionate smile “Come on. Let’s get in line for breakfast.”

“Right...” Mishima said, not moving a muscle.

“Do you need help?” Kaoru asked.

“No…” Mishima sighed “You can go ahead, I’ll be down in a bit.”

Kaoru shrugged and walked off.

Mishima groaned before he carefully wiggled himself out of bed without using his arms. Even picking up his work-overall hurt but as he realized when he moved to put it on, every muscle in his body was cramped. He ground his teeth as he zipped his overall shut. Everywhere around him, men got dressed and ready for work. He noticed how the large door opened and three large pots were carried in to be placed in their usual spots on the creaky tables. Everyone referred to their breakfast as oatmeal, but Mishima had a suspicion that it was nothing more but flour boiled in water. At least it managed to fill up the stomach.

Mishima was lost in thoughts as he was staring at the pots when a stick lightly hit him on the back of the knees. “It will take a long time until you get to eat from the top...” one of the oldest workers said to him while leaning on his cane again.

“Oh… I guess you’re right… haha...” Mishima stammered while internally adding that he probably would never see the top of the line.

“A shame. Some say that stew on top of the pots is the best.” the man smirked before leaning over “But to be honest, I never saw that...”

“That’s… good to know...” Mishima replied. The man had talked him up a few times now. He seemed kind enough but every time Mishima saw him walking, heavily leaning on his cane, he had to flinch. “Will you be going home today?” he asked, recalling their guides words that everyone worked together to get the weakest ones out one last time.

The man chuckled “Still got one week ahead of me.”

“And after that?”

They were both looking at the guy who stirred in all the pots “I’m afraid I might have to admit defeat. All the others won’t shut up about it either and I’m nothing but a burden to everyone. Half a year ago, I would have gone home for a weekend and then be ready to work for another month, but I’m not getting younger...”

“Maybe it’s for the better then.” Mishima said “Do you have family waiting for you at home?”

The man smiled “Wife, son, grandchildren… They’re all waiting for me and they’d be more than happy if I didn’t return to this hellhole.” he shook his head before adding “But if I don’t do it, then my son will have to step up in a few months. I don’t want him to miss this precious time with his kids.”

“I’m sorry...” Mishima said “But maybe there’s another solution too?”

The old man chuckled “I like your optimism. It stuck out from day one.”

Mishima sighed. Why did everyone think that he was nothing but an optimist? Maybe because he never had any concrete ideas but just told everyone to believe that things could get better. He would have probably hated himself too, back at Kamoshidas castle.

The old man patted his back with a frail hand “You’ll be okay, son. This place could use a bit of rebellion. Maybe you just have to learn how to capture the people.” he smiled a weak smile “If someone can do it, it has to be one who still has the strength to fight back.” he turned to look at the forming line in front of the breakfast-pots “And now excuse me. I have to claim my spot at the top of the line.” he grinned “There’s got to be something good coming from working yourself to death in here, right?”. He slowly walked away.

Mishima slowly walked to the back of the line, his stomach growling already. He spotted No-Good-Tora standing somewhere in higher third of the line. He wasn’t the youngest after all, but he still seemed to be in respectively good shape. Kaoru was dead-last until Mishima took his place behind him.

Being the last to get breakfast also meant that you had to eat fast because as soon as the pots were empty, it only took minutes for someone from the mansion to come pick up the dishes and with those people also came the guards that would then herd everyone to their posts to start another day of hard word without breaks. What was special about this day was that a small fraction of people was led out another way to be escorted to the main-gate, where they would be sent off into their weekend off.

The lack of men was obvious when everyone manned their stations.

“Just because some of you went home, doesn’t mean that we want any less output today, understood?” a guard bellowed through the hall. “We don’t care if it’s “almost impossible” to achieve that. Work together and make it happen, or we’re going to have a problem!”

“What does that mean?” Mishima whined to the man standing beside him.

“Means that they’re even more baton-happy today.” the worker replied.

Mishima gulped.

While working at his usual post at the smelters at first, their small group was soon approached by a different worker who needed someone to help out with transporting cargo to the storage.

Their toothless supervisor grinned and pointed at Mishima to go with them.

“Why me?!” he shrieked.

“Because you won’t need as much muscles as you would need for what we have to do next.” Kaoru was able to think ahead.

“Oh… I see… Thanks...” Mishima sheepishly said before following the man into another factory building.

“This is where we pack up the assembled things and get them ready to be transported into the shipping storage. We’ve lost a few men today, so we need someone to push some carts.” the man explained. “Don’t worry, it should be easier than what you have to do at the smelters. Won’t be as hot either.”

Mishima just nodded as he looked over all the other workstations as they passed over the assembly hall into the packaging section.

As they made their descend, he spotted Yoshida, who was stacking up packages of what he guessed to be C4 onto a large pallet. As luck would have it, that was the job that he was here to help with.

“Ah, we’ve had the pleasure before.” Yoshida smiled when the other worker loaded Mishima off beside him before quickly going about his own business again.

“Yeah.” Mishima said as he joined the man stacking the packages.

“It’s very nice of you to help.”

Mishima shook his head “It’s not a problem. As far as I saw, everyone seems to help everyone here.”

“The companionship among the workers is remarkable.” Yoshida agreed before turning a bit sad “Although I have to say that when it comes to aiding me, there is a bit of a reluctance.”

“Oh...” Mishima said. “Well… Noone told me that I was supposed to help you... But I would have, nonetheless.” he quickly added the last sentence. He cursed himself over how stupid that just sounded.

Yoshida just smiled weakly and continued to stack.

“Is it… because of your nickname?” Mishima carefully asked.

“Only the folk who knew me from before call me that.” Yoshida replied “They aren’t too fond of me at the moment.”

The two worked together to wrap up the pallet before they transported it onto a wheel-cart. With directions from No-Good-Tora, they started pushing the pallet towards the storage.

“So… how did you get the name No-Good-Tora?”

The man looked pained beside the strain in his face “It’s a long story about a very stupid man who trusted the wrong people.”

“Oh… Is that how you ended up here?”

He grimaced “I ended up here because I thought that it was the right thing to do. It turned out that I was wrong.”

“But why do the others resent you for that?” Mishima probed further.

“Because I am the reason that they are stuck here too."

Mishima was out of questions and just looked at the man with confusion.

Yoshida sighed as he leaned his entire body against the cart to keep it moving “There’s a fairly large settlement not far from here. I was one of the people voted to represent the town and to govern the finances and resources.” he grimaced and Mishima couldn’t tell if it was from the physical work or because it hurt to talk about his past. “Sadly, I made some bad decisions with our finances and our settlement was soon facing troubles, especially when we weren’t able to restock our ammunition that we bought from Okumura. It’s been many years ago and we had no clue about the working conditions. And that was when I proposed to Okumura, that instead of paying with money, the town could pay with labor.”

“You sold your townsfolk?” Mishima stared at the man.

Yoshida shook his head “Since our town wasn’t far, I thought that it would be nothing but a day job, to which we could send a few of our people. It was already too late, when we learned the truth. When I went to talk to Okumura and to end the deal, he went and told everyone in the town that I sold them off to him because I blew all the funds and the town couldn’t afford to buy from him anymore." the man shook his head "In the end, it didn’t make a difference except for now everyone despises me because they know that they would have never gotten into this situation, if I hadn’t betrayed their trust.”

“Wow…” Mishima said “No wonder that they aren’t too fond of you. No-Good-Tora is probably still a pretty nice name compared to what they really think of you.” when he saw Yoshida wincing, he quickly added “Sorry…”

They arrived in front of a large door with signs indicating fire-hazard. Yoshida went to open it before they continued pushing into a huge storage hall, that somehow was even larger than the one for the resources, that they lived next to. As they pushed the cart through the isles, he saw packets over packets of ammunition before they reached a huge storage shelve that held pallets of packaged C4, like the one that they were transporting now.

“This is insane...” Mishima quietly exclaimed as he looked at all the wares waiting to be sold. He wondered how many pallets had been bought to build the bombs.

“It’s quite a large stock.” Yoshida said as he looked for a free spot on the shelves.

“Do you… know of anyone who’s bought a large quantity of C4 lately?” Mishima asked out of the blue.

Yoshida looked surprised “We have been working on reproduction over the last weeks, but the workers don’t get to know about the buyers. Okumura either sells them himself or one of his dedicated salesmen does.” he looked around the shelves “We’re just here to produce and nothing else.”

“Hm...” Mishima pondered, still thinking about Yoshidas backstory. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why hold all those speeches about a better future? You’re the reason why some of them won’t get what you preach. Don’t you think it’s a bit… hypocritical?” Mishima asked with shaking knees. He wasn’t used to asking the tough questions, but he figured that around here, noone would ask them but him. Ren and the rest of the Thieves weren’t here and he needed to know whether No-Good-Tora could be a valuable ally to the resistance or if he was just a fraud that was preaching stuff because it sounded good.

Yoshida didn’t look mad or surprised at the question. “I know that I should be the last to tell people about this, but I think that it needs to be said. The system that we’re working in is an unjust one.” he brought the cart to a stop before saying “Maybe deep down, I want what you want. To open the peoples eyes and to fight for what’s right.”

“Have you heard about the Phantom Thieves?” Mishima asked.

“A group of unknown size that fights the evils of our society.” Yoshida replied as they both pushed off the pallet into the last open spot. “It sounds like a work of fiction, but I want to believe that a group like that exists.”

“They do.” Mishima replied “They stopped an artist that murdered his students. They also stopped an entire yakuza-clan!” he swallowed “They saved me from a bad place too!”

Yoshida looked a bit surprised “You were in contact with the Phantom Thieves?”

“Yes.” Mishima said, his hands sweaty. “And they resemble justice. They fight for people like us and they help us.” he grew more confident when he added “They put up a bulletin board in their area, where people can post their problems and then they come and help them. They’ve helped so many settlements that were threatened by shadows! And I’m sure that they would help all of you too, if your settlements need help with protecting themselves!”

Yoshida had a warm smile on his face when he answered “You seem to put a lot of your hope in them.”

“And so far, they have never disappointed me or anyone else they have sworn to help.” Mishima replied “Even when I was the one disappointing them.”

Yoshida nodded “You seem wise beyond your years. If you believe in them, then so shall I.” he dusted off his hands on his overall before adding “It’s a shame, that the Phantom Thieves are too far away to help us.”

“Maybe they aren’t as far away as you think they are.” Mishima replied.

“I’d like to think so.” the older man smiled as he got behind the cart again and started to push it towards the huge door with far less effort.

“Has noone ever tried to do something against the order here?” Mishima asked.

Yoshida shook his head “People are too afraid and too dependent on this job. They suffer, but they don’t see another choice.”

“The man who showed us the ropes on our first day said something about a nosy girl that was locked up about a year ago. Did she try to start something too?”

“I think she introduced herself as… Kayo…?” Yoshida recalled “It doesn’t happen often, that a woman comes to work at the factory so the guards were quite weary of her from the start. It became obvious rather quick that there was something she was after. She was asking a lot of questions and Okumuras men noticed that. I don’t know if she committed one offense too many but one day, Okumura himself walked in and had her escorted into the dungeon.”

“So does he ever fire people too?” Mishima asked.

“Not that I know of. People who don’t want to work for Okumura anymore can choose to stay away after their one-month-shift. People who stay and don’t follow his rules face his wrath and will be arrested.”

“And he just… doesn’t let these people out again?” Mishima gulped, hoping that he hadn’t been too obvious in front of any guard.

“Sometimes he does, depending on the offense committed.” Yoshida replied.

“But not Kayo.”

“She must be down there for over a year now.”

“Do you know where exactly they’re locked up?” Mishima asked as he slid the door shut after Yoshida passed with the cart.

The old mans eyes went wide “You can’t want to go there!”

“I don’t!” Mishima quickly exclaimed. “Just… so I know where to stay away from...” he stammered “I… tend to get lost and end up in the most inconvenient places.. haha...” he lied.

Yoshida didn’t look entirely convinced but leaned over to mutter to him nonetheless “I'm afraid that the location is only known among Okumuras more trusted personnel.”

“Oh... I see... Well, I hope I won't stumble across it by accident...” Mishima fake-chuckled.

Night had fallen over the compound when Haru looked out of her window and towards the production halls. It had been another quiet dinner with her father until she was able to excuse herself again. Their conversation the other day was still on her mind. Her father actually seemed to avoid her since then, as if looking at her suddenly wasn’t a disgrace but actually uncomfortable for him. She turned around and looked at Hifumi.

“Are you sure that you want to do this?” the strategist asked, worried. “What if we’re being found out? Or what if someone recognizes you and doesn’t respond kindly?”

Haru shook her head “I think I’m used to people having the wrong picture of me. I don’t plan to walk in there and announce my arrival. I just want to make sure that Mishima and Kaoru are alright.”. she walked to the closet and drew out the large hoodie, that she had been wearing around her waist the day of her arrival. She threw it over and drew up the hood, covering her very recognizable hair.

Hifumi reluctantly nodded.

Noone stopped them from leaving the house. Her father had already locked himself away in his study and the personnel didn’t say a thing when they saw Haru and Hifumi leaving through the front door. 

“Do you know where we have to go?” Hifumi asked as the two girls walked along the dimly illuminated cobblestone path, looking at the closed door.

“The barracks should be adjacent to the material-storage.” Haru replied as she made a turn. “I used to help transport the pots to the workers a few times, until my father forbid the cooks from taking me.”. They walked along a huge hall until Haru eventually stopped in front of a double-door that led to the annex of the large building.

“Are you sure that it’s wise to simply enter?” Hifumi asked once again.

“Am I this easily recognized?” Haru asked.

“I don’t know. But if the allegations about your father are true, do you believe it to be a wise choice that you, his daughter, walk in there? No matter the intention, they could see you as their enemy.” Hifumi replied.

Haru pondered for a moment “You are correct… Maybe this isn’t about me having a tough skin… But then how can we get a hold of Mishima and Kaoru?”

Hifumi took a deep breath “I’ll go and get them.”. She carefully opened the door and slipped inside.

Warm light came from a few lanterns as the men sat on their beds or on the ground to eat their dinner. They all wore the same overalls with the Okumura-logo and all their faces looked sullen. Hifumi looked around but ultimately had no idea how she was supposed to find them among all the others without making a big commotion. She flinched when a hand touched her upper arm and she whipped her head around to look at a man. “Something you need?” a deep and yet still helpful voice asked.

“Oh...” Hifumi nervously said. He didn’t seem to hold anything against her so she assumed that it was safe to speak with him. She was an employee of Okumura after all, so they probably saw her as one of them. “I’m.. looking for two friends of mine. They only started working here a few days ago…?”

The man just nodded and pointed to two figures that were facing away from them. They sat hunched over, so it was almost impossible to guess their hair too “These two haven’t been around for long.”

Hifumi bowed “Thank you very much.” she said before she quickly hurried towards the bunk-bed.

Mishima was too fixated on his half-empty bowl to notice anything happening around him. What eventually got him to look up was the entering of a pair of ladies shoes in the corner of his vision. He almost dropped his spoon when he saw Hifumi. His reaction got Kaoru to look up too.

“What are you doing here?!” Mishima quietly exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Our mutual friend is waiting outside to talk.” Hifumi cryptically replied as to not give away Harus identity.

“She’s here?!” Mishima squeaked.

“Just… come outside.” Hifumi urged before leading the way outside.

Mishima and Kaoru exchanged a look before they put their bowls aside and hurried after her.

Haru was molten into the background as she stood pushed against the wall, her dark hood drawn over her head. She raised her head when she heard the door open again, revealing Hifumi followed by Mishima and Kaoru.

“You’re okay!” she sighed with relieve before giving both of them a hug.

“How are you doing?” Kaoru asked.

Haru shook her head “I’m okay, but that’s not why I’m here.” she clasped her hands together “I… want to thank you. Hifumi told me about the plan and I want to thank you for your help.”

“I’m sorry that it’s your father we’re going up against...” Mishima said.

Haru shook her head “Don’t be. I would have had more reservations if you were actually out to hurt him, but having his workers walk out on him will hurt the factory but not his person.”. Haru knew that it would hurt his ego too, but she felt that this was a price okay to pay.

“Did you find something out?” Hifumi asked.

“So far, noone really seems to be ready to revolt… They all rely too much on this job because they need the ammunition that they get from Okumura to keep their families and settlements safe.” Kaoru replied.

Haru shook her head “As soon as this is over, I’m sure that the Phantom Thieves will be able to step in and support.”

“I wish I could write them about it in advance so that they can already get it done before everything goes down here, but I’m sure that we can’t send letters...” Mishima sighed.

Haru sadly looked to the ground “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to send a letter either. I might be free to roam around the compound but I think my communication to the outside will be restricted.”

“Sending a letter could also compromise our idea, if someone checks it.” Hifumi said.

“It’s okay. Maybe the others will already hear about it too. I can’t imagine them sitting still and doing nothing.” Mishima gave them an encouraging smile.

“How are you holding up?” Haru asked.

“Well...” Mishima scratched his head. Should he give Haru the full story of what working for her father was like?

“Please… don’t sugarcoat anything for me.” Haru eventually said. “I’m done with looking away.”

Mishima gulped and nodded “There’s a lot of people who can’t work anymore in here. Judging from the stories, there’s been a few deaths too.”

Haru did her best to keep a straight face while nodding.

“There’s not enough food for everyone. Since we’re the new guys, we get to feel it first-hand.” Kaoru added.

“And during work, everyone is constantly overseen by guards who aren’t afraid to hit you when you don’t work enough in their eyes..”

Haru averted her eyes and took a deep breath.

Hifumi took over talking when she asked “What about Ohyas friend? Did you find out what happened to her?”

Kaoru and Mishima exchanged a look “She might still be alive but she’s been locked up somewhere around here for over a year now.” Kaoru said.

“Locked up?” Haru asked. “But where? I don’t remember ever seeing a cellar except for our wine-cellar underneath the house.”

“I have no idea...” Mishima said.

“And it’s not like we can go around and ask about it. That’s like… directly asking to be locked up too.” Kaoru said.

“Except it’s an Okumura asking.” Haru said.

Mishima shrugged “Probably but why would he- Oh wait… you don’t mean?!” his face turned scared.

Haru nodded.

“What if they tell your father that you came asking? Won’t he get suspicious?” Hifumi asked.

“Then my father won’t find out.” Haru was determined. “I will go and check this prison.”

“No, nonono… this is a bad idea…” Mishima whined.

“Won’t they ask questions as to why you suddenly want to go down there?” Kaoru asked.

Haru shrugged “They can ask all they want but in the end I am still an Okumura. My father might not see me as one, but I can still make them think that he does.” a small smirk appeared on her lips.

“Whoah...” Mishima said, surprised by her sudden change of demeanor “You must be better at acting than Panther then.”

“Maybe it’s time for me to act up to the heiress that I am.” Haru sounded determined.

“I thought that we would go through your fathers office and file through papers and not go past all of his guards to inspect his personal jail-house. We lack a strategy for this.” Hifumi uttered.

“Apparently only his most trusted men are allowed to go down there too...” Mishima said.

“Then that’s how we are going to get in.” Haru was determined.

Kaoru and Mishima found themselves unable to object. “Just be careful in there… Who knows what you’ll find..” Kaoru eventually said.

The two girls nodded before saying good-bye and sneaking through the dark towards the house again.

“How do you plan on getting access to your fathers office?” Hifumi asked. "I noticed him locking the door every time he leaves and it’s very rare that he leaves the house for a longer time.”

Haru pondered for a moment before saying “We might have to ask Sato for help. If anyone can come up with a distraction for my father, it’s him.”

“And you think that we can trust him?” Hifumi asked. “He is an honest man but deep down he is still sworn to your father. What if he doesn’t agree with us breaking into his office or into the dungeon and decides to tell him?”

Haru shook her head “Sato is as disappointed in my fathers change of behavior as I am. I trust that he wants him to see his errors as much as I do.”

Hifumi nodded “You know him better than I do. If this is your evaluation, then I will trust it.”

Haru smiled and nodded back at the strategist before they covered the last distance in silence. Hifumi split ways earlier when she made a turn to the servants quarters, so it was only Haru, who slipped in through the front door into the completely quiet house. She had reached the door to her room when suddenly the door behind her opened to reveal her father, dressed in pin-striped pajamas.

“Where were you?” he asked, not revealing his emotions.

“I was on a walk. One of the maids accompanied me.” Haru replied while looking at him over her shoulder.

“You have the garden.”

“There’s a lot of painful memories there.” Haru replied without turning around. “Is there something that you don’t want me to see?”

She thought that she could hear him grind his teeth from across the hallway before he eventually replied “Don’t walk around the compound so late without informing anyone. You had Sato worried.” he didn’t wait for a response when he closed the door again.

Haru shivered before she quickly entered her own room. She had never dared to talk to him like this before. A surge of pride ran through her chest while her hands still trembled in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mishima starts being an investigator and Haru starts to play serious. Yoshida gets a backstory and soon all the pieces will fall into place. Mishimas interrogation-style might not be as smooth as Rens, but he's getting the answers;)


	57. Corpses In The Backyard

It was Wednesday by the time Haru was able to arrange a distraction for her father with Sato. The families butler set up an appointment with her fathers most trusted tailor for a fitting and measuring of a few new sets of suits. Given that the Okumura-daughter knew how thorough the tailor was with everything he did, the appointment should give them enough time to investigate the office. Since Sato held a key to every room of the mansion, the problem of getting in had solved itself too.

Haru had retired to her room after breakfast to await the right time. Hifumi pretended to make her bed for the fifth time as an alibi to stay around her. Both of them flinched when the door eventually opened and Sato stepped in. He walked up to Haru and put a single key into her hand.

“The tailor comes at 1 and the appointment will last about an hour.” Sato said so that only she could hear. “I assigned the staff tasks that should keep them away from the business wing.”

Haru closed her hand around the key “Thank you Sato.” she smiled. He was about to turn around when she reached out to grab his arm “I.. have another request.”

Sato turned around and looked at her again.

“Have you heard of a place where father locks up workers?” Haru quietly asked.

It didn’t happen a lot that Sato, the man that seemed to know every corner of the compound by heart, looked surprised about an architectural feature “I never heard, Miss.” he shook his head.

Haru suddenly felt sorry for bringing it up. He looked utterly aghast. She placed her hand on Satos shoulder and said “It’s okay. Can you tell me if the food for the workers is still made in the large kitchen?”

Sato nodded “The one in the staffs quarters,yes.” he looked at Hifumi “You’ve probably walked past it many times already. The kitchen in this house is only used for the Masters and your food. Every other provisions and meals are prepared in the kitchen in the staffs quarters before then being distributed to the various stations.”

“Thank you, Sato.” Haru said. “You have no idea how great a help you are. You can go now.”

The old man still looked confused but turned around and left nonetheless.

“Delivering the food as an excuse.” Hifumi nodded “An old trick but with your status, we could make it work.”

Haru sighed “The fact that Sato doesn’t know about the prison worries me. Normally, he knows everything my father does but apparently he had kept this a secret even from him.”

Hifumi pondered “Sato looked disturbed by you mentioning it. Maybe your father knows that what he’s doing is wrong and he didn’t want to upset him.”

Haru didn’t immediately find an answer. Her father seemed eager to prove that he didn’t have a heart. Was Sato, the man who had been by his side since he was a child, really that much of a moral-compass to him, that he actually didn’t want to upset him by telling the truth? “It would be nice, if that were true.” she eventually replied. Her heart felt heavy when she started to wonder why he seemed to have no regrets and feel no remorse in front of his own daughter.

Hifumi fluffed up the pillows before asking “What will we be looking for in your fathers office?”

“My father doesn’t keep books on the sales he makes but he has a calendar where he puts down all his appointments.” Haru said. “If we compare the calendar to the weekly inventory-reports, we should be able to draw connections, right?”

The strategist nodded “Given that we don’t have any other ideas at the moment, this is our best shot.” she folded her hands before asking “But will knowing a name be enough?”

“It’s something to continue from.” Haru replied. Even if it turned out that the name of the mysterious buyer was nothing but initials, at least she knew that she had done everything in her power to find out the truth. Except for directly asking her father but she thought that noone could hold that against her. He wouldn’t tell her anyway.

The two girls continued to wait in Harus room until the time had come to put their plan into motion. Ever since receiving it from Sato, Haru hadn’t put down the key. As they carefully walked through the hallways, she could feel the warm metal biting into her palms as she squeezed they key even harder the closer they got. Her back was tense as they wandered through the empty hallway. She knew that Sato could be trusted. When he said that he would arrange something, he did it for sure. By the time they reached her fathers office, her hands were sweaty and shaky.

She exchanged a nod with Hifumi before carefully sliding the key into the lock. The bolt slid back quietly but to the two it sounded like they had just fired a gun. Haru pushed down the golden door-handle and slid inside, shortly followed by Hifumi, before the fluffy-haired girl quickly shut the door again. She took a deep breath before she dared to look around the room. It’s been a while since she had been in here the last time. It must have been back when things were still okay and when her father still smiled upon seeing her. She recalled fetching him for dinner from here, back when she was little. Seeing her father throne behind that huge mahogany desk had always been awe-inducing but back then Haru had found it fascinating and admirable. She was a bit glad that her young self never got to know that she would one day fear the father that she had once so adored.

The office itself hadn’t changed. The walls were still lined with book-shelves and cabinets, where generations of Okumuras stored their documents about how they had impacted the factory. The shelves were lined with antique books and gold trinkets that great-grandfathers had started collecting back in the normal days. As she looked over the few framed photos that stood among the books here and there, she saw her grandparents at the opening of one their stores abroad, smiling and proud-looking. Other photos were strictly professional too, since this was the office and was dedicated to professionalism but as Haru looked around, she noticed that the one photo that had once defied this guideline was now missing. Her father had been the first one to put a family-photo in here. It was gone now.

“Where should I start looking?” Hifumis voice made Haru flinch. She had almost forgotten that she was in here with someone else.

She shook her head to clear her mind before pointing to one of the cabinets “Can you start over there? I’m going to take this side. Everything should be labeled accordingly. We will find fathers calendar on his desk.”

Hifumi nodded and got to work.

Haru squatted down in front of the first cabinet only to find a bunch of studies from the last few years. She knew that her father would order some reporter-like people from the outside to do some surveys and to keep their eyes open about the target-group, which was about everyone by now, since weapons had become such a necessity. She took out a narrow folder with a report from a few years ago. As she flipped it open, she saw that the report was divided by settlements close to the factory. Some of them had a name written directly under them, some of them didn’t. As Haru read about the first few settlements, she noticed that all the investigator asked the people about was where they bought their ammunition and their weapons. After comparing a few of the paragraphs, she felt that she had figured the pattern. “My father seems to keep tabs on armorers and gunsmiths in other settlements.” she informed Hifumi, who was kneeling on the other side of the room.

“Could he see them as future partners that he could supply with his products?” Hifumi asked while filing through some binders.

Haru shook her head “Father wasn’t looking for partners. You either bought from him or you were the competition.” she sighed “It’s a mentality that runs in the family.”. She reached for the reports of the following years and filed through those too. “Apparently he sent someone to investigate once a year. Hmm… that’s odd.” she hummed.

“Did you find something?”

“Three years ago, one of these settlements had an armorer but one year later the settlement is listed as not having one and buying from a neighboring town.”

“Did he go broke?” Hifumi wondered. “Owning a small shop and having to find all the resources must be complicated.”. She moved on to the next cabinet.

“There’s a few settlements that had the same fate.” Haru said after comparing the reports.

“When did you say that happened again?” Hifumi asked.

“I’m comparing the reports from three and two years ago.” Haru replied.

Hifumi drew out two binders that hit the carpet with a soft _Thump_. “I found the export-reports.” she said while flipping both of them open before cross-reading.

Haru got to her feet and carried over the two narrow binders to place them beside the strategist and the binders that she had pulled out. Without much effort, the strategist was able to cross-examine four binders at once before she eventually concluded. “It’s not surprising that sales to settlements that lost their armorer increased. Based on these sheets we can even see during which month they must have went out of business.”

Haru sighed “Father never holds back when it comes to new business-opportunities...”

“People must have been devastated to buy too, judging from these numbers...” Hifumi tapped onto the ledgers.

“Profit from every situation...” Haru muttered one of the family-credos.

“Your father seems very thorough in his market-research.”

Haru took the two binders and put them back into their spots before going through the other cabinets until she eventually found the documents she needed. She took the binder for the last few months before quickly scanning over them. She found a large amount of C4 and other components required to make a bomb leaving the storage about a month ago. She took a deep breath and walked over to the large desk. The battered leather on the office-chair was smooth and the cushions were far too soft for her liking. She sat down and felt like sinking. Haru rolled the chair up and looked at the huge desk in front of her, lined with reports, statistics and other business-things. She raised her head and looked at the double-door at the other end of the room. She felt like a queen on a throne. Was this how her father felt? A king ruling his empire? Maybe that’s why he became so distant. She reached forward and took the calendar. Did she really want to know what she was about to see? She took a deep breath before she flipped open the week that the large sale happened.

She was looking at a blank page.

She flipped back another week. This page had a lot more appointments in them, but everything that was written down in the calendar were initials. Haru sighed “I don’t think that we will find out about our culprit with this tactic...” she leaned back in the chair and looked at the ceiling. When Hifumi didn’t react to her statement, she turned her head and looked at the shogi-player who was kneeling on the floor, transfixed on a folder in her hands.

“Hifumi?” Haru asked and got out of the chair.

The girl flinched and instinctively snapped he folder shut.

“What did you find?” Haru asked, alarmed.

Hifumi seemed to discuss with herself whether this was really the right thing to do but ultimately she had to admit that there was no turning back now that Haru was already suspicious. “I… found correspondence with a third party.” she carefully started “About taking care of the competition.”

Haru walked over to her, sank down to the floor beside her and took the folder from her hands. Inside was a stack of handwritten letters. Every sheet had different fold-lines on it, probably from being in an envelope. Most of the paper showed the Okumura-emblem. On the top half of those letters, she recognized her fathers clean handwriting. On the bottom half was a reply, scribbled in a haste. Harus heart was in her throat when she took out one of the letters. There was no date on it but after reading the reports on the settlements, Haru already had an idea about the time-frame.

Hifumi sorted through the other letters. All of them were structured the same. Okumura informed about a settlements armorer that needed “to be taken care of” or “a visit”. On the bottom, there always was the same reply.

_It will be done._

Hifumi slowly tilted her head to look at Haru, who was still clutching the single letter, staring at it as if she hoped that the letters would suddenly switch their position and form new sentences that didn’t hold these messages.

“The reason why they disappeared...” Haru whispered, still staring at the note in her hand “is because of my father...”

“I’m sorry...” Hifumi awkwardly replied. She had no idea how to respond adequately in a situation like this.

Haru shook her head “Don’t be.”

Hifumi looked back at the folder. At the bottom of the stack, she found small pieces of paper. The handwriting on it was cleaner but Hifumi was still able to determine that the same person must have written it. There was something chaotic about it. She had never seen someone write such jagged edges.

_It is done._

Haru put the letter back into the folder again “Father must have used one of his traveling salesmen as a contact person.”

“All of these letters only give targets but we don’t know how the first contact came to happen.” Hifumi noticed.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if the person sat in this very office, talking about threatening innocent men with my father.” Haru said full of sorrow. The fact that her father was so hungry for power and influence that he didn’t even think about beating competition fair and square but instead straight up disposed of them was just too much for her to handle. She wondered what her dead mother would think of Kunikasu Okumura now. Haru guessed that she would probably be as heartbroken as her.

Hifumi carefully stacked the letters back into the right position before putting the folder back into the cabinet. As she climbed to her feet, Haru remained sitting on the floor, staring at her hands. “I think we should leave.” she carefully said before walking over to the other side to put away the binder with the inventory-sheets, that Haru had left on the floor. As she closed the cabinet, she saw Haru standing up too.

They took one last look at the office before they slipped into the hallway again. After locking the door, the walk back to her room felt like a dream. She felt like a stranger in the house. She had been living under his roof the whole time while he had ordered threats and attacks on so many innocent people who were just trying to make a difference and support their neighbors. She felt like crying but she also, for the first time in her life, felt like screaming. Her entire life she had tried and tried to be the perfect daughter, to make her father proud. But for half of her life, her father was a vile and rotten man who didn’t care about anyone than himself and his stupid factory. Why had she tried to impress a tyrant? Because he was her family? Because he was her blood? She didn’t think that she was cold-blooded. She cared about people and she wanted them to be happy. She was nothing like him. If the people of Seiiki thought that she was, than they could go shove it up their asses.

Haru stopped in the middle of the hallway, surprised by her own thoughts. Had she just really used that phrase? Even if it was just in her mind, it was still something that she had never thought before. She knew that she could be a little sadistic at times but she had never directed it at a person. Until now. She was angry. She was angry at the world but she was mostly angry with her father for making her feel bad about herself and robbing her of years of freedom and childhood innocence. As she lifted her head to look ahead again, she saw that Hifumi was already standing in her door, waiting for her to follow.

After entering her room, Haru threw the door shut. Everything about her room made her want to go berserk. She wanted to tear the curtains down and rip them in half with her bare hands. She wanted to break that ugly vase that stood on a shelve. She wanted her axe. The real one, with two edges and a long hilt, so she could carry it over her shoulder. She had spent the last weeks being sad and gloomy about never being able to be seen as a good person by the public as soon as her heritage got out. But not anymore. Noir was back. And she was mad.

Hifumi wasn’t sure what to think of the new Haru. They spent the next few hours in her room to wait for the next point on the agenda but while Hifumi was sitting on the soft chair beside the vanity, Haru was nervously pacing up and down. The look of sadness on her face was gone ever since she locked the door to Okumuras office again. She seemed determined, but there was something more glimmering in Harus eyes and Hifumi could only describe it as Rage.

Haru knew the schedules of when the workers got their food delivered. She took a gamble about the dinner-times of the guards but with her new found bite, she was also far more willing to take a risk. She noticed how Hifumi was struggling to keep up with her stride as she walked out the house and towards the servants quarters. The smell of food already wafted towards them as she walked towards the kitchen. When some personnel walked passed them, they shot her surprised and nervous looks but Haru didn’t care if they ratted her out to her father. Now that she thought about it, what was he about to do? Throw her out?

She almost threw open the doors to the kitchen to find the chefs standing at the three large pots for the workers and a cart full of trays that was meant for the guards barracks.

“Miss Okumura?!” one of the chefs exclaimed upon seeing her.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Haru smiled her usual sweet smile. “I’m here to pick up the dinner for the prisoners.”

Someone dropped a spoon in the back of the kitchen as the chef coughed nervously.

“I’m.. I’m sorry Miss, but we have strict orders on who to hand those trays to.” someone eventually spoke up.

“And I am here to fill in for these good people today.” Haru lied with a smile. “Father and I agree that now that I am back, I should learn the ropes of this place.” she leaned forward on the counter “So if you would just give me the tray.”

“I… I really can’t...” the cook gulped.

Harus face turned serious and her eyes turned from sweet and kind to devilish and evil before she said with a low voice “But I know you can. And you will.”

The cook avoided her crazy eyes and started squirming before he eventually whispered “But if someone finds out...”

“They can’t find out then.” Haru replied. “I will handle the guards. If you keep quiet, all will be splendid.” she smiled at him but her eyes stayed the same.

The cook gulped again before ladling some of the stew for the workers onto a deep plate before putting it onto a tray and placing a metal dome over it. He reluctantly slid everything across the counter towards Haru.

“Thank you so much.” Haru smiled, all sweet again.

As the fluffy-haired girl walked out the servants quarters with the tray in hand, Hifumi followed her with wide eyes.

The guards barracks were close to the factory-halls and were located in what used to be a guest-house for business-guests. Okumura Industries hadn’t always required guards to oversee their workers.

One of the guards off-duty sat on a bench in front of the house, rolling himself a cigarette. When he spotted Haru approaching, he almost jumped out of his seat and stood up straight. “Miss Okumura!” he said while trying to fidget the rolled cigarette up his sleeve. “How can I help you?”

Haru was back to being sweet again when she answered with the brightest and most innocent smiles “How kind of you to offer your help. I could indeed use your assistance. It’s my first time delivering the food to our prisoner. If you would be so kind as to show me to them?”

The mans eyes went wide before he sputtered “You… you’re doing this today?”

Haru smiled “Is there a problem?”

“N- No!” he quickly exclaimed. “It’s just that I thought that it’s one of my roommates turns...”

Haru smiled at the opportunity “Then you can tell your roommates that I took over for them.”

The guard nodded, still perplexed “Okay… then follow me….” he said before leading them.

As Hifumi and her followed the guard, she noticed that she had never been to this corner of the compound before. It seemed like not many people came by the backs of the factory-halls. The brick walls were overgrown with ivy and the grass and brush was almost waist-high except for a trampled path. They soon arrived at a heavy metal door in the ground, that the guard opened up for the girls to reveal a set of stairs. Haru couldn’t remember ever hearing about a bunker underneath the factory. The guard reached down to a flashlight, that was stored in the bushes near the door and handed it to Hifumi since Harus hands were full.

The guard still didn’t look sure about letting the two girls in but he also seemed unable to deny them. He gave a short bow before hurrying off again, probably looking forward to the cigarette that still must have been sticking somewhere in his sleeve.

As Hifumi and Haru looked down the staircase, they stared into darkness. Hifumi took a deep breath and turned on the flashlight to light their way down. None of them dared to speak. Haru shivered as she followed Hifumi into the bunker. After a few turns, they stood in front of a grid-door with a heavy lock hanging in front of it. As the cone of light illuminated the inside of the prison cell, all they could see was a thin mattress on the floor but no person to be seen in there. That was until something moved in the shadows, causing both of the girls to flinch.

Haru had to grip the tray hard to not drop it when a bony female figure with matted hair walked up to them. She seemed aware that the two weren’t her usual jail-keepers but didn’t say a thing as she blankly stared at them.

“Are…. you Ohyas friend?” Hifumi asked as the flashlight was shaking in her hand.

The womans eyes went wide upon hearing the name “You know Ohya?” she clutched the bars “Is she here?!”

Hifumi shook her head “She’s a mutual friend. She told us about your disappearance.”

Kayo looked relieved before her eyes fell onto the tray in Harus hands.

The fluffy-haired girl set down the tray, removed the dome and opened a hatch on the bottom of the door to slide it through. The woman on the other side dropped to the floor, pulled the tray her way and started to dig in.

Hifumi and Haru squatted down and watched the starved woman. Both of them didn’t know what to say. Hifumi didn’t want to take the light off of Kayo, so the rest of her prison cell was kept in the dark and left them guessing, but judging from her state, she probably didn’t have a lot more than the single bed in the corner.

As Kayo finished her plate she cast a look at her two visitors again. She squinted her eyes when she focused on Harus face before her eyes went wide “You’re the Okumura heiress!” she dropped back onto her butt to create some distance.

Harus heart hurt when she witnessed another person scared of her before even knowing her. “I’m not my father.” she said with determination. “We’re here to stop his horrible practices.”

Hifumi nodded “Is there anyone else locked up here with you?”

Kayo shook her head “Okumura locks workers up here to teach them a lesson and to scare them into submission before throwing them out. Me… I’ve seen too much so he won’t let me go.”

“What did you see?” Hifumi asked.

Kayo leaned forward as if she was scared that someone could listen in on them when she replied “I saw where he ditches the bodies.”

Hifumi couldn’t hide her surprise but what she was worried about more was Harus reaction. She tilted her head to look at the girl, only to find her demeanor unchanged.

“Please. Tell us more.” Haru said, her voice unwavering.

“The reason I came here was because of the rumors of unethical working-conditions. I worked in the factory for two months and three people died in that period of time. During one of my nightly investigations of the perimeter, I stumbled upon someone closing a mass-grave somewhere close to here.”

Hifumi placed her index finger on her chin “Ren told us that there’s a lot of people missing in this area and they all seem to be connected to Okumura Industries.”

“Now you know where they most likely are now.” Kayo replied.

“Were they killed?” Haru asked out of the blue.

Kayo raised her shoulders “I only heard about them dying by the end of the day, I never saw it in person. But seeing these people… they’re working themselves to their deaths.” she looked at Haru “You weren’t aware?”

Haru shook her head. Had she really been so blind? Or had she just averted her eyes on purpose because it was easier to bare?

“Has it always been like this?” Kayo asked, in her element again.

“No.” Haru replied, her eyes fixed on the floor. Her grandfather had handed her father the factory in a good state. The workers were supposed to have a just pay, even after the shadow-infestation happened. And so they had, until that crucial night her mother lost her fight against a sudden illness and her father started to spiral down a path that he seemed unable to leave again.

“So what’s the plan?” the reporter asked.

“The plan is to get the workers to leave.” Hifumi said.

“A peaceful march out.” Kayo nodded “While I think that Okumura would deserve something a bit more messy, as long as something happens...” she shrugged “When I was listening around, there didn’t seem to be anyone wanting to do anything about the issue. There was this one guy who kept talking big but in the end he was just another coward who was all talk but no action. But hey, I have no idea how long I’ve been down here, so maybe the people are different now.”

Hifumi squeezed her eyebrows together before reluctantly saying “Ohya said that’s it about a year since she last heard from you.”

“Damn… that bastard kept me down here an entire year already?” Kayo looked at Haru “No offense…”

Haru shook her head “He’s been called worse.”

“And you’re okay with ruining your father?” Kayo asked and seemed genuinely concerned.

Haru nodded “Yes.” she folded her hands in her lap “The father that I loved is far gone. I tried to forget for the longest time but if he’s doing bad things, he needs to be stopped. And he’s done a lot that I can’t turn away from any longer.”

“You’re brave.” Hifumi quietly said.

Haru shook her head “I’m not. I should have acted a long time ago.” a small smile appeared on her face when she looked to Hifumi “But it seems like I needed to assemble my pieces.”

Hifumi smiled back and nodded.

“This is really cute. I’ve missed talking to people.” Kayo replied. “It’s been a while since the last prisoner. I ended up mostly talking to myself.”

“I’m so sorry...” Haru said.

“Investigative journalism can be dangerous.” Kayo replied “I do miss daylight.”

“You will see it again soon.” Hifumi said.

“I sure hope so.” Kayo replied “So don’t you dare forget me, got it?”

“I can see why you are friends with Ohya.” Hifumi noted.

Kayo chuckled “What can I say… She’s a bit crazy, I’m a bit crazy. I can’t wait to get out and tell her about all the insane things that I did. I can’t wait to write stuff again.” she raised her bony hands “There’s been a lot of muscles lost but if this story here doesn’t call for a memoir, then I don’t know.”

“I’m sure that Ohya will help you.” Hifumi smiled.

“Oh definitely. Ichiko won’t stop smelling the fame.” Kayo grinned with chapped lips “How did you meet her anyway? Is she finally writing for a paper now?”

“Oh, she owns one.” Haru replied much to the reporters surprise.

“No way. What does she write about?”

“Mostly about a group of vigilantes.” Hifumi replied.

Kayo snorted “That sounds like her. She’s a sucker for heroes, no matter how often I told her that they don’t exist.”

“She can tell you all about them once you’re out again.” Haru smiled.

Kayo nodded. When the two girls started to get up, her easy attitude started to crumble when she nervously called out “Hey… you didn’t come here to mess with me, did you? This isn’t just a joke from the rich girl and her maid who mess with the crazy prisoner, right?”

Haru couldn’t be mad at her for the assumption. She had been locked up in complete darkness for a year until the monsters daughter came to pay her a visit and to paint her the craziest pictures of an escape. She squatted down again and gave the woman a warm smile “We’re serious.”

“But… it won’t take another year, right?”

Hifumi shook her head “It won’t.”

“And you won’t forget me. Right?”

Haru shook her head “We won’t. We promise.”

It was dark outside when the girls resurfaced from the bunker. With combined effort, they managed to shut the heavy metal door again. They both didn’t know what to say about what they just witnessed. Hifumi was about to toss the flashlight into the tall grass again when Haru reached out and took it from her. She didn’t need to tell her what she was looking for when she continued to walk through the bushes in the opposite direction that they had come from.

“Is this wise?” Hifumi asked as she walked behind her as she had done so often today. “We will gain nothing but nightmares from looking at the graves.”

“I have to see it.” Haru stubbornly replied. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Kayo. She just felt like she needed to stand there and look at it to grasp the truth of her fathers business.

They fought their way through the brush until they eventually passed all the way from the back of factory-hall 1 to Hall 3 when the wild grass and plants made way to a big patch of loose soil. The soil was evened out and upon closer inspecting it with the flashlight, Haru could make out a few traces of a shovel that must have been used to achieve the smooth surface.

“You said that there’s a lot of people missing…” Haru muttered as she stood in front of what she guessed to be a mass-grave. “There’s so many people looking for their loved ones with no idea what happened to them.”

Hifumi stood beside her “We’ll make sure to inform them.”

Haru slowly nodded, unable to take her eyes off of the grave. Her father didn’t even find the decency to tell the relatives about a death that occurred in his own factory. It didn’t even surprise Haru, given how she had witnessed him handle his own wives death from the first row. _What have you become, father?_

They walked back to the bunker door to drop the flashlight again.

“Now all we have to do is wait for Mishima and Kaoru to rally the workers.” Hifumi said as they walked back to the house.

Haru nodded although the thought of her having to sit and wait one more minute in this house full of lies felt impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru learns some stuff and stops being sad and starts being mad. There's not really a lot you learn about Kayo in the Original, so I imagine her to be a lot like Ohya. I guess you gotta be to get along and work with her, right? Now all we need is for Mishima to get the people on the Thieves side. But more about that in the next chapter ;)


	58. The Last Straw

While Haru learned about the literal corpses buried in the backyard, Mishima and Kaoru continued to blend in with the factory workers. While their first week had looked kind of bleak and almost caused Mishima to lose hope in the plan, after the return of the workers on monday morning, both of them were able to listen to some new whispers.

On monday evening, both Mishima and Kaoru had stood in line for dinner when a group of three sat down on the ground to eat. One of them had told the others about his weekend and an evening spent at the tavern in the large town nearby.

“So anyway, I was sitting there, enjoying my drink, when a woman approached me and asked me to do an interview?” the man had explained, still confused.

“About what?” another one had asked.

“About work. She wanted to know what it’s like to work here and if I ever witnessed any misconduct.”

“So what did you say?”

The man had snorted “I told her about how shit is going down in here.” when his companions didn’t seem entirely pleased, he added “What? As if she’s going to do anything about it but put in that weird newspaper of hers that’s everywhere you see in the neighborhood. We all now what happened to the last “reporter” that thought she would write a piece about this place..”

The other two men had silently nodded and kept on eating.

On tuesday, Kaoru had been working at the assembly-line when he had overheard a muttered conversation on the opposite side of the conveyor belt.

“I’ve been approached by a group of teenagers and a kid when I was home last weekend. They gave us some kind of newspaper. The Phantom Resistance. I heard about those Phantom Thieves that seem to roam around somewhere farther away but to think that the myth has arrived in our circles too?” he had shook his head “When I asked them, if they were serious they just said that the Phantom Thieves are here and that they would support us in our fight for freedom. As if they could.”

Kaoru had bit back a remark that some of the Phantom Thieves even were on the compound with them. But it had been too early to reveal that. There were still too many doubters among them.

Mishima was glad that their resistance finally gained some traction from the outside too, even if the people still seemed to be wary of the plan. On wednesday he was working in packaging again when he overheard another conversation.

“I’ve slept like a baby for the last nights, even on these mattresses.” one of the men said to a co-worker.

“Why’s that?”

“I guess it’s because I don’t have to worry about my wife and kids at home for once.” he scanned his surrounding to check if a guard was nearby before he quietly said “My wife told me that last week, a bunch of teenagers arrived and asked if there were any security threats to the town. Of course she told them about the shadows that come by regularly. A few hours later, these kids come back and say that the Phantom Thieves have taken care of the shadows. And they did. She told me that ever since these kids visit: No shadows.”

“The Phantom Thieves?” his colleague answered. “You really think that they are real?”

The man shrugged “I don’t care if there really are “Phantom Thieves”. All I care about is that my family isn’t being threatened by those monsters.” he cast another look over his shoulder before saying “They left a flyer too. “The Phantom Resistance”. It’s addressed to everyone working for Okumura. They’re saying that we should stand up against Okumura and just walk out on him.”

“Do you really think that this will work?” his co-worker asked. “We all need those jobs to protect someone after all...”

“I know. But think about it. If the Phantom Thieves really exist… they were able to rid our town of those shadows! All we do is drive them away and that’s why we need the ammunition! But they seem to know how to kill them for good. If they are already willing to help, would we really need to risk our lives here at the factory?”

“How can we know that they will continue to help once we’ve stood up to Okumura?”

“I don’t know. But I know that I can’t spend the rest of my life working in this place until I drop dead one day.” the man said. “Maybe this is an opportunity that will never come again. Even if we don’t have Okumura… Maybe we don’t even need his supplies. There has to be something else.”

Mishima couldn’t hide a smile. Ren and the others didn’t even need to talk to the people directly to get them to join their cause. His initial happiness was then perturbed again when he remembered the conversations that they had heard over the last two days. If they continued to go at this pace, it would take weeks to come until they had enough people to achieve something.

As the two met up for their half-bowl of dinner, Kaoru hadn’t heard anything Phantom-positive either.

“Hey, at least there seems to be one person that started thinking about it.” Kaoru said when he noticed Mishimas hopeless face during dinner. “The next weekend is coming up too, so maybe even more intrigued people come back next week.”

Mishima sighed and nodded. He flinched when he was lightly whacked in the back with a cane.

“Cheer up, kid. You’ve only been here for two weeks.” the familiar old man cackled at him. “You can’t let this place bring you down, especially not during your first month. These bloodhounds smell fear, so you have to stand proud. But not too proud. They’ll beat you when you look too proud.”

“Uh...” Mishima didn’t know what to answer “Thanks. I’ll try.”

The man chuckled before limping off to the table to return his bowl.

The next day started like any other. Mishima and Kaoru were working together in Assembly but today, no uplifting or rebellious conversations were held. Around midday, Mishimas stomach started to rumble and look forward to their measly dinner. Everyone was working in silence until the doors burst open and a group of guards marched in. While the mood was never good to begin with, an icy silence spread as the guards loudly stomped into the hall.

“LISTEN UP!” one of them bellowed, causing everyone to stop their work and look at group that had just marched in.

Mishima turned pale when he turned around and saw the kind old man being held in the middle between two guards, struggling to stand.

“We just found this one slacking off in the barracks! Is anyone willing to explain?”

Noone dared to speak.

“I WAS ASKING A QUESTION!” the guard yelled at the crowd.

“He’s injured and has to rest. We are doing his work so there’s no loss in numbers.” someone eventually dared to speak up.

The guard slammed his baton against a pipe in anger “You don’t get to choose who works and who doesn’t!” he pointed his baton at the frail old man “You're here to work! No slacking off!”

As if on command, the two guards let the man drop to the ground and drew their batons too.

Mishimas eyes went wide as three guards started to beat the old man, who was laying on the ground while everyone just stood and watched in shock. He found himself transported back to his time in Kamoshidas castle when he watched girls walk into Kamoshidas room or boys being dragged into the dungeon while watching in fear and trying not to stand out to not end up like them. Back then, he had thought that there was nothing that he could do against it. But it seemed that things had changed in him, for his feet started to move on their own and he found himself pushing through the crowd while screaming at the top of his lungs. “STOP!” He worked his way through the crowd. "NO!"

He emerged from the crowd and found himself in the front row to watch the guards beating the old man, who tried to cover his head with his arms to no avail. Mishima didn’t think much when he ran up to the nearest guard and grabbed him by the arm, that he was about to bring down on his victim. While he was sure that the guard was much stronger than him, the muscular man still stopped his swing mid-motion to turn around and glare at him. Mishima still held onto the mans arm but now that the guards focus was on him, he was able to shove Mishima backwards without an issue. With an unknown bravery Mishima ran up to the guard again without having any idea of what to do once he was there. He reached out to grab the mans arm again when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. The last thing he felt was a dull pain in the head before everything went black.

“Mishima?!”

Mishima squeezed his eyes shut at the unpleasant volume that somehow amped up the horrible headache he had. His senses only slowly returned. After being done with internally complaining about the noise in his head, he realized that the was laying on a very uncomfortable surface. While his throbbing headache told him to just keep his eyes closed, his better judgment knew that he eventually had to look at the bright and loud world again. When someone gripped his shoulders and started shaking him, he let out a groan before slowly opening his eyes.

Kaoru was kneeling over him and apparently also the one shaking him, which he stopped as soon as he gave any signs of life.

“Wha-…?” Mishima asked confused as he looked around him. He was laying on the ground in the factory-hall. It slowly started to dawn in him, why he was down there in the first place. He remembered screaming and he remembered the old man laying on the ground, trying to cover and protect himself from the cruel attack that the guards had started. His head whipped towards the spot where he had seen the kind old man last, only to find it empty now. His brain was too foggy to form a sentence so he decided to dumbly point at the spot while looking up at Kaoru.

When Kaoru understood his pantomimed question, he turned sad. He shook his head with downcast eyes.

Mishima gaped at him. Around them, everyone had already returned to work although the shock and sadness was seen on every face and seemed to surround the entire factory-hall. As he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, he clutched his head with one hand and found a throbbing bruise on the side of his skull. “Owww...” he whined.

“You’ve been whacked pretty bad...” Kaoru said.

Mishima looked to the now empty spot on the floor again “So he’s really...” he gulped.

Kaoru followed his gaze and nodded “Yeah…”

Mishima was too weak to fight his trembling lip and the tears that welled up in his eyes. “He was one day away from going home...” he quietly said.

Kaorus shoulders dropped as he sat beside him.

Mishima wiped the tears away and ignored his throbbing and pulsing head as he pushed himself to his feet again. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious but everyone was working like nothing had happened. Upon closer inspection, the spot where the old man had died showed no traces of a fight either.

“We should play along and get back to work… They let me stay with you because you were out of it but now that you’re on your feet again, I’m sure they want us working again...” Kaoru said.

Mishima ground his teeth and nodded, all while feeling like throwing up. He couldn't tell whether it was from the hit to the head or because of the poor old mans death.

They were one of the last to return to the barracks that day. Upon entering they immediately noticed the eery silence that had taken over the entire quarters. By now, everyone had heard the news. While the atmosphere could have never been described as lively, there was a grave silence as they stood in line for dinner. Noone said a word to each other as they sat in crushing and shocked silence.

As Mishima stared at his half-empty bowl, he remembered the conversation that he had had with the man just yesterday. The thought of eating already made him sick although he couldn’t tell if it was because of the concussion that he most likely had, or because he witnessed a man being murdered by their prison-keepers. When another painful pulse flashed through his head and almost knocked him out again, he mostly blamed the concussion.

As they walked to the table to return their bowls, they met Yoshida.

“How are you feeling, son?” it was almost strange to hear someone talking.

“Not good...” Mishima replied, deciding to drop the act.

“I have heard that you tried to stop them. A very brave act.”

“And still he died.” Mishima answered.

Yoshida nodded with a pained face before saying “We are going to hold a service for him in the back in a minute.”

Mishimas senses were too dulled to find an adequate answer.

“We’ll be there.” Kaoru took over for him.

While the last room of the barracks was already packed with its usual inhabitants in it, it was close to bursting when everyone gathered together to honor the old man that Mishima had never learned the name of. People just weren’t on a name-base here. When Kaoru and Mishima walked in, men were already stacked up by sitting on the bunk-beds and on the ground. The two teenagers squeezed into a small spot on the floor.

On the other end of the room, the man that had shown them the ropes on their first days stood up and looked into the crowd.

“He was a good and brave man.” he started. “We tried to convince him to stop earlier, so that it wouldn’t have to come to this but he was a stubborn old guy too, who didn’t want his son working here.”

A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd.

“He always had a witty remark, although we all know that there's nothing fun about this place.” he continued. “He will be missed in our midst.”

Retained applause started to grow from one corner until it washed through the room. When it died down again, someone started to hum a song that more and more people started to join.

While the humming and the applause didn’t do Mishimas head any favors, he still climbed to his feet and called out “That’s IT?”.

The humming stopped and people turned around to look at him.

“That’s all we’re going to say?” he asked the crowd. “This man was here for the longest and he was ONE day away from leaving this hellhole and hopefully never returning! ONE DAY!” he was crying again but he found that he didn’t care. “Why is noone mad?! Why doesn’t anyone DO anything about the injustice that is happening here? WHY WAS I THE ONLY ONE TRYING TO SAVE HIM?”

His outburst was met with embarrassed silence.

“Will you never see that this won’t stop unless you don’t play along anymore? Someone DIED because everyone was too scared to do something against it. Too scared of what? There’s always another way! You don’t have to be Okumuras slaves!”

“If we don’t bring home weapons and ammunition, we can’t protect our families and villages.” someone argued from the crowd.

“Then the Phantom Thieves will help.” Mishima said with determination. “They have already helped at least one of your families, right?” he called out with the hope that the person that he had listened in on yesterday would dare to speak up.

“My mother told me that the shadows stopped appearing near my home….” someone with a different voice announced, much to Mishimas relieve.

“Yeah! Someone helped my family too.” Another voice spoke up.

“The Phantom Thieves really exist?!” someone called out “I’ve heard a story just like this in my village!”

Mishima took a deep breath before he announced “The Phantom Thieves are real. My name is Hermes and I am one of them.”.

Dead silence was followed by confused murmuring.

“Okumura isn’t the only one able to help you! If we all stand up and walk out on him, he will have no choice as to think about his deeds!” Mishima pointed at Yoshida “We can achieve what No-Good-Tora is always talking about! YOU can make it happen, that your kids don’t ever have to work in a place like this! You’re not alone!”

Noone dared to speak.

While confident of his speech at first, seeing all those expressionless faces deflated his optimism again. He was about to sit down and rest his throbbing head again when someone cleared his throat.

“He’s right… We could have saved him. He wouldn’t be dead now, if all of us had stepped in. We would have been able to stop them.” someone muttered.

Kaoru got up beside Mishima and spoke up “We won’t be able to bring him back. But all of you can make sure that something like this will never happen again.”

“As if they would let us out. We’re trapped in here!” someone argued.

“We’re far more people than they are!” Kaoru said “If all of us work and march together, I would like to see the gate-operator try and stop us.”

“Even he lets us walk out, nothing is going to change. He will just hire new men and treat them just the same and we’ll be left to die because we won’t be able to to hold off the shadows any longer.”

Yoshida got up from the crowd. It was obvious that he was some kind of politician for when he started speaking, everything sounded a lot better than what Mishima had managed to stammer “Friends! We need to make an example. If the Phantom Thieves have already helped so many of you without working a single minute for Okumura, then surely we can achieve the same!” he looked among the people.

“Shut up, No-Good-Tora! You’re the reason we’re here in the first place.” someone called out.

The politician sighed “I know that I have made mistakes in the past and I deeply regret them. But we have to look into the future and right now, we are presented with the opportunity of an exit!”

“We can’t exit when our families lifes are on the line.” someone argued.

“We have to stop thinking about every town individually.” Yoshida announced before he addressed a few men to his right “How far is your little town away from ours? I saw you almost every day!”

“Half an hour?” one of the men replied.

“And you: You and a few other families live on a farm not far away.” Yoshida addressed someone else before looking into the crowd again “Don’t you see? We live so close to each other, yet we think that all of us need to fend for ourselves! If our settlements and towns work together and start helping to protect each other, then we will be able to take care of any upcoming issues ourselves!”

Confused murmur went through the crowd.

“All of this sounds nice and all, but how do you think we will be able to defend ourselves without guns and ammunition?” someone asked.

“Okumura is not the only one who can provide you with guns!” Kaoru said. “My father knows how to restore them and he also knows how to make fitting projectiles close to bullets.”

“Good for your old man but most of our skilled gunsmiths and armorers disappeared over the last years, likely thanks to Okumura.”. Agreeing nods were seen throughout the crowd.

Someone else spoke up from the crowd “One of them is a friend of mine. He went into hiding when he started to receive threats but if Okumura lost his power, maybe he would dare to come back?”

Kaoru looked around the room “See? If he wasn’t the only one that went into hiding, maybe there will be more coming back once the threat is over.”

“Assuming that we would start to stand up. Those guards are the real bastards here. They have guns and batons and we don’t.” someone uttered.

“We work at a GUN FACTORY!” someone replied.

Kaoru nodded “We have to be smart about this and we need to prepare accordingly. Most important of all is that the guards can’t suspect a thing until it happens.”

“Then we should start smuggling weapons from the storage. And ammunition too, that we can take home with us.” someone called out.

“Wait!” Mishima called out “We should agree on a few things. Even if we take the guns, our goal is not to kill or harm any of Okumuras men.”

“If we finally get to fight back, why wouldn’t we? They’ve hurt and killed many of us too!” someone argued. A few other people nodded their heads in agreement.

“This shouldn’t be about revenge!” Mishima exclaimed. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he got nervous about losing the crowd. If the Phantom Thieves plan of a peaceful walkout were to be exchanged with a revenge-spree, this wouldn’t end well.

Kaoru raised his arms and calmed the people down “The whole mission will be in danger if we let it come to a stand-off. All of us are angry about what happened today but I think that not everyone would be ready to kill in return.” Nods ran through the crowd “I understand that it’s hard but think about your families at home. If we provoke a shooting, it’s almost certain that at least a few of the people that are sitting here with us will not make it out of this place alive.”

Mishima took a deep breath, grateful for the quick break to compose himself provided by Kaoru before he said “If the guards should resort to violence, we will have guns to protect ourselves but aside from that, the main goal should be to get out. All of us. Together.”

“When will we do it?” someone asked.

Kaoru and Mishima exchanged a look before Mishima said “It will take some time to make the preparations. Only a few people get to walk into the storage every day and we have to continue like normal. If we can smuggle and stash a few guns and ammunition every day...” he scratched his head “Maybe a week from now?”

“So everyone who doesn’t go to the storage just sits around and keeps on working?”

Kaoru nodded “Again, things will get much more difficult if the guards get suspicious. If they decide to search our place and find out that we stashed weapons, everything will be for naught.”

“If your settlement has troubles with shadows, please tell one of the people going home, who will pass the large settlement with the tavern.” Mishima said. “The Phantom Thieves will take care of it. Hopefully all of you will be able to return to a home that isn’t in danger any longer.”. He smiled a confident smile “If we all work together, we’ll be out of this place one week from now.”

Slow clapping started somewhere in a corner before it was taken up by more and more men until the whole room was filled with applause while Mishima stood against the wall, feeling like throwing up because of his throbbing head, embarrassed and proud at the same time. Had he just actually given a speech to hundreds of workers? A successful one even? Maybe Shihos kiss had been magic after all. He looked at Kaoru, who seemed equally happy about the outcome.

As the room started to empty, they were approached by Yoshida.

“That was quite an impressive speech.” he said with a smile. “Uniting all of these people is something that many a man struggled with until now.”

“It’s sad that it had to come to something like this to get everyone invested.” Mishima quietly replied.

“In a way, he has united us all even from beyond the grave.”

“It would have been even better if he had been able to witness it too...”

“I know.” Yoshida nodded. “It’s sad that sometimes events like these are needed to get the people to unite.”

Kaoru nodded. “I liked your idea of settlements helping each other.”

Yoshida bowed “I’m happy to hear that I’m also able to captivate the youth. All of us are in the same situation. Just because some of us are lucky enough to live in a protected settlement doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t help those that don’t have it as good as us. Isn’t that what the Phantom Thieves stand for too?”

“Yes.” Mishima agreed.

“I have to say that I was surprised to hear that you are actually a part of these mysterious Phantom Thieves.” Yoshida chuckled. “When you told me about them during our little talk, I took you for a fanboy but it seems that I was wrong.”

“Oh… I guess I can come off like one at times… haha...” Mishima rubbed his head, purposely avoiding the throbbing bruise on his left side. “I didn’t lie though. They did save me from a place not very different from this one. I used to be just like the people here. I was scared of things getting worse if I spoke up. All of us did, but that was what made him so powerful. The Phantom Thieves helped everyone and they let me stay with them. I never felt like I mattered or as if I could do anything right but they showed me that everyone is valued. Even when I lost my track, they still didn’t stop believing in me. And I will always believe in them too.”

“I’m sorry to hear that you have to relive these tough memories again.” Yoshida said. “They sound like an outstanding group of people.”

Mishima nodded “They are.”

After two weeks of staying there, the Phantom Thieves were able to tell that friday noon was the calm before the storm. The tavern was empty but both the barkeeper and the Innkeep were wiping tables and cleaned the counter as if they were prepared for a tourist-group of 100 waltzing in any minute now. They had given up on trying to give Ohyas office-table a wipe-down, especially since with every day a new stack of paper sprouted. After one and a half weeks, there was almost no patch of wood to be seen underneath all the different notes and drafts from Ohya.

The journalist was focused on the typewriter in front of her as she hammered tomorrows stories into the machine. To her right sat Futaba and Ryuji, who worked on making duplicates of todays issue of “The Phantom Resistance” with Ohyas weird duplicating device. On the other side of the table sat Ren, who watched the empty tavern, waiting for the first people to walk in. A lot could happen in one week and the only opportunity for them to learn anything about the news was by talking to the people on their days off. The rest of the Thieves was out to deal with a few more shadows in another settlement. Before the first weekend, they had managed to help a few people up front because their troubles came up during their interviews they conducted. While over the weekend, the men seemed a bit wary of them, as soon as they visited settlements during the week, they got a decent amount of new problems to solve, which they had mostly managed to finish by now.

“Cranking, cranking, cranking” Futaba sang under her breath while she pulled out the printed papers and stacking them beside them.

“Not again...” Ryuji groaned. “I couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid song for an entire day the last time.”

Futaba stuck out her tongue at him “That just shows that it’s a banging tune.”

“It’s not even a song!” Ryuji protested.

“Then why does it get stuck in your head?” Futaba asked.

“How should I know?” the blonde exclaimed to the girls cackling.

Ren just chuckled when the door opened and a wave of people streamed in. Everyone looked exhausted as always but this time there seemed to be something different about this new batch of people.

One of the last men to enter was less focused on an empty seat ahead, but instead looked around the tavern until his eyes stopped on Ohyas desk. With uncertain steps, he walked closer to them until he eventually came to a stop right in front.

“Are… you working for the Phantom Resistance?” the man carefully asked.

Futaba and Ryuji stopped their work and even Ohya stopped typing for a minute as all eyes moved to the man in front of them.

“We are.” Ren answered.

The man seemed to relax a bit before he said “Hermes sent me.” he leaned forward to make sure that only they were able to hear “He told me to tell you that it’s happening.”

Ren nodded “Thank you for the message.”

The man nodded back at him before hurrying off to find a seat among his colleagues.

“Then that means….” Futaba started.

“Yup.” Ryuji confirmed.

“And so it begins.” Ren said with a small smirk on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins. A tragic incident and a wake-up-call. Mishima might not have realized it, but being with the Phantom Thieves has changed him a lot. 
> 
> Things are in motion now. How everything will end, you will learn on saturday.


	59. Out Of Business - Okumura Industries

Mishima didn‘t consider it „Waking up“ the next thursday morning. He didn‘t feel like he had slept at all last night and probably the night before either. Adding to the nervousness about todays plan was that watching someone die hadn’t been kind to his psyche and there was still the lingering concussion, that hadn’t completely healed within one week. Mishima figured that he probably should have it checked by Takemi as soon as he was out of this place. The company wasn’t necessarily interested in keeping its workers healthy. Or alive.

As he heaved himself up in his bed, he noticed that everyone else seemed equally tense this morning. The breakfast-pots hadn’t arrived yet and everyone was getting dressed for the day. As he was looking around, he noticed a few hands slipping underneath mattresses and recovering packets of ammunition or guns to then store inside their working overalls. If everything went according to plan, they wouldn't return to the barracks tonight.

The plan sounded easy enough. Get todays work done, nick some more ammunition and guns during the day and then walk out, hopefully without shooting guards.

While the idea of the peaceful walkout sounded like a noble idea, with every day closer to thursday Mishima had started to worry more about how the guards might not react as peaceful as they hoped. After all, they had beaten an old helpless man to death to make a point. He had been laying in his bed last saturday, when he suddenly realized that maybe this plan of theirs wasn’t as great as he had thought.

“Ready for the last day?” Kaoru asked from the bunk above. He had asked him the same question every day. At first Mishima thought that it was an under-the-radar inquiry if he was still alive but maybe it was just his way of coping with this place by counting the days.

“No...”. Maybe his answer had become a ritual too. The daily reminder that he was in far over his head. He wasn’t a leader. He was someone who called the leader for help when things got complicated. He was the messenger, not the hero. He had no idea how he had managed to hold a speech in front of the entire workforce without being the usual sputtering mess that he was. He hadn’t been able to talk to the girl that he liked after she kissed him, but now he was suddenly able to rally the troops and plot a strike? The most surprised about his speech must have been himself followed by everyone else. But him being the one giving the speech to change everyones mind to stand up for themselves also put him into the position of the leader. And leaders had responsibility. And that responsibility made Mishima nervous. If someone died today, he would always feel guilty, no matter if he could have prevented it or not. Every time he thought about it, his chest got tight. He took a deep breath and got out of bed.

“Nervous?” Kaoru asked. While Mishima was lost in thought, Iwais son had climbed down from his top-bunk and gotten dressed.

Mishima gulped and nodded “Aren’t you?”

“Seems like everyone is.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about what we should do if it comes to a shoot-out.” Mishima looked around the crowds “There’s not enough men carrying a gun to defend all of us… And we weren’t able to get a concrete number on the guards either...”

“He can’t have more guards than workers.” Kaoru replied “We might not be suited for a stand-off but we’re equipped well enough to intimidate. Seeing all of us marching together might have a greater impact than you think.”

“I just don’t want any more people to die...” Mishima sighed.

“Noone wants that. And we’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.”

Mishima reluctantly nodded as he slipped into his far too big work-overall.

“Come on. Let’s get that gross slob that they call breakfast one last time.” Kaoru tried to lighten the mood.

“I’m so looking forward to the food back at home...” Mishima sighed as they started their daily walk to the end of the line. While in the beginning, the two had just been two new heads in the sea of workers, by now everyone knew them. Just like when he was in Kamoshidas castle. Noone had known him back then, when he had just blended in with the rest to avoid conflict. When he stood beside the Phantom Thieves, everyone was looking at him. Only now he wasn’t just the wimp standing beside the three teenagers who had dethroned Kamoshida. Now he was one of them, tasked with helping them regain their freedom. It made him both proud and scared.

Haru stood in the hallway of the office-wing and looked at a showcase full of antique pistols. She had avoided visiting the workers quarters again but Hifumi used her free time in the evening to check up on the two guys. After Hifumi told her about the plan of the walk-out, she hadn’t been sure what to think of it. The thought of leaving her father with an empty factory didn’t feel fulfilling enough to her. As she looked at all the old revolvers that have been produced in this very factory, she realized that the real issue was the factory itself. As long as it stood, her father would always have leverage to reel in new workers to then treat them the same. And if he held an especially big grudge – which was likely after a huge statement like this – he might even seek revenge against those “disrespecting” him. She had always wondered why he had never seemed to search for her. After all, he must have known where the Thieves lived, since they were recruited. In the beginning, she was just happy that he didn’t. But after a few months, she had started to wonder if his only child running away from her arranged wedding hadn’t even caused the slightest reaction in him. She continued to stare at the display when Sato took his place beside her.

“Are you developing an interest in guns, Miss Okumura?” he asked.

Haru shook her head “No. I’m not a stranger to weapons but guns have never piqued my interest.”. She folded her hands in front of her “Sato… when I ran away last year… How did father react?”

Sato seemed unsure of what to tell her before eventually taking a deep breath “As you can imagine, Master Okumura was very upset. I don’t know if I have ever seen him this angry before. He ordered a few of the men to pick up the trail and to follow the van.”

Haru looked surprised “He did?” she looked at Sato “But we never saw them.”

Sato gave her a kind and tired smile “Sometimes you forget that I not only serve your father.”

Even though the very man who had always told her to keep her mouth closed when she wasn’t talking stood right in front of her, her jaw dropped as she couldn’t help but stare at him.

“I knew that your father hasn’t been kind to you ever since your mother died. I wish that I could have done more to stop him from tormenting you. His whole demeanor towards you is the biggest fuel for arguments that I have with him. I only heard afterwards, that the reason for your sudden departure right before the wedding was because you ran away. I stood by your fathers side when he ordered the search-party to pursue you and your friends. So I followed them and told them to lose the track on purpose.”

“You… did that?” Haru stammered, still shocked. “For me?”

Sato nodded “I watched you grow lonely in this house. I know that I wasn’t able to fill the hole that both your mother left behind and your father continued to tear. There was and still is no future in this house for you. Running away was the only thing that you could have done and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to help you earlier.”

Haru still could only gape at him.

Sato had a fond smile on his lips when he lightly pinched her nose, like he had done when she was little, before saying “And now closer your mouth or a fly will fly in.”

Haru did as she was told, tears welling in her eyes. She might not have had the best father, but she definitely had the best caretaker in the world. She hugged the old man. He still smelled the same after all these years. “Thank you.” she whispered, the tears now rolling down her cheeks and partly landing on Satos vest while the old man stood there and stroked her back like he used to do when little Haru was upset about something much more trivial than now. With a small sob she drew back and stood up straight again. She squeezed her eyes shut and collected herself. “Did you ever think about leaving too?”

Sato looked at the display-case before saying “I have served this house for almost my entire life. I have known three generations of Okumuras. I’m afraid it’s a bit late for me to go out and see the world.”

“Do you regret not doing something else?”

He smiled before he shook his head “I’ve spent many great years while helping your grandfather and I watched two very promising children growing up.” his smile turned sad when he said “I also had to see one of those two children turn into a cold-hearted monster.”

“I’m sorry...” Haru said. “You accompanied him his entire life. You knew his better side longer than I did.”

Sato shook his head “You shouldn’t worry about me.”. He smiled “I will go back to dusting the rugs.”

As Haru watched the old man walk away, she couldn’t help but feel even more mad at her father. Sato had dedicated his best years to this family only to now be stuck in this house with her emotionless father who didn’t care about anyone anymore. She angrily opened the display-case to take out one of the antique guns. It felt wrong. Something this light shouldn’t be able to kill so easily. As she turned the gun around in her hand, everything felt so fragile and not at all like her grenade launcher. But maybe something small like this would be the thing that she needed to finally be heard. To finally have the upper hand in a conversation with Kunikasu Okumura. To finally end all of this. She quickly put the gun back into the case and left. 

A bit farther away from the compound, the rest of the Phantom Thieves stood in their attic-hideout and packed up their things. The one who spread her stuff out the most was Futaba, who had taped maps to the wall and strewn a bunch of lists all over the floor beside her mattress, that she now had to pick up and stuff into her large backpack again. Prometheus was safely tucked away in the new leather case that she had bought from that market-stand.

“You think they’ll really go through with it?” Ryuji eventually asked.

“Some of them have been pretty skeptic… What if they rethink and decide not to go along with the plan?” Ann agreed.

Yusuke shook his head “After what happened to the old man, they would be cowards if they backed down now..”

“The whole reason why all of this could happen was because they were too scared. If the stories are true, he wasn’t the first one dying and noone thought about doing something back then either.” Makoto argued.

“But now they have hope!” Morgana said. “We’ve eliminated so many shadows in the last two weeks!”

“Who I’m more worried about is Haru.” Ren said as he stuffed his clothes into his backpack.

“But she can’t really believe that she’s a damage to our cause, right?” Morgana whined.

“I think all of us can agree that quite the opposite is the case.” Yusuke said. “We need Haru with us. She’s a vital part of our group.”

Everyone nodded without hesitation.

“Now that we know that she must have gotten the idea from the people of Seiiki, we are able to understand the situation a bit better.” Makoto said.

“I can’t believe that they said something mean to her. After all she and we did for them.” Ryuji growled. “Once we’re back, I’m going to go down there and give them hell for it.”

“Me too.” Yusuke said to everyones surprise.

“You?” Futaba asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why shouldn’t it be me?” Yusuke asked, perplexed.

“No offense Inari but Ryuji just seems like the type to go and yell at people and they would be scared of him. He looks like he would break stuff in the process too..” Futaba shrugged.

When everyone turned to Ryuji, he could only shrug “Hey, sometimes you gotta prove your point and if breaking a chair helps with it….”

"See?” Futaba continued “He just….” she pointed at Ryujis entire body “looks like the kind of guy who would do something like that. And you don’t. Again: No offense.”

“Offense taken.” Yusuke replied. “I would like to remind you, that I have been quite loud, vocally, when I confronted Madarame and Nakanohara.”

“There’s a difference between shaming the bad guy in front of a crowd that’s on your side and shaming an entire crowd that believes what they did was right...” Ren pointed out before saying “But I think that we should all go there and set things straight once we’re back. I don’t know if Haru will agree to it, but they should apologize to her face.”

“Yeah! And then they have to tell her that she’s nothing like her father.” Morgana said.

“Hearing that must have hurt her a lot...” Yusuke muttered.

Makoto nodded “Soon everyone will think of Okumura as the person with the empty gun-factory. He won’t be able to do anything in there as long as he’s on his own.”

“A lot of people seem to be worried that as soon as they walk out, Okumura will just hire replacements and treat them the same.” Ann pointed out.

“We’ve cleared out so many shadows and taken away a lot of worries from the people. If they aren’t scared for their lives anymore, they will think twice about enslaving themselves to Okumura. All it needs is today to make the change.” Ren was determined.

“It feels so strange to not lead the charge...” Ryuji said. “I would have liked to stir up some trouble in there...” he grinned.

“It’s supposed to be a peaceful walkout, Ryuji.” Ren smirked “I’d be pretty worried about that if you were in there...”

“I guess you’re right…” Ryuji sighed “Honestly, if I would have seen those guards beating that old guy, I would have lost it.”

“Yeah….” Ann nodded “Poor Mishima… he even tried to step in but it was no use...”

Ren shouldered his luggage and looked at the group “All of this will end today. Tonight we’ll already be driving back home with the entire group complete again and Okumura Industries behind us."

Makoto nodded “Yes. Let’s go.”

Ohyas table was almost cleaned out again. The journalist only had to pack up her typewriter and get rid of the last stack of paper to leave without leaving a trace of the "Phantom Resistance”.

“All packed up?” Ren asked while Makoto went to pay for their lodging for the past weeks.

Ohya nodded. She seemed different than usual. More… less hyperactive.

“What’s wrong?” Morgana had picked up on her new behavior too.

The journalist took a deep breath “I was just thinking about what Kayo would think about all of this… All I ever wanted to do was write about peoples lifes and write about the good things in the world to give others hope. When I started working for that newspaper, I thought that I could do just that but in the end they wouldn’t let me leave the town. But Kayo… she wanted to fight injustice. To her, journalism was about uncovering truths, no matter how ugly, and searching for people who weren’t happy. When she said that she wanted to investigate Okumura, I thought that we might be able to start our own thing, so that I didn’t have to work for that bought newspaper any longer and finally write about what I want. So I encouraged her to go. I didn’t know a lot about Okumura back then but I should have figured that he’s got influence if he runs a factory… But I was so looking forward to starting my own newspaper with her too...”

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder “And now you have it. We’re going to finish what she started.” he smiled “And look at you: You went from writing happy articles straight to a war-reporter. I’m sure that she would be proud.

Ohya smiled at him “Thanks. I can see why you’re the leader now.”.

“Thanks.” Ren replied. It felt like he had finally met the real Ohya, the one that was laying underneath all those layers of flashy headlines and hyperactive motivation. He even understood her alcoholism now. She felt guilty for letting her friend go too easily. “You did great too. I’m really proud of you for dialing back your drinks.”

“It does feel nice to wake up without headaches.” she sighed “Maybe I should stick to two drinks a night when we get back too.”

“I think Lala would be grateful if you didn’t drain all her stocks without ever paying.” Ren smirked.

“Hey, I’m paying. Eventually.” she protested before patting his cheek “I’ll still call you my Cash-Cow though.”

“Sure.” Ren sighed. “Need any help with your luggage?”

“Aww, how sweet of you.” she cooed “I could actually need the help of a young and strong man.”

Ren smirked “I thought you being so handsy and into all of us was an alcohol-thing...”

“No.” Ohya shrugged. “I just can’t help it. When a bunch of handsome guys like all of you come around...”

“Me too?” Morgana asked, finally smelling his chance of being counted as one of the guys.

Ohya chuckled and patted the childs head “I’m sure you’ll grow up to be just as handsome as everyone else.”

Morganas shoulders drooped.

“Cheer up, you’re not missing out on anything. Being hit on by her is really not that great...” Ren said before Ohya punched his shoulder. Not long after, the rest walked up to them.

“The bill is all settled.” Ann smiled.

“And compared to Ryujis and Yusukes tab, Ohyas was pretty cheap. And we were here for weeks.” Futaba grinned.

The group wandered towards the car. As they walked through the streets, they felt the eyes of the people staring at them through the window. They had been here for a long time. By now the entire town and its surroundings knew their faces and what they tried to do. While this particular town didn’t have any troubles with shadows due to its advanced security-system, they still must have caught the chatter and above everything else probably every issue of the “Phantom Resistance” that also provided insights about the deeds of both the Phantom Thieves and Okumura. Ren didn’t know if he was imagining things but he felt that expectations were higher than ever for the Phantom Thieves, much likely due to how many people they had mobilized over the last weeks.

“Is everything okay?” Makoto asked while she reached for his hand.

Ren nodded “Yeah. It just feels like all eyes are on us right now…”

“Or rather the Phantom Thieves.” Makoto said.

He nodded “I just hope that they won’t let them down.”

Makoto gave him a small smile “I’m sure that they will try their best.

Two hours later, Makoto stopped the car on a hill near the factory. Morgana was the first to climb onto the roof of the drivers cabin and took the binoculars from Futaba. “It looks quiet so far...” he said after scanning the compound.

“If they haven’t changed the plan, everything should go down in the evening so we should still have some time...” Makoto slid out of the drivers seat.

“So we’re just going to sit here and hope that everything will go smoothly?” Futaba asked, confused by the new situation.

“We’ve taken care of all the shadows around. Now all we have to do is wait…” Ren said to no one in particular. Not being in control of a situation still made him uneasy. It reminded him of how helpless and panicked he had felt back then when Makoto was taken. Only this time, all he felt was anxiousness. Maybe by now, the two had already been busted and Mishima and Kaoru were dead for instigating a riot. The total lack of a plan B, if those gates didn’t open by nightfall, didn’t offer much reassurance either. But when did they have a plan B, really?

Mishima was working in Packaging and had a nervous eye on everyone coming and going from the storage. Over the past days they had realized that with a bit of acting, the guards didn’t get suspicious if the crew pushing the wares into the storage changed once a day. Kaoru was among the swap-in crew after their lunch break. Mishima saw him and two others pushing the cart towards the storage. They were gone for a few minutes when Mishima noticed one of the guards walking out the same way. The blue-haired boys heart dropped. If he caught them stuffing their pockets, he would ring an alarm and their whole plan would be over. While his brain was still picturing horror-scenarios, his eyes scanned the hall for the other guards locations. When he saw his opening, he slipped through the lines of workers. His heart was beating in his ears when he covered the last distance to the doors. Since there were no calls from the guards to be heard, he figured that it was a good sign. After slipping inside, he pressed himself against the wall and observed the storage-hall. All he could hear was heavy footsteps before a booming voice bellowed through the building.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

Mishima figured that it was too late to play sneaky when he started sprinting in the direction that he had guessed the footsteps. He found them two rows of storage-shelves later. Kaoru and the other men stood with raised hands in front of a shelve that they had no business in front of. The guard was pointing a gun at them and apparently didn’t pay any mind to the noise that Mishima had created during his pursuit.

Time seemed to slow down when Mishima saw the guard reach for the walkie-talkie on his belt. Remembering the deflating effect of him grabbing a fully trained guard by the arm, Mishima figured that it was time for a new tactic. Within three running steps he was in range and in a fit of both bravery and probably insanity he jumped at the guards back and clung to the mans upper body with both arms and legs. The guard didn’t seem to be the only one surprised by his actions. It felt like minutes of struggling passed until finally Kaoru stepped up and whacked the guard unconscious with the butt of a pistol that he just snatched. As the guards head dropped forward and his body dropped to the ground, Mishima slowly dared to let go again. He stared at the motionless body in front of them. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. They should have had another half-day until it was go-time. Someone would notice that the guard is missing and then they would alarm the others. Why did that guard even follow them in the first place? Had someone given something away? Had the guards already been suspicious of them? He was nervously walking in circles while chewing his nails.

“Hermes…?” Kaoru eventually asked when the boy wouldn’t stop walking.

“Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo?” Mishima asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know but we need to make a decision fast. If anyone notices that we haven’t returned, someone will come check.”

“They will notice that one of them is missing and then they’ll see...” Mishima replied, fully panicking now. “Hhhhhngh….. What would the others do?” he whined. Would they move the body?

“The others aren’t here.” Kaoru said. “So what do you think we should do?”

“M- Me?” he stammered. “I… I’m not your leader.”

“You’re a Phantom Thief.” Kaoru replied.

“Yeah… but… but….” he stammered and fidgeted his fingers. This wasn’t the plan. The plan was that Ren and the others convinced the people of protesting and that him and Kaoru would be the men on the inside to walk along with them. Mishima was never intended to give a speech like he had a week ago. He squeezed his lips together and looked at the others. Kaoru was right. He was here on behalf of the Phantom Thieves and as a representative he needed to make a good example and get the people to safety. He took a deep breath and looked at the other two men “Take what you can. We’re leaving now.”

“Right now?” someone asked.

Mishima nodded “As long as they don’t find out about this guy, we should still have the element of surprise on our side. We have to do it now.”

To his surprise, everyone nodded almost immediately.

“Okay.” Kaoru said “Then let’s go.”

Before leaving the large storage-hall, everyone filled up their pockets. Kaoru handed a pistol to Mishima. “You know how to shoot, right?”

Mishima slowly nodded “Never at a person though...”

“They’re just really big targets.” Kaoru tried to lighten the mood. When his humor seemed to be lost on the pale boy he added “We’re not talking about shooting anyone yet. Let’s hope that pointing will be enough.”

Mishima nodded and reluctantly took the loaded weapon from his hand. They shared a nod before the small group walked back towards the Packaging-hall. The closer they got to the large door, the shakier Mishimas knees got. This was it.

The three others pushed the cart out the door, shortly followed by Mishima who tried to remain unsuspicious while walking behind them. When Kaoru made eye-contact with one of the other men, he gave a hand-signal. To Mishimas surprise, none of the people who noticed the sign seemed to be nervous. They simply nodded and continued to give the signals to others. Throughout the hall, Mishima noticed hands slipping into pockets, most likely reaching for the guns hidden in there. He instinctively reached into his own pocket to feel the cold grip in his hand. He knew how to operate one but he had always hoped that the day would never come, where he actually had to put it to the test.

When Kaoru gave the signal, everything went quick. Iwais son was the first to pull his gun, immediately followed by those armed men who stood closest to remaining guards. To them, everything came far too quick to react since noone expected them to have guns on them in the first place. The first hurdle was passed when none of the guards answered with violence. Mishimas hands were still shaking when he watched the unarmed men tie up the angry guards.

“What do you think will happen now?” one of the guards asked. “All you’re doing is working towards a beating once Okumura hears of this.”

“Okumura doesn’t own us anymore.” someone answered while tying the ropes around a guards wrist tighter.

“Take their walkie-talkies and shut them off.” Mishima called out.

“What happened?” another man asked, clearly confused by the new schedule.

“We were on the verge of being compromised. We need to act fast to keep the element of surprise.” Kaoru explained while taking one of the guards rifles. He tossed it to the next worker who didn’t carry a gun yet.

Again, noone obliged and was on board quick as they grouped up and made their way towards the next factory-hall over the grated walkways. They were able to incapacitate a few guards that were patrolling the walkways in the Assembly before Mishima caught someones attention to give the signal. Again, the take-out was quick. The guards didn’t know what hit them when the workers suddenly drew guns on them. Mishima and the others were still standing on the walkways as they watched what happened down on the factory-floor. His breath hitched when one of the guards suddenly offered resistance and tried to reach for his gun but lucky for them, someone was there to strike from behind in time to knock the guard out cold.

Kaoru looked at Mishima “I’m gonna stay here with a few others and help with the clean-up, you and the rest go over to the smithy and get the others.”

Mishima nodded before motioning the others to follow him. His knees still felt shaky and his heart was beating so fast he was scared that it would just explode at some point. Thinking back on how his heart had been beating when Shihos hand was on his, he had thought that it wasn’t even possible to go faster than that, but apparently being in a life-or-death-situation managed to top being touched by Shiho. As he walked towards the third hall, he started to wonder again why he was the one leading the charge all of a sudden. _You’re definitely not weak._ he recalled Shihos words. She wouldn’t have said it if it was a lie and she wouldn’t have kissed him if he was nothing but a loser, right? He took a deep breath before opening the door to the Smithy. Even after weeks of working there, he was sure that he would never get used to the wall of heat that would slap you in the face every time upon entering.

He spotted a guard patrolling the walkway close by. He gave a nod to the men behind him, causing one of the stronger ones to sneak up behind him and wrap his arm around the guards throat from behind.

Mishima was about to let out the obligatory breath of relieve after every guard that they were able to detain quietly, when the guard suddenly bent over and threw the worker over his back and onto the ground in front of him. The surprised worker was struggling for air after hitting the grating with his back while the guard pulled his baton. Mishimas hand was shaking when he drew the gun from his pocket. Withouth fully realizing what he was doing, he stepped around the corner and out of their cover. “Stop!” he called out with a quivering voice. But since the guards back was facing him and since he had no reason to turn around to look at a measly worker telling him to stop, he raised the baton over his head to deliver the first punishment-blow to the worker laying in front of him.

Mishima squeezed his eyes shut before his finger found its place. The pictures of the three guards beating the old man to death flashed in front of his inner eye when he pulled the trigger. It was a surprisingly small motion compared to the damage it would cause. He wasn’t sure whether the shot felt so incredibly loud because of his fear or if it really rang through the entire hall. The blue-haired boy dared to open his eyes to find the guard in front of him still standing. Only now he was facing him and he wasn’t the only one. The shot was still an uncommon enough sound in the smithy to raise every guards suspicion and to direct their eyes towards him.

He didn’t even need to give the secret signal. As soon as the workers heard the shot, they immediately drew their own weapons and started overwhelming the guards closest to them. The guard right in front of Mishima was taken down by the man that he had thrown to the floor before. Mishima was about to look for the next target when a bullet soared past him and hit the wall. He was so shocked that he was unable to move. Within the blink of an eye, he found himself sitting on the floor around the corner again, that one of the men had pulled him behind for cover. Not long after, the man that had taken out the guard skittered around the corner too as bullets continued flying.

“What now?” one of them asked. “They’re going to call for back-up if we don’t take them out quick.”

Mishima was shivering. How was he supposed to make a decision now? He wasn’t Ren. He was just a wimp who couldn’t even shoot someone in the back. But he needed to do something. He still had a firm grip on the pistol in his hand. As he looked down, it seemed that on the ground-floor every guard had been brought under control and every worker had taken cover to avoid potential attacks from the guards above them. The only ones remaining where those on the walkways who were closing in on them.

The bullet-fire suddenly stopped and one of them called out “Come out with your hands up, you bastards!”

Mishima looked at the others “Can I trust you?” he asked.

“What’s the plan, kid?” one of them asked, alarmed.

The blue-haired boy stood up and took a deep breath. He wasn’t a hero and he would never be the one that goes in with guns blazing. But he could be the bait. “Just don’t let me die, okay?” his voice quivered before he had to laugh nervously at the strange request. He tucked his gun back into his pocket before stepping around the corner with raised hands. He didn’t even know what the others could do. Maybe they would just retreat and get help from Kaoru. But hopefully they just wouldn’t do anything crazy.

A guard approached him with a raised weapon “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he barked. “You’ll be answering to Okumura. Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

Mishimas knees were shaking when the man was at an arm-lengths distance. He was about to turn around as ordered, when a single shot rang through the hall again. Mishima only noticed that he hadn’t been the one hit when the guard in front of him sank to the ground with a hole in his head. Time seemed to freeze when everyone looked at the dead guard in front of them. For the first time in his life, Mishima felt like he was the first to react when he scrambled forward towards the next guard. While his eyes were on the target, he heard footsteps ringing out behind him, giving him the hope that his companions were following to take control of the situation again. He still had no idea what he was about to do and what he was actually doing here when he straight-up tackled the first guard in the chest and sent them both crashing to the floor. As he was pinning the guard to the ground, less out of intention and more out of confusion, he was relieved to see that one of the workers immediately came over to them and helped tie up the guard while the others charged at the remaining men. When Mishima picked himself up again, he looked around to assess the situation. A little further down the walkway, he saw two men struggling with a guard who tried reaching for his walkie-talkie. Eventually one of them was able to grab it out of his hand and threw it to the floor to step on it. Mishima looked down at the others. Had they really managed to overpower all the guards without any casualties on their side? Had noone heard that shoot-out? They were in the hall farthest away from the guards barracks so he hoped that maybe they remained uncompromised, especially since the smithy was so loud anyway.

A few moments later, the several doors to the Assembly opened and a flood of workers from both other halls swept inside. Kaoru caught up with Mishima and looked at all the men gathered in the one hall that was already too hot to breathe in.

Kaoru stepped over the dead guard “What happened?”

“We ran into a bit of a resistance...” Mishima rubbed his temples. Everything had went by so fast. Had he really played the bait for all of them without thinking twice? Had he given the workers the order to kill this guard? “It… wasn’t me. I didn’t hit.”

Kaoru patted him on the shoulder “It doesn’t matter. We’re complete now, so let’s get going.”

Haru had taken an unsuspicious spot in the lounge and pretended to read a book when in fact she was observing the situation. Her father had spent the entire day in his office working but she was sure that at some point, someone would need to report that the workers were rioting and she would not miss that conversation. While Hifumis information was that it would go down in the evening, Haru didn’t find that she had anything else to do that day anyway. It wasn’t like she had a lot to pack. And this time she would leave with her head held high. She wouldn’t have to feel bad about all the workers this time.

Hifumi pretended to dust the bookshelves but she seemed equally on edge about todays plan.

The fluffy-haired girl started to get sleepy with nothing to do when several pairs of footsteps stormed past the lounge and towards her fathers office. The two girls exchanged a look as Haru got off the couch and hurried out into the hallway.

Since the guards were in a hurry they hadn’t bothered with closing the doors to her fathers office so it was an easy feat for Haru to listen in on the conversation.

“Sir! The workers have started to riot!” one of the men reported.

“They what?” her father bellowed.

“They have overpowered every guard in the factory halls and are now marching towards the gate.”

“How is that possible?”

“We don’t know. But some of them have weapons.” the man reported “What do you want us to do? Open fire?”

Haru gasped.

“No.” her father replied, much to her relief. “Keep the gates shut at all costs. I will be out in a moment to put them back into their places.”

“As you command, Sir.” they said before the group of guards exited the office, leaving the door open for Haru to slip inside.

Her father stood at his desk and reached for his jacket when he spotted his daughter. “What is it? I’m busy.”

“You have to let them go, father.” Haru said.

“I will do nothing of the sort.” he stoically replied “They will see what it means to disobey me. They can leave whenever I let them. They don’t have to return but I will not have an uprising in my factory.”

“What will you do?” she asked, already fearing to hear the answer.

“I will find who initiated this and I will make an example.” he replied without remorse.

“By locking them up in the bunker. Right?”

It didn’t happen often that her father was caught off-guard but apparently the bunker was something that noone was supposed to know. “I told you to stop wandering around the compound.”. He threw on his jacket “We’ll set some more firm rules when I get back but now I have to take care of those rebels at my gates.”

Haru clenched her fists as she stepped in to block his path. She forced herself to look into his emotionless eyes “Look at you! Has it never occurred to you that the only person doing something wrong is you?” she said. “Is this really who you are? A heartless monster who only thinks about power and profit? Did you lie to mother all this time when you pretended that you cared about us?”

Her father grimaced “Don’t you dare accuse me of lying to your mother!”

“Then what moved you to become the person you are now?” Haru almost yelled at him “Was her death really the only reason? You weren’t the only one who lost her. I did too. All of us did and yet you wanted to hear none of it. You removed every sign of her existence from this house because you couldn’t bare to think of her, except for the only thing that you couldn’t throw out that easily.” she had told herself that she wouldn’t cry but the tears were already rolling down her cheeks. “Me.”

Her father just stood and stared.

“You said that all the love was drained from your live when she died.” she said. “Did I never have your love to begin with?”

“Haru...” his voice turned softer all of a sudden and it felt like he really looked at her for the first time in forever.

Haru collected herself again. Her fists were still balled as she kept standing her ground. “I have bent over backwards to try to get your approval. I was about to marry someone that I hated just to make you happy until someone came and opened my eyes that I don’t belong to you. There was a time when all I wanted to do was finally make you smile again but maybe you didn’t even want to try.” her gaze hardened “I’m not yours to command anymore and I will not let you go and continue to mistreat these people just because you need to feel in control.” her lips quivered “Please father…. If there still exists a tiny piece of who you used to be, I beg you to remember who you really are. You are better than this.”

Kunikasu Okumuras face fell as if he had only now just realized what he had done over the last years. He dropped to his knees before he clutched his head while Haru just stood and watched in confusion. Of all the reactions she had anticipated, this was one that she hadn’t thought of. She carefully walked over to her cowering father and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“You are right.” he father said, his eyes focused on the floor. “I didn’t want to see anything that reminded me of her because I couldn’t bare it. I knew that she wouldn’t get better and by the time it was over, I was so tired of being sad. I just wanted to get everything over with and move on. I just didn’t want to be reminded of what I've lost. But wherever I looked, I saw her. In pictures and photos, in her garden, in the lounge… And in you. You reminded me so much of her, that I couldn’t bare to look at my own daughter.”. His hands were balled into fists and Haru thought that she saw a tear dropping onto the carpet. “As long as I worked, I didn’t think about your mother, so I did that… I told myself that I would increase our numbers of sales and after a while it was all I could think about. I didn’t see workers as workers anymore because I just wanted to forget everything around me.”

“Father….” Haru softly said before kneeling down in front of him.

“I know I’ve lost control but I had to keep my face. I knew that your mother would have disapproved and I know that my father is turning in his grave right now. I’m a coward. That’s why I locked up the reporter and that’s why I quietly buried the workers that died on the job without informing the families.” he said, never raising his head.

“What about the hits that you ordered on the gunsmiths?” Haru carefully asked.

“I struck a deal with a very influential group of people and they brought the idea to me that I could increase my numbers by eliminating competition. I was so hungry for power and more work, that I went along with everything they said.”

Haru sat back on her heels. A deal with an influential group? “Are you talking about Kaneshiro?”

Her father looked up at her with puffy eyes. “You know them?”

Haru nodded “Is it true that you provided all of their weapons? Was that the deal?”

He shook his head “I did provide them to him but he wasn’t the one in charge. I never met the man in person, I only had the wares delivered to him. There is something even bigger behind all of this.”

Harus eyes went wide “If it wasn’t Kaneshiro, then who was the one that you corresponded with about the gunsmiths? And who was above Kaneshiro?”

“I… don’t know….” her father stammered. “I only communicated with them over letters. All I know is that the guy who took care of the competition went by the name of Crow.”

Haru was about to say something when Sato stormed in “Master, the workers have gathered at the gates and demand their release. The guards are waiting for your orders.”

Harus father looked at his daughter. She gave him an encouraging smile “It’s not too late to start doing what’s right.” she said.

He took a deep breath and nodded before he looked up at Sato “Tell the guards to open the gate.”

Satos eyes were glistening as he smiled and bowed “Very well, Sir.”. As he left the office, Haru noticed Hifumi standing in the doorway too.

“You have to release the prisoners too.” she softly said.

Her father nodded before reaching inside of his jacket to pull out a key-chain. Haru took it from him and tossed it to Hifumi. She took off without a word. The two Okumuras continued to sit on the floor in silence.

“So this is how it ends...” he whispered.

“It doesn’t have to be an end. You have the opportunity to start anew.” Haru said.

He shook his head “Who would ever believe me, if I claim that I changed? My fate is sealed, I have made too many wrong decisions to ever be redeemed.”

“It won’t be easy but if you work hard, maybe people will change their views.”

“Look at me… I have nothing now… I was given this factory by my father and I drove it into the ground. I don’t know how to start things from scratch.”

Haru looked at her father. Deep inside, she had always known that this part of him must still exist somewhere. She had spent so many years in fear of him but now, as she saw the realKunikasu Okumura again, she started to remember all of the beautiful moments that they had had with her mother. How he would stand on the terrace and smile as he watched her mother and her tend to the flowers and how he would laugh at her mothers jokes. “Then let me help you.” she said. It rolled off her tongue so easily.

His eyes went wide and tears were still glistening in the corners. “Haru… I don’t deserve your forgiveness….”

She shook her head. This time it was her turn to cry “All I ever wanted was to have my father back…. And now I do. So let’s move forward and turn Okumura Industries back to how it used to be, when grandfather gave it to you.”

The two fell into each others arm, crying. Haru had forgotten how it felt to be held in his arms. It immediately managed to feel familiar, although she couldn’t remember how many years had passed without any affection from her father. Was he really able to change so drastically within one day? Would she regret her decision in the end, if she should get disappointed by her father again? She decided to push her doubts back for now. He had made mistakes. Mistakes that some people would never forgive. But he was her father after all and if he wanted to be better, then she would support him in his endeavors. Her gaze fell onto her bracelet. She would miss the Thieves but as she had told them, maybe this place was where she belonged all along. Only now it was in a much more positive way than she had initially meant it.

Sato returned to the office to find father and daughter hugging. He smiled before softly announcing “The gates are open.”

Haru smiled and nodded at her father before she climbed to her feet. “I know that my friends are nearby at the moment. I will go and tell them that I will stay.”

Her father got up from the floor too and nodded. She was walking towards the door when he called out after her “I love you, Haru.”

Haru wiped away a tear before she turned around “I love you too, father.”.

Sato accompanied her to the door “He has made a complete turn. It’s as if he had a change of heart, that rid him of his distorted desires...” he said eventually. “Your mother would be proud. And I’m glad to have you back with us, Miss. It seems that we might be looking into a brighter future.”

Haru smiled and nodded “I’m looking forward to it.”. She opened the door and walked out to see the masses of workers walking out the compound in an orderly manner.

“Something’s happening!!” Futaba called out from the cars rooftop. “The gates are opening!”

“Wha-?” Ryuji mumbled as he slowly rose from the loading space after taking a nap.

“It’s a bit earlier than planned, isn’t it?” Yusuke asked as he looked up from his sketchbook where he had sketched a sleeping Ryuji until moments ago.

“The gates are opening, that’s all that counts for now...” Ren said as he climbed up beside Futaba to take the binoculars from her.

“And look at those masses!” Morgana called out as he saw the flood of people exiting without even needing magnification.

Yusuke chuckled “We really did it….”

Ohya smiled “This is for you, Kayo.”

“Are you able to see any of our people?” Makoto asked.

Ren shook his head, the binoculars still at his eyes “All I see is overalls… It’s kind of hard to make out the faces...”

“Mishima and Hifumi know the meeting spot, so we should see them soon enough.” Ann said.

The Thieves watched the magic moment of hundreds of people being released from their imprisonment together until they eventually noticed a group of four walking in their direction. When Ren didn’t recognize the woman walking with them, supported by Kaoru and Mishima, his jaw dropped. “Ohya… Maybe you should take a look at this...” he said before handing down the binoculars.

The journalist was confused at first but took them nonetheless to hold them to her eyes. She almost dropped them again when she muttered “No way… That can’t be….”

“Is that her?” Ren asked.

Tears were welling in her eyes as she looked up at Ren and nodded. “Yup… That’s Kayo...”

Makoto smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. The others exchanged surprised and relieved looks.

When the group of four arrived at the car, Kayo seemed exhausted but she still had a smirk on her face when she looked at Ohyas gaping mouth. “You look like you’re seeing a ghost...” she joked.

“Is… this real?” the reporter asked, perplexed.

Kayo smirked “I know I’ve lost a lot of weight but no need to doubt my existence over it...”

“I thought you were dead...” she mumbled.

The reporter put her hand on her hip and smiled “Well… I’m not.”

“Geez, just hug already!” Ann exclaimed.

The two reporters smiled before falling into each others arms.

“Where is Haru?” Yusuke asked.

Hifumi looked back at the factory “She seemed to have reconnected with her father. If it wasn’t for her, he might have not let everyone go this easily. She sent me off to fetch Kayo and I met Mishima and Kaoru on the way.”

“But… she’ll come out again, right? She can leave now, can’t she?” Morgana asked.

“Let’s just wait for a bit longer.” Makoto said as she handed Kayo a bottle of water.

“Yeah… I can imagine that there’s a lot to talk about.” Ann said.

“I think I see her at the gates now!” Futaba called out after taking the binoculars back. She immediately stood up and started jumping up and down on the cars roof to make themselves seen.

Makoto flinched with every jump but she decided to let it slide due to the occasion.

Everyone was waiting for Harus arrival expectantly. As she got closer and closer, they could see her smile on her face that seemed to get wider and wider with every step. She was greeted by a fierce hug from Futaba.

“You look happy.” Ren smiled “Hifumi told us that you’ve managed to turn your old man around?”

Haru nodded “Yes. Sato even called it a change of heart.” she looked at all of them “I’m so grateful for all you have done. I’m sorry for leaving you like I did and I want to thank you for not backing down.”

“We’re the Phantom Thieves after all, aren’t we?” Morgana grinned.

“We’re sorry, that we didn’t tell you that we suspected your father of doing all those things...” Makoto said.

Haru shook her head “It’s okay. I understand. I was so hurt by the comments from Seiiki, that I probably would have acted even more irrational if I had known...”

“So what will your father do next?” Ann asked. “All his workers are gone now.”

Haru folded her hands in front of her “I have decided to stay with him and help him rebuild Okumura Industries into what it used to be. A fair working place.” It didn’t take long for the tears to pool in the girls eyes.

“So… you’re leaving us for real this time?” Futaba asked with a trembling lip.

Haru had to cry once again when she nodded “I want to help my father make amends and show the world that he has always been a good person before his heart was distorted. I’m sorry that I won’t join you on your trip back.” she turned around to look at the compound with everyone else. “But I think I’m needed here the most at the moment.”. She looked at the last masses of people that were swarming out in different directions after passing the gate to freedom before her gaze wandered over the now empty factory-halls. She would help her father restore the brand to its old glory. No more shady deals. A clean slate. And no more fears. Everything would be alright again.

Her plans were crushed within seconds when several explosions went off on the compound, drowning everything in flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you, but this whole chapter gave me massive Kaneshiro-showdown-vibes. Maybe it's just the cliff-hanger. Or the fact that I was once again reminded that writing action is not my forte. I still hope it was readable. Mishima definitely faced a lot of action but once again he proved that deep down he is a hero after all. 
> 
> This is the first time that a real change of heart happened and Haru finally managed to bring out her real father again. I really wanted her to get a moment with the real him and to understand what really went on his head to become who he had become after her mothers death. Deep down, beneath all the hurt, he was still the same man who only wanted to get away from all the pain he felt. He would have deserved a new start with his daughter, but we all know where it had to end. 
> 
> Tell me what you think and how you liked the chapter:) I know that this arc was really focused on Haru and Mishima but now that the groups complete again, they'll be able to carry the burden and struggle together again. After all, this arc is the start of everything going down, so they will need each other to lean on.


	60. Numb

Haru didn‘t know when exactly it was that she sank to her knees. Her eyes were transfixed on the inferno that used to be Okumura Industries. Beside her, Ann had crouched down and had her arms wrapped around Harus shoulders but the fluffy-haired girl didn’t completely register it. Everything felt so surreal. She had thought that she would return to her father in just a minute but now…. Today had already cost her many tears so she found her eyes dry as she stared at the dancing flames. She was too shocked to cry.

All around her, the Phantom Thieves could only stare in disbelieve. Down at the gates a few people had been thrown to the ground by the shockwave but they slowly started to climb back to their feet. Ren held Makotos hand and he knew that she had as many questions burning on her tongue as he had. And yet they both didn’t dare to speak as one of their friends mourned her fathers death. Because while he knew that everyone had questions, he was sure that none of them had any doubt that noone was able to survive an explosion like this. He noticed that Makotos eyes were full of tears as she looked at the devastated Haru, who seemed unable to avert her eyes from the burning mess in front of all of them. He reached out and pulled Makoto into a hug, pressing her against his chest as tight as possible. His head turned to find Ryuji, who was only gaping at the scene in front of him from the back of the truck. Even he seemed out of words for now, although a “What the Fuck?” would have been a pretty good sum-up of the situation, even if highly inappropriate for now.

They lost track of time as they all just stood and stared at the factory that kept burning on and on. It was starting to get dark when it seemed that the flames started to die down. One big fire was divided into several smaller ones and slowly the different buildings were distinguishable again, all of them black and burned out. As she looked at the still burning manor, Haru fully realized that her father, Sato, her mothers grave and all the other personnel that she had seen day after day throughout her childhood and over the last weeks had still been in there when she had left. They were all dead now. Burned alive. Right after things had started to look better. She was about to make things right. With her father and with the company. Everything should have been better. She started sobbing uncontrollably as she looked at the flames. Her entire body was shaking and she was sobbing so hard that she had trouble breathing when the Phantom Thieves rounded up around her to envelope her in one huge hug. Even as she kneed there, surrounded by her best friends, everything felt surreal. Like only half of her was really there and the other half was standing behind her, watching her crumpled on the ground, looking at it all like it was some abstract painting and not her life.

The Thieves would have sat there with her throughout the night, if Ren wouldn’t have gotten up from their hug at one point. Ohya, Kayo and Kaoru had been awkwardly standing beside them throughout the entire process. Eventually all the Thieves let go of Haru, whose sobbing started to turn quieter.

“Haru….” Ren slowly started, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s hard… but we can’t stay here.” his heart broke when he said “I know that it wasn’t your plan, but… will you come with us?”

Haru silently nodded before she reluctantly got back up on her feet. Her eyes were still wet when she cast a last look at the brightly burning factory. Everything in her heart screamed at her to go back down and look for her father and Sato and everyone else. But with no effective measures to extinguish the fire, it could take days for everything to stop burning. And she already knew that everything she would find in there were corpses. If she would even find them. Would she even want to see Satos burned body somewhere in the house that she had grown up in? Or her father, who had most likely died in the place that he had spent so many hours of his life in - his office? There was no way to and from the compound except for the huge main gate that she had escaped through over a year ago. Even if someone was still alive, right now there was no way for them to get inside and rescue them. And the chance of any survivor after seeing the explosion and the inferno that followed after was very slim to begin with. It felt like she was running on autopilot when she climbed into the back of the pick-up. Ann and Futaba didn’t leave her sides. Futaba clung to her right arm, her head resting on Harus shoulder while Ann had an arm around her. Makoto and Ren got into the drivers cabin while everyone else crammed into the back.

While on the loading space noone dared to speak, Makoto burst out as soon as the engine was running “How could this happen?”

“I… honestly don’t know...” Ren said as he steered that car back towards a road.

“I don’t understand any of this! How can a factory of this proportion just blow up? There must have been safety measures!”

Ren could only shake his head.

“The only thing I can think of is that we lost control over the people and that one of the workers wanted to destroy the factory after leaving...” Makoto was in her thinking pose.

“One week ago they were too scared to even help each other. Do you really think that someone did something so drastic?” Ren replied “Besides, it’s not just Okumura that died… If it really was one of the workers, then he hadn’t thought it trough because he took the lives of probably all of Okumuras personnel too...”

Makotos eyes went wide “Do you… think that Harus father did this himself?”

“Haru said he had a change of heart…” Ren uttered before saying “Could he have lied to her to get her out before blowing himself up?”

Makoto shuddered “Along with his personnel and the butler that raised him?”

“He lost everything today. Maybe he just didn’t see another way anymore…” Ren said before shaking his head “I don’t want to think about this right now. Being there for Haru should be our first priority. He was her father after all and it seemed like she had finally managed to have a good moment with him after so many years." he sighed "We’ll… think about these questions eventually...”

Makoto nodded “You’re right.” she sighed “I… just don’t know how to handle this situation. I feel so… clueless...”

Ren sighed “I get you… At first I was sad that Haru wasn’t going to come back with us and now I’m sad for her that she couldn’t stay...”

“I… can’t imagine what she must feel like.” Makoto shivered. “Do you think that it would have been better if we went down to the factory again and check for survivors?”

Ren shook his head “You saw the explosion… Who knows what we would have found, if we actually went there..”

“I suppose you’re right... I just hope that Haru won’t hold it against us once she's sorted her thoughts...” Makoto said.

Ren cast a look into the rearview-mirror to see the backs of the others leaning against the window from the other side. “Let’s just go home. We can figure everything out from there.”

After a night full of driving, the Thieves dropped off Ohya and Kayo in front of New New Shinjuku.

Ohya stopped by the open drivers window to look at Ren “Thank you. For everything.”

Ren nodded.

She leaned closer to Ren so that only he would hear “I know that Okumura wasn’t a good man, but noone deservers to lose a parent like this...”

Ren shook his head “You’re right.”

“Thank you for all your help. I got back a friend that I believed dead for over a year. There’s a lot to catch up on.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Rens mouth “Just… treat her to something more than booze, okay? And I hope that this won’t be the last we’ve seen from your newspaper.”

Ohya gave him a tired smirk “Don’t be silly. Now that we’re two reporters, it’s going to be even better. I’m thinking about two pages per issue.” she turned her head to look at Kayo “But maybe now I have a bit more motivation to do some real journalism opposed to cheap headlines...” she grinned at him before pinching his cheek “But don’t you worry your pretty head about it. You’ll always be my Cash Cows.”

“Thanksh… I guessh...” Ren replied before Ohya let go of his cheek again.

“I guess I will see you around, Phantom Thieves.” she winked before hooking her arm around Kayo and leading her towards the entrance.

After being gone from home for so long for the first time ever since they settled down at LeBlanc2, the gates looked beautifully familiar. It was afternoon by the time they rolled up in front of the house.

It was a welcome view to see Sojiro, Iwai and Shinya again, who immediately walked out the house when they heard the engine outside. Ren hadn’t even turned off the engine when Futaba jumped off the car and darted towards Sojiro to crush him into a hug.

“Whoah there.. slow down Futaba...” the old man said, confused by the sudden outburst. “Hey… why are you crying?” he asked when Futaba started sobbing into his apron “What happened?”

Futaba sobbed when she looked up at him “Harus father…. he’s dead...”

“Wh-?” Sojiro looked to guidance for Ren, who just climbed out of the car.

Ren turned around to look at Haru, who slowly got up in the loading space with Ann by her side. He focused on Sojiro again “It’s true. He released all of the workers and then the whole factory blew up out of nowhere...”

Sojiros eyes grew wide “Oh my...”.

Futaba let him go again “She was about to stay with him and help him be a better person too...” she rubbed her eyes.

Sojiro shook his head before he walked over to Haru when she climbed down the car. Her eyes looked empty. She seemed nothing but a husk of herself, all the joy that she normally emanated gone. It hurt his heart to see this kind girl suffering so much. He wrapped his arms around her, but Haru didn’t return the gesture. She seemed tired, like every reaction was too much for her. Only slowly she started to raise her arms and return his hug. He felt her exhaling deeply against his chest but aside from that, she was dejected. “I’m so sorry, kid...” he muttered.

Haru didn’t answer when she broke off their hug. Immediately Ann was by her side again to support her.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” the blonde girl said and guided her to the front door.

After the two girls disappeared into the house, the rest continued to stand in front, unknowing of what to say. The next reunion was a bit more heartwarming when Iwai pulled his son into a rough hug, slapping him on the shoulder while being visibly relieved to have him back.

“That poor girl...” Sojiro shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“She managed to change her fathers mind. It seemed like he really wanted to better himself.” Hifumi said.

“She wanted to stay with her old man and help him build everything up again...” Ryuji said.

“And you say that the whole factory blew up?” Sojiro asked “How could this happen?”

“We might have to ask Haru, if she has any ideas.” Yusuke said “But definitely not now. She hasn’t spoken a single word on our drive here.”

Walking Haru to her room was like guiding a sleepwalker back to bed. As Ann and Haru walked up the stairs, the blonde couldn’t help but look at the fluffy-haired girl. She looked so lost and dejected, as if she just let everything happen to her, too weak to fight back or even react.

As the two walked into her room, Haru couldn’t help but feel a bit happy to be back in the place she thought that she would never return to. Although she had to admit that the mattress that she had had back at the factory was a lot better than what she had slept on for the last year. But with the memory of her furniture at the mansion, she also remembered how it had all stood in flames. Her mattress must be nothing but a pile of ashes right now. Just like the piano in the lounge. And her mothers plants in the garden. And her father. And Sato. Tears started to pool in her eyes and she was once again grateful to have Anns arm still wrapped around her the entire time to give her the reassurance that she wasn’t alone without trying to smother her.

Ann led her to her side of the bed and sat her down. “You’ve been up the entire night… Maybe it’s best if you try to get some rest.” she carefully said.

“Maybe...” Haru quietly said “But I’m not feeling tired… And I haven’t even said Thank You to Ren and Makoto for driving me here and to everyone else who made this walkout happen..” she muttered and tried to get up only to be pushed down again by Anns gentle yet firm hands.

“You can do that later.” Ann said. “We wanted to help you and we’re going to continue to do so. So tell me what I can do for you. Can I make you some tea? Get you a snack? When was the last time you’ve eaten?”

“I’m not hungry or thirsty.” Haru shook her head.

“I’m gonna go get you something to drink anyway. But you should lay down at least for a bit at first.” Ann said.

When Haru raised her gaze to look into Anns kind yet stern blue eyes, she reluctantly obliged and curled up on her side. The mattress wasn’t as soft as what she had gotten used to over the last weeks but it still felt oddly familiar and even comforting. “Ann?” she quietly said, her gaze trailing off towards the windows.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you…. For treating me the way you do...”

Ann smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder “Don’t worry about it.”

Haru sighed and avoided her gaze “I felt like such a burden to all of you because of my bad mood before I went back to see my father… Now I’m bringing you down even more.”

Ann knelt down at her bedside “That’s not true. What you’re going through is so horrible and I wish that I could take away at least a small part of that burden from you. We all wish we could. But we can’t. So the least we can do is to be there for you.”

Haru shook her head “All of you have lost so much more already...”

Ann took her hand “But we’ve had time to heal.” she chewed her lip “Back when my parents died… I was so devastated. I felt so bad for leaving them behind and I was wondering whether I could have changed anything if I just hadn’t gone on that mission. When I found out… I was so shocked and angry… And then we left and I didn’t have time to think about it so I thought I was over it. But as soon as we found a spot to stay, I just started crying uncontrollably, multiple times a day even. I just couldn’t help it. Sometimes I couldn’t even tell why exactly. And then I started to feel bad because I thought that I dragged Ryuji down too. Because he seemed so much stronger than me and he listened to me bawling my eyes out without ever saying anything and he just took it all on him while I was nothing but a crying mess that sometimes couldn’t even hunt properly because I started straight-up bawling in the middle of the woods.” she squeezed her hand “I thought that I was the weak link and one day it was so bad that I told Ryuji to go and leave me behind because I didn’t want to stop him because I thought too, that he’s lost so much more than me. He even got exiled. So I told him to go without me and you know what he told me?”

Haru shook her head.

Ann smiled a small smile “He told me that he wished he could let out his frustration as much as I could, so he would be over everything faster. And you know… I think he might have been right. While those two weeks were the worst of my life… After that, I kinda felt at peace with it all. I know that right now, you think that you’ll never be able to smile again and that’s okay. You’re just at the beginning and I can’t say that it will be easy, but it was for none of us. But we’ll be here for you all the way. And don’t you ever feel bad about that and don’t you ever hold back your tears. That’s what friends are for.”

As if on cue, tears started welling in Harus eyes again but this time it was because she was moved to tears by Anns words.

Ann gave her a comforting smile before she got back on her feet again “I’m going to get you something to drink now, okay?”

Haru slowly nodded.

When Ann walked out the door and into the hallway, she had to smile when she saw Ryuji approaching and remembered all the times that they had sat together in that small shack with the leaking roof, herself curled up into a ball and crying her eyes out and him, always sitting by her side with an arm around her shoulder and the other on his shotgun. Anyone else in their right mind would have left her behind for sure, but not him. She closed the distance between them and crushed him into a hug.

Ryuji wrapped his arms around her shoulders “You okay?” he quietly asked.

Ann nodded against his chest “Yeah…”. She squeezed him a bit tighter. “Just remembered some stuff...”

He brought one of his hands up to the back of her head.

Ann recalled that Ryujis problems started to air a bit after her mourning phase was over. Sometimes he wouldn’t sleep for days. But that wasn’t as bad as the sudden streaks of anger that would flare up in him, causing him to bruise his knuckles when he worked off his anger on a tree. And while Ann thought that crying was the only thing that helped with coping, she was soon shown different. Ryuji almost never cried. He vented his frustration in other ways that were painful to watch. And Harus way of coping was yet again something different too. Quiet and dejected.It made you want to hold her and protect her from all the bad in the world. And yet she was hit with trauma over and over. What felt like even more of a cruel joke was how happy she had looked as she had walked up to them to tell them about her fathers change of heart.

“How’s Haru holding up?” Ryuji tore her out of her thoughts.

Ann drew back and looked up at him “I got her to lay down for a bit. I’m gonna get her something to drink." she chewed her lip "I hope that she'll be able to catch some rest. I don't know how long she's been up...” she took a step back and out of his embrace "Did Ren and Makoto say anything yet?"

Ryuji shook his head "We've just been catching up wth Sojiro and Iwai. Everyone's downstairs in the living room."

When Ann returned to Harus room with a cup of water in her hand, she found the fluffy-haired girl asleep. She silently sneaked up to the nightstand to place her cup there before she covered Haru with a blanket. While normally faces tended to relax while sleeping, Haru still looked pained and worried but her breathing was even. Ann quietly walked out of the room again.

Ture to Ryujis words, everyone including Iwai and Kaoru had gathered in the living room. Upon seeing Ann, they all looked at her expectantly.

“She’s asleep for now.” Ann said to everyones relieved nods.

“Did she say something?” Yusuke asked.

“She feels bad for dragging us down again with her sadness but I think I might have talked some sense into her there...” Ann replied as she sat down beside Ryuji.

“You tell her, Lady Ann! We’ll be there for her no matter what she needs!” Morgana exclaimed.

“It’s good that she’s getting some rest for now..” Sojiro said. “Mishima and Kaoru just told us about the things going on in that factory while you were gone.”

“They even had to watch someone die!” Shinya exclaimed, upset.

“And yet none of us have an idea how things happened the way the did...” Futaba sighed.

“One possibility would be that one of the workers set something up to really make sure that Okumura would be out of business after everyone left...” Makoto pointed out.

Both Mishima and Kaoru shook their heads “The last ones to be in the warehouse where all the C4 was stored was Kaoru and me with a few others…”

“Besides...” Kaoru pointed out “I can't speak for everyone but the people were scared of losing Okumuras favor ‘til the end. I think that most of them really hoped that the walkout would move Okumura to rethink and then rehire them under better conditions.”

Mishima nodded “They hated working for him but they were painfully aware of the importance of the factory and its wares.”

“It would have only needed a few men to jump onto the bandwagon while cooking up their own thing though...” Ren uttered.

Iwai scratched his jaw “From what you told us, you really dug up and published a lot of dirt on Okumura. Maybe that tipped some of the people over the edge. If the man that died wasn’t the first one who did, there must be families and friends affected by it. While first they might not have known if Okumura was responsible for sure, they now do. Maybe that upset enough people to want to eliminate Okumura for good. You said that it was easy to get hired too.”

Everyone went quiet.

Ann nervously chewed her lip before asking “Guys… are we responsible for the death of Harus father?”

“Did we take it too far?” Morgana asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

“He wasn’t supposed to come to harm...” Yusuke uttered.

“Did I… do something wrong?” Mishima asked, wide-eyed, when he started to ask himself if he should have looked closer at the people. “I… I told you that I wasn’t a leader… I...” he stammered.

“Calm down, you’re not to blame.” Ren sighed and rubbed his temple “Iwai is right. We might have taken the propaganda too far. Maybe we’ve stirred the pot too hard...”

“Dammit… So it’s really our fault?” Ryuji sounded desperate. “But we only wanted to help these people...”

“This is a very unfortunate outcome...” Yusuke shook his head.

“No...” Ryuji shook his head forcefully “That can’t be true… That’s… That’s not what we planned!”

Futaba hugged herself “I don’t want us to be responsible for his death… That wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was the Phantom Resistance, not the Phantom Assassins...” she muttered while rocking back and forth on her heels.

Mishima started sweating when he replayed his speech back at the service for the old man in his head. Was it something that he had said, that then moved someone to make their escape their personal vendetta? Was everything his fault? He had thought that he was just motivating people to step up for themselves but not to kill their exploiter. Had he been unclear? He started shaking in his seat.

“Hey...” Ren leaned forward “Mishima, we all know that you did nothing wrong. We never encouraged anyone to resort to violence.”

Mishima squeezed his eyes shut “But we did… We told them to stand up for themselves. When we were on our way out, we got into a shoot-off with some guards. I… thought I’d give everyone some time to run away if I turned myself in but… they shot him! Maybe they wouldn’t have if I hadn’t stepped out there… I thought I was doing the right thing and that I was giving them the option to run…. But they didn’t… So maybe I also encouraged someone to blow up the entire factory without realizing it...”

Ann chewed her lip “So… it really was our fault?” she asked, scared.

Ren massaged his temple “Iwai has a point… We might have poked a hornets nest without realizing it. There were hundreds of workers that we helped with that walkout and there’s no way of controlling a crowd like that, even if all of us had been in there. We don’t know the entire story that each and every one of them had with Okumura, so we might have opened up a lot of wounds by poking around, spreading the truth and giving people hope that they could make a difference.”

“Then that’s what happened? We’ve taken more than we could chew?” Futaba asked.

“And made a mistake that caused the death of our friends father and many more.” Yusuke stared at the floor.

“But was it really a mistake to go after Okumura?” Hifumi asked. “We eased a burden on so many people and we freed Kayo from a year-long imprisonment.”

“You have a point...” Yusuke uttered. “But is it right to weigh those two things against each other?”

“No.” Makoto shook her head. “We shouldn’t think like this.”

“But… what does that mean for Haru?” Ann asked. “How should we tell her? She’s in deep mourning and if we tell her that we’re responsible for it all...” she had to wipe away a tear.

“But we can’t lie to her either...” Makoto said.

“Now, now...” Sojiro said “You’re acting like you lit up the factory with your own hands… I’m sure that Haru knows that that was neither the plan nor your intention.”

Ren took a deep breath. He needed to change the topic before they all started spiraling. He looked at Iwai “Thanks for stepping in and looking after the house while we were gone.” he then turned to Kaoru “And thanks for tagging along and being our second inside-man.”. It had come as a surprise, when Kaoru suddenly volunteered to join Mishima on his mission into the depths of Okumura Industries, but Ren had been the opposite of unhappy, especially since Mishima had been nothing but a bundle of nerves when they had announced to him that he would have to be the one going in undercover because noone else could, except for Hifumi, who had already proposed to infiltrate the houses staff and make contact with Haru. Kaoru joining them for this mission gave both Ren a bit of reassurance that Mishima would have someone to work with and Mishima himself had been happy that he didn’t have to go in there alone.

Kaoru nodded “No problem. I can’t say that it was fun, but I’m glad that I was able to help.”

Iwai bristled “We owe it to you, after what those people said to her.”

Ren shook his head “I think we should let everything settle for a bit but we definitely need to talk to them and clear things up...”

“I hope that me closing the shop ever since you left made a statement too.” Iwai said.

“You don’t have to risk your business to prove the point.” Makoto said. “I’m sure that that’s not what Haru would want either.”

“Yeah, but she needs to get angry some times...” Iwai said. “She can’t just let herself be stepped on all the time...”

“Trust me, she’s got a strong back...” Ren smirked.

“Yeah…” Ann said, allowing herself to smile “I even stood on it once and she made much less of a drama than other people I know.”

“She definitely didn’t groan like Ryuji did...” Morgana cackled.

“I’m still not sure if that wasn’t just arousal…” Ren added.

“Wha-… Hey!” Ryuji exclaimed with a beet-red head.

It was a short moment of casual conversation that briefly made them forget the situation they were in. Reality hit them again not long after.

“It feels so wrong to joke right now...” Ann eventually said, her eyes cast on the floor. “If we’re responsible for all these deaths… Will it ever be right again?”

Ren sighed “Let’s… just take it one day at a time. We’re all deprived of sleep and we shouldn’t jump to conclusions too fast. Maybe we should call it a night early. It might be wrong to say that the world will look different tomorrow in a case like this, but maybe all of us will have gathered our thoughts a bit more…”

Sojiro nodded “Ren is right. You should all go get some rest.” he looked at Iwai and Kaoru “You two are more than welcome to stay another night.”

Iwai nodded “We appreciate it. I know my way around the couch by now. Wake me up when you need me to do a watch.”

Sojiro smiled before saying “I’ll go and take the first shift on the roof. Shinya will take the other post and all of you get some rest.”

“Thanks.” Ren nodded to the two before turning to the others “To the rest: Off to bed you go.” he took Makotos hand and led the way.

Morgana got up from the couch and stretched his arms “I’m looking forward to not hearing your snores any longer...” he yawned.

“Agreed…” Futaba sighed.

Yusuke shook his head “To think that such horrible sounds are produced in Anns slender chest...”

Ann gaped “Hey!” she shrieked. “I’m not the one snoring… It’s Ryuji!” she stammered “And stop talking about my chest!”

“Oh sweet, sweet Ann…” Futaba shook her head “We all know that he doesn’t snore as loud as you.”

Ann crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

“Yeah..” Morgana scratched his head “Sorry Lady Ann… it really is you….”

Everyone turned to the kid with wide eyes. Eventually Futaba found the words “You… just didn’t treat Ann like a perfect human being!”

Morganas head went red “I… I mean… she does snore.”

“We all know.” Yusuke replied “But it’s the first time that you admitted to it too.”

“Aww! Look who’s having a character development!” Futaba exclaimed. “Could this be linked to your Rank-Up with Ryuji?”

“No! Lady Ann, I didn’t mean to insult you, I swear!” Morgana begged.

Ann shook her head “It’s okay, really… It feels a bit weird to be glorified...” she sighed “I guess I’m aware that I tend to snore a bit...”

“A bit?!” Futaba asked.

“Ugh.” Ann groaned. “Just let me have this...”

Yusuke chuckled lightly before everyone fell quiet again as reality hit once more.

“It feels so wrong to tell Haru how to cope when we could be the ones responsible for it...” Ann said with downcast-eyes.

Ryuji wrapped an arm around her before saying “You heard Ren: There was no way that we could have gotten everyone on the same page.”

“But still… If we hadn’t started this whole Resistance-thing..” Ann chewed her lip.

“Then there would still be hundreds of people working under horrible conditions and risking their lives.” Kaoru pointed out.

“This whole dilemma makes my head hurt...” Morgana sighed.

“What’s most important is, is that we didn’t encourage anyone to take these actions. We might have mobilized too big a crowd to handle but killing Okumura was never something that we promoted.” Yusuke said.

Hifumi nodded “And Haru knows too. We aren’t helping her now because we feel guilty. We’re by her side because we are her friends.”

Futaba nodded “Right! And as her equally messed up friends with a lot of experience in losing parents, we have a lot of expertise to offer to her.”

“That sounds really sad...” Mishima sighed.

“Sad but true..." Ryuji muttered.

“That makes us going after our friends father sound even worse...” Ann sighed. “No matter how much we tell ourselves that it wasn’t for us to control… we all think that we could have done more to prevent it, right?”

Everyone stared at the ground before Mishima eventually nodded. “We did have experience with mobilizing crowds… We could have thought about the risks more.”

“But we were so focused on just taking down Okumura and getting Haru out...” Ryuji muttered.

“We were too naive… We should have given our actions more thought in advance...” Yusuke admitted.

“We got cocky…” Futaba pulled her knees up to her chest. “We just treated this as some easy day-mission.”

Iwai shook his head “The publics expectations were unusually high too. Even while you were gone, there were daily letters of admiration and more stuck to the board. They think of you as heroes.”

“Some bunch of heroes we are...” Futaba sighed.

Iwai leaned back in his seat “I know that it sounds stupid, but what’s done is done.” he sighed when he noticed the tired looks on everyones faces “You need to go to bed and get some rest. Your troubles won't magically solve themselves if you stay awake for the second day in a row.” When noone moved, Iwai switched to his stern and rough tone when he pointed to the staircase. “Bed. Now.”

Everyone dragged themselves to their feet and walked upstairs. Even after two days of almost non-stop action and trauma, noone had an easy time falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tough times up ahead now with Haru grieving and the rest of the Thieves wondering whether they are to blame for everything that happened. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen.


	61. Ways To Grieve

When Haru woke up from her dreamless sleep the next morning, she wondered if the last weeks had been nothing but a bad dream. But then she noticed the Okumura-uniform, that Hifumi had worn during her short time as a maid, folded on a chair. So the empty feeling inside of her wasn‘t just because of a disturbing brain-mirage. Beside her, Futaba slept with her arms wrapped around hers. Haru carefully wiggled it free as she got out of bed. She was still dressed in yesterdays clothes. She noticed the glass of water that Ann had promised before she had left and before Haru had drifted off to sleep. She gratefully took it and emptied it with a few long gulps before carefully getting up and sneaking out. It was a familiar feeling to walk through the hallways knowing that everyone else, except whoever was on watch right now, was still asleep.

She didn’t walk into the kitchen straight away but instead made a detour to the garden where she was greeted by soft clucking. Haru had avoided going to the chicken-coop back at Okumura Industries, mainly because she didn’t want to be reminded of Johanna, Carmen, Zorro and most of all MiLady. The four were wide awake when she stepped into their enclosure, most likely waiting for their breakfast, but they still were interested enough when Haru kneeled down beside them to scratch MiLadys silky chest before gently ruffling the feathers on the other three. Sitting here, in what she considered her garden, felt surreal. The loss from yesterday still felt so fresh and continued to loom over her, like a cloud that followed her everywhere to make sure that she didn’t forget. She squeezed her eyes shut before pushing herself back onto her feet again. She went to the little chicken coop to check for eggs but the nests were empty. When the light-brown chicken trotted after her, Haru smiled and bent down to pat it one last time before she walked into the kitchen.

Aside from a few basic-ingredients that she would have normally restocked in Seiiki, the pantry was decently stacked. Haru wondered where she would get her rolled oats from in the future. The thought of ever going back to Seiiki and to look all those people in the eyes, that had stared at her with so much hate just because of her last name. But she also didn’t want to send the others to do what she had basically assigned herself to. She took the half-empty bag of rolled oats out of the pantry and reached for a pot before she walked to the stove and started cooking. Making breakfast came natural to her and soon her hands started moving on their own, only the tune that usually was on her lips just wouldn’t come today. Was this how it would be from now on? She didn’t remember feeling like this after the passing of her mother, but that had been so long ago and she used to be so much younger back then. Everything had felt so different. Like her young self hadn't entirely understood what death meant. When her passing had become imminent, her mother had prepared her that one day, she wouldn’t wake up from her sleep anymore. In the end, she had managed to cope with it a lot better than her father had, apparently.

“You’re up early...” Ren softly said when he entered the kitchen.

Haru turned around and looked at him “I fell asleep rather fast yesterday. I feel like I’ve slept for several days in a row.”

“You need a hand?” Ren asked.

She shook her head “I’m good. Thank you for asking.” she absentmindedly stirred the pot “It feels nice to do something again.”

Ren scratched his head, visibly uncomfortable, before saying “I’m… really sorry for your loss.”

Haru took a deep breath before replying “I never knew how to respond to this… But I appreciate your condolences.”

“And I’m sorry that we weren’t able to help you when you were struggling with what the people in Seiiki said. We should have been there for you more.”

Haru shook her head “No… You didn’t do anything wrong. I was so sure that I gave the Phantom Thieves a bad reputation, that I thought that I didn’t deserve any of your worry. I was the one who turned away from all of you.”

“Iwai told us. We were shocked to hear what you’ve been through that night. Everything made a lot more sense after we learned the truth.” Ren quietly said and sat down at the table.

“I was so sure that what they said was right, that I didn’t want you to know. I guessed that if I told you, you would take my side without thinking about the truth of their words.”

Ren recalled how Ryuji already had one foot out the gate again to go down to Seiiki after hearing the story. He smirked “You know us too well.”

Haru smiled “Maybe I should have told you. I should have heard you out about this instead of blindly jumping to conclusions. Everything could have gone differently, if I hadn’t been so driven by my wish to oppose my father.”

“We probably should have objected harder. But since we also wanted to check out the factory…” Ren shook his head “It was just overall a really messed up situation.”

Usually being the one to point out the positive, Haru was on the verge of saying that everything was okay again before rethinking her words. There were a lot of things that weren’t okay at the moment. But standing in the kitchen and cooking breakfast for the group felt like a good start into normality. She tossed a few of the dried herbs into the pot of cooking water.

Ren sighed “God, I really suck at this… How are you holding up… about your father… I mean...”

Haru placed a few mugs on the table as she thought about her answer. “It feels…. surreal. Three days ago, I thought that my father was beyond saving. I was so used to his presence and his mean remarks always following me… and now they are gone. But I don’t know if it’s because of his death or because of his change.” she stirred the pot with a shaking hand. “He finally admitted to what I had suspected all this time… And I got to talk with him. And now he’s gone…” Haru squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears in check “It just feels like too much to handle. And as soon as I’m able to not think about father, I start thinking about Sato and all the other staff that I grew up with and how all of them are dead too...”

“Damn… I don’t even know what to say. We didn’t want things to get messed up like this...” Ren was unusually lost.

Before Haru could reply, the door opened and with every minute another one of the Thieves or their guests came in and took a seat at the breakfast table. While her talk with Ren had somehow dampened her at least neutral mood, seeing everyone united at the table again made Haru feel a little more at ease again. Everything was normal for a brief moment, as she served everyone their porridge before eventually sitting down herself.

“I missed your porridge...” Morgana sighed. “We tried to recreate it once, but it was no use. How do you make it so delicious?”

Haru had to smile “Maybe it’s got something to do with my secret ingredient.”

“Is it love?” Futaba asked.

“How can love alone make something taste better? I love Ann but her cooking still sucks.” Ryuji replied before dropping his spoon with a pained expression on his face when Ann stomped her heel onto his foot under the table.

Ren snorted but immediately shut up when he caught Makotos raised eyebrow.

“I said I love you!” Ryuji grunted through gritted teeth when Ann stuck out her tongue at him.

Sojiro sighed and shook his head “Sometimes I wonder how you even managed to seal that deal...”

“Hey, I can be charming.” Ryuji said with his mouth full.

“We have lost track of the true question.” Yusuke uttered.

“Right!” Futaba exclaimed before turning to Haru “So, what’s the secret ingredient?”

Haru smiled “It wouldn’t be a secret anymore if I told you.”

“Fiiine...” Futaba sighed. “Guess you’ll have to make us breakfast for the rest of our lives.”

Haru giggled lightly “I wouldn’t mind that.”

Silence settled at the table but today it was an uncomfortable silence. As Haru looked around, she started to guess that it wasn’t just her who started to think about the last days events as soon as a conversation was finished and noone had an idea on how to immediately start the next.

“How are you feeling, Haru?” Morgana eventually asked nervously.

Haru nodded. Being asked how she was was something that she remembered from her childhood-days too. Only now, the others would probably expect to hear something different. She took a deep breath “I felt like I finally got to see who my father really was beneath all of the walls that he had built up around him. I… thought that I would be able to finally replace all my bad memories of him. I know that he did terrible things… but knowing that deep down there still was this little part of him that knew that he did wrong… I wished that he would have gotten the chance to redeem himself.”. After finishing her sentence, she looked up at the others who eyed her with sadness. She tried to smile “I know that most of you have experienced the same things that I am going through right now. So I would like to ask for your advice on coping with losing a parent. Father hasn’t always been easy to be around, but I want to remember the good in him.”. Everyone looked surprised.

“I’m sorry...” Ann choked with tears in her eyes “I… can’t do this..” she jumped out of her chair and stormed out of the kitchen to everyones confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Morgana asked, confused.

“I’ll go check on her...” Sojiro replied with a furrowed brow as he pushed himself off his chair.

The door to Anns and Ryujis room was open and Ann was already pacing up and down, nervously chewing her lip.

“Hey there, kid...” Sojiro carefully addressed her upon stepping in.

“Haru was able to change his heart on her own! If we hadn’t intervened, maybe she would have gotten him to better the working conditions and he would still be alive now, making memories with her.” Ann rambled, tears streaming down her face. “It’s all our fault!”

“Calm down...”

Ann was on the verge of hyperventilating “If we hadn’t done anything, the personnel would still be alive too… They had nothing to do with all of his. Haru finally reconciled with her father and now he’s gone.. How is that fair?!” she dropped to her knees.

“Hey Ann, you need to breathe okay?” Sojiro pushed through the pain in his knees as he squatted down in front of her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I…. I can’t….” she choked out, her face buried in her hands. “It’s our fault… We just wanted to help...”

“And everyone knows that.” Sojiro said. “And Haru knows too. You couldn’t have known that something like this would happen.”

Ann sobbed “How can we sit at breakfast together, acting like we’re such good friends and that we’ll help her cope with it all when we could have been the ones that could have avoided the mess in the first place?”

Sojiro sighed “Then what do you think would be the right thing? Do you think that you should send her on her way? Do you want to avoid her in a time where she needs us, her other family, the most? Would that be fair to her?”

“But is it fair to pretend that we didn’t know that it was our fault? Wouldn’t we lie to her face?” Ann replied. “Shouldn’t we tell her that we’re responsible?”

“Haru doesn’t want to think about who did it right now. You are first and foremost her closest friends and her chosen family. Even if it was your fault, don’t you owe it to her even more to support her then?”

Ann sobbed before she slowly started to nod.

Sojiro rubbed the blonde girls back “There, there...” he softly said “I think what will hurt her even more now would be if you turn your back on her.”

“And I don’t want to...” Ann muttered. “I just.. feel like we’re lying to her...”

The old man shook his head “You’re not lying. Right now, we just have to take things one step at a time.” he sighed “One day, we will talk to her about it.” he turned around when he saw Ryuji standing in the door, looking at his distraught girlfriend helplessly. Sojiro climbed back to his feet with a quiet groan before patting Ryuji on the shoulder “I think your girlfriend could use a hug.” he said with a small smile.

Ryuji nodded “Thanks, Boss.”. She had gotten up from the floor again by the time he walked up to her “You okay?” he softly asked while wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Ann leaned into his embrace and slung her arms around his waist. She nodded against his chest “Yeah… Boss made some good points.” she looked over Ryujis shoulder to look at Sojiro, who was still standing in the doorway “Thanks.”

The old man tipped an imaginary hat before walking away.

In the backyard, Yusuke had set up his easel with two chairs. While Haru sat in front of a small canvas that he had crafted himself, Yusuke had his sketchbook and a pencil in his lap. Haru cast a skeptic look at the color-palette and the paint-brush in her hand. She had never painted anything before. When she cast an expectant look at Yusuke, she found him staring off into the distance.

A few moments of strange silence passed by before Yusuke seemed to wake up from his trance again. He continued to stare dead ahead when he started talking. “When it became obvious that my mother wouldn’t survive much longer, I had feared that I would lose all desire to draw or paint… I just couldn’t imagine continuing the thing that she would never be able to do again, especially since her impact and her legacy on this earth was so much greater than mine, that I felt like I didn’t deserve to practice the same trade as her.” he shook his head “But when mother passed, I found this… deep urge and desire to draw because I felt like it was the biggest thing that connected us.” he skillfully twirled the pencil around in his hand “So some times, I would let the brush guide my hand and somehow, I would always end up painting something that reminded me of my time with mother.”

“So you paint things that remind you of her?” Haru asked.

Yusuke chuckled lightly “Not quite. The most obvious thing that I could have done to feel connected with my mother would have been to start painting landscapes, like she used to do. No, what I found myself doing was painting things or scenes that reminded me of moments that I had shared with her.”

“I see.” Haru nodded “So you’re visualizing a fond memory.”

“An adequate description.” Yusuke nodded and turned to look at her “Now close your eyes and imagine a fond memory that you shared with your father.”

Haru did as she was told and dug deep into her memory.

“Picture a concrete moment that you remember. Something that makes you feel something on the inside. A memory that produces an image in front of your inner eye, that you then bring down onto the canvas.”

_I love you, Haru._ Haru squeezed her eyes shut. No… not that one…. Her eyes flew open when she heard the chickens clucking in their enclosure.

“ _The chickens are so funny.” a young Haru said._

“ _And they will give us many a great breakfast.” her father replied as they stood in front of the large enclosure._

“ _But we won’t hurt them, right?”_

_Her father shook his head “They are much more helpful to us if we keep them around for long.”_

“ _And they are so cute.” Haru beamed. “Especially that one!” she pointed at one of the smaller hens with the silkiest feathers and the most intricate patterns on her coat._

“ _Do you want to name her?” her father asked with a smile._

_Haru nodded eagerly before she squinted her eyes at the animal. “I want to name her Astarte.”_

“ _Then that shall be her name.” her father smiled. “And I’m sure that she will produce the best eggs for us.”_

“ _Then we should name all of them!” Haru exclaimed._

“ _You think you can come up with names for all of them?”_

_Haru nodded again._

_Her father stood up straight and took on a business-like manner when he said “Then I will await your propositions by the end of the week.”_

_Haru giggled and copied his attitude “You will have them on your desk in four days.”_

_They both chuckled when her father ruffled her fluffy hair._

“I… think I know what I want to paint.” Haru said. “But I’m not as skilled as you are. I don’t think that I will be able to produce something that will be recognizable.”

“It doesn’t have to be recognizable. All that matters is that you know its meaning. So just relax and let your heart guide your hand.” Yusuke replied.

Haru reluctantly nodded. Just letting her heart guide her was something that she had forced herself to forget over the last years. But then she remembered that she had decided on each and every one of the chickens names purely from her gut-feeling, so she figured that she must have possessed the power at some point in her life. And while she thought whether she was even capable of being led by her heart, her hand started to move on its own, driven by the memory of the happy feeling that she had felt back then, when she had watched the chickens with her father. Beside her, Yusuke was sketching something on his sketchpad.

The angle of the sun had changed by the time Haru felt like she had completed her work. She carefully dipped the brush into the water-cup before asking “Would you like to see it now?”

Yusuke set aside his pencil “You don’t have to show it to me, if you don’t want to. It’s your memory after all. Just because it’s on a canvas, doesn’t mean that it has to be displayed to the public.”

Haru nodded before saying “I want you to see it.” she turned the easel towards him. “I tried to paint my favorite chicken from back when I was young. Father and I used to enjoy observing the chickens together.”

Yusuke eyed the canvas before nodding “I can feel the deep emotions that you put into this piece.”

“Thank you.”

“And how do you feel?”

“Hmm...” Haru pondered for a moment “I feel like I was able to take my mind off of everything while I was still processing something related to it so I didn’t feel like I was pushing something down...” she looked at her canvas. It wasn’t an exact portrait of Astarte but her painting resembled a chicken at least. “It feels good.”

Yusuke nodded “I’m glad that I was able to share my experiences with handling grief. If you would like to do it again, please let me know. You are quite good company while drawing.”

Haru had to smile “Thank you. I felt very comfortable while drawing alongside you too, even though your brushes are probably used to producing something better.”

“As I said, it’s not about creating something perfect. It’s about creating a memory.”

Haru nodded and smiled at the blue-haired artist “I think I’ve made a new one alongside it.”

Yusuke smiled back “I think I have too.”

It was after lunch, when Makoto and Haru stood in the front-yard. Makoto put a few empty cans on top of a crate as Haru watched with skepticism. While Yusukes method had certainly helped her remembering and honoring her father in a good way, watching Makoto set up up a shooting range didn’t seem very peaceful. The targets were too small for her grenade launcher too. When Makoto walked up to her, she still brought herself to smile.

“When we had to accept that my father would very likely not return… My sister and I had different approaches to coping. Sae decided to focus on the things she didn’t agree with. And I wanted to become more like him. I still remember the first time my father took me to shooting-practice. It was one of the few moments that I would have my father all to myself. After his disappearance, I liked to do target practice on my own. Focusing on a target helped me take my mind off of things for a while and it also made me feel closer to him.” she unholstered her revolver and checked the barrel.

“I see...” Haru reluctantly said. “So shooting at the range was something that both you and your father enjoyed doing together.”

Makoto nodded “Yes. But it was also something that I strongly associate my father with. So maybe looking into things that your father enjoyed could bring you closer even if he’s not with you right now.”

“Hm...” Haru thought aloud “I… feel like I didn’t know my father that well.”

“Oh…” Makoto said before an uncomfortable silence followed.

“But...” Haru eventually said “he did grow up and work with guns his entire life, so maybe he had some connection to his wares? Besides… having to concentrate on something completely different is what I like to do with cooking, so maybe learning another option could be beneficial.”

Makoto offered her revolver “Do you want to try it?”

Haru nodded and carefully took the revolver out of her hand. She was immediately reminded of the time that she had considered taking the gun from the display-case, in case that she needed an edge in discussions. While Makotos revolver looked a bit sturdier and not so fragile like the antique, it still felt far too small to her. Was this something that her father enjoyed? She looked up at Makoto and waited for instructions.

“Okay, so now just stand here...” Makoto took her by the shoulders to align her. “Pick a can and concentrate. When you think that you got the right aim, you breathe out and pull the trigger.”

Haru nodded and raised her arm to the height that she thought was adequate for her target. It felt so strange to aim with something so light but also so precise. She decided on the can in the middle and took a deep breath in. As she exhaled again, she pulled the trigger. There was far less recoil than she was used to but she still missed by a lot. She sighed when she saw all of the cans still intact and standing.

“Try again.” Makoto said.

Haru took her position again and focused on her target ahead. She never had to target something this small with her grenade launcher. Maybe that was the thrill of shooting with a pistol. You actually needed skill to hit, instead of just blindly pointing in the vague direction. Maybe that was why her father was never a fan of mass-destruction weapons. He did produce C4 but that still needed some knowledge to work into a bomb. Did her family actually have some values for selling guns, instead of just blind profit? As she asked herself these questions, she pulled the trigger again. She flinched when a soft _Clang_ sent the middle can flying.

“Well done!” Makoto congratulated.

“Thanks, Mako-chan.” Haru smiled. It definitely felt more rewarding to hit with a pistol. She was a bit proud of herself but she still couldn’t imagine using one in dangerous situations. She had her trusty axe and her grenade launcher for those moments.

“How are you feeling?” the dark-haired girl asked.

“I think it helped in terms of taking my mind off of things. I can’t do much but guess, but it might have also made me realize something about my family. Shooting a gun is going back to my roots, I guess.”

“If you need a practice-partner, my door is always open.” Makoto smiled before taking the revolver from her. With 4 swift shots she downed the rest of the cans.

“Your father must have trained you well.” Haru admired.

“I think he did.” Makoto had to agree.

The sun was about to go down when Ryuji and Haru arrived at the clearing near Takemis clinic.

“What a nice view.” Haru said as she looked at the orange and pink sky.

“Maybe, but that’s not why we’re here.” Ryuji grinned.

Haru had been quite surprised when Ryuji had approached her and told her that he would share some coping-tricks with her. She was even more surprised when he announced that they would need to go outside for it. She considered Ryuji to be something of an opposite. While she felt that his kindness matched hers, he was also much louder and more impulsive. But since she had already tried so many new things that day, she figured that trying out the third couldn’t hurt. Doing so many things that still had something to do with her grief but also kept her occupied and her mind busy had been beneficial so far. She hadn’t felt overwhelmed with sadness for the entire day, which she considered a success. “What are we going to do?” she asked, eager to learn.

Ryuji grinned “We’re going to shout.”

Haru took a step back “You want me to do what?!” she asked, confused.

“I want you to let it all out! Step up to the edge and yell out everything you got.”

“I… don’t think that I’m the person to do that….” Haru stammered. “I really shouldn’t...”

“Oh no, you really should.” Ryuji replied. “You’ve endured so much shit without ever insulting someone. I don’t know how you keep doing it but there has to be something boiling inside of you!”

Haru remembered that moment after Hifumi and her had searched her fathers office. It really had been the first time that she was truly mad and that she had wanted to scream at something. But now, it was all gone. Her anger had disappeared in an instance when her father had told her what she had longed to hear for so long. “I… really don’t feel mad at anyone anymore...”

“You don’t have to be mad at a person.” Ryuji replied. “Sometimes we just get into situations that are shitty and that make us want to scream.”

“Maybe...” Haru pondered. “But… I’m not mad at anything right now.”

“Maybe you think that. It can still feel great to just let it all out.” Ryuji replied.

“Do you feel like screaming at the moment?” Haru asked.

Ryuji shrugged “Sure.”. He stepped forward and looked into the wide clearing. Without a warning, he started screaming into the open. He kept going for a few more seconds before he turned around to her “Now you.” he grinned.

“Oh, I don’t know...” Haru squirmed.

“Come on.” Ruyji egged her on “Just try it once. If it doesn’t help you, we’ll go straight home.”

Haru grimaced before she stepped up to Ryuji again. She looked at the vast green meadow in front of them. It felt so empty. A little bit like her. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth “aaaaaaaaaaah!” she said with a raised voice.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow at her “Really? You can do better than that.”

“I don’t think I can...” Haru said with drooped shoulders. “I’m just not sad that way… I grieve to myself.”

Ryuji placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed “I get it… I’m sorry, that was probably a stupid idea...”

Haru shook her head “It really wasn’t. I was a bit confused when you wanted to leave the house but I guess it makes sense. You don’t want to show your vulnerability at home.”

Ryuji looked surprised “I… How do you know that?”

“Ann told me how devastated she was after losing her parents and how you always supported her.” Haru explained “You wanted to be strong for her so you didn’t want to show that you were struggling too.”

Ryujis face turned red as he nervously chuckled “Guess you got me...” he dropped down into the grass. “I never liked showing when I was sad, not even in front of my mom… So whenever things got too much, I would sneak away and scream into the woods, where noone could hear me. I just want to be the one to be there for others, not the one in need of support. Not that it’s not okay to need some from time to time. I just don’t want it to be me, so I prefer dealing with my stuff by myself.”

Haru sat down beside him and looked across the meadows beneath them “Did you feel alone?”

Ryuji shrugged “Not really… I knew that if I ever decided to ask for help, I would get it. And I hope you know too.”

Haru nodded “I do. I just feel so overwhelmed by everything, that I wouldn’t even know where to start to look for help. Besides… I know that what I’m going through is normal and that it takes time. I’m really grateful for all of your patience.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ryuji grinned.

_I love you, Haru._ Haru squeezed her eyes shut. Not again… She wasn’t ready to deal with his last words and yet they continued popping up in her head every once in a while. She clutched her head and shook it, in an attempt to shake the thoughts away.

“Hey… Are you okay?” Ryuji asked, worried.

_You have the opportunity to start anew._ He could have made a new start. They could have started something new. Why had she gone through all these years of hardship with him if she didn’t even get to enjoy the time with her real father after she had changed his heart back to how it was? Why did he have to die now, of all times, when he had finally wanted to make amends? Why was all of this so unfair? She started sobbing without control. Hadn’t she suffered enough already? Didn’t her father deserve the opportunity to live, now that he would have been a changed man? She rose to her feet and staggered towards the clearing. A high-pitched scream escaped her, so loud that she even surprised herself. Her lungs were burning for air when she continued to yell into the emptiness. When her scream eventually faded out, she sank to her knees again and blankly stared ahead. Her chest heaved with small sobs here and there but she felt surprisingly relieved. As if she had shouted out all of her emotions. She welcomed it.

Ryuji moved up to sit beside her “You did it.” he said and patted her shoulder.

Haru actually had to smile when she replied “I.. didn’t know that I had it in me. But it feels freeing.”

“Right?” he grinned before he turned serious “It’s okay to feel swamped from time to time. But sometimes you just gotta let it out too… I know that I’m not good with talking about fears and feelings and stuff, so that’s kinda my only way to cope.. Sadly I don’t help everyone with this...”

“I can imagine but speaking for myself, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised how well your method worked.” Haru smiled.

“Heh… thanks.” Ryuji smirked before his expression turned bothered again “I’m glad that I was able to help you. I was a shitty friend back then when you were struggling...”

Haru shook her head “Ren pointed out something similar this morning. Please don’t feel guilty. It was me who chose to stay silent about it all.”

“Yeah, but I was so frustrated about not being able to cheer you up, that I didn’t even come and check on you...”

“To be honest, after Yusuke came by, I was a bit relieved when noone else decided to come over. I know that all of you just wanted to help me, but in that moment… I didn’t want to be helped.”

“Huh… I guess I get that...” Ryuji pondered.

“Can I ask you about Ann?” Haru carefully asked. “I’m worried that I’ve done something to upset her...”

Ryuji shook his head “Trust me, you haven’t. She’s just… a bit shaken by everything herself and she doesn’t want you to see.”

“Oh.. I see...” Haru said. “I was a bit worried when she stormed out at breakfast.”

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure.” Ryuji said. While Ann surely was shaken by everything, he left out the major part of her anxiety on purpose. He definitely didn’t feel capable of bringing up that topic on his own.

Haru looked out over the meadows when she said “Did you ever regret bottling all of your emotions up so much? Ann told me that by the time she had started to move on, you were only beginning with your grief… Do you think that this was because you kept everything penned up inside of you for so long?”

Ryuji shrugged “Honestly, it didn’t just start by the time that Ann started to feel better. I sneaked away before that too, but she never noticed. I never really wanted her to know but she must have followed me one day and then she saw… I also told her that it was just my way of coping with the loss of my mom and I think by now she thinks that I don’t do it anymore.”

“But doesn’t it help more if you talk to someone?” Haru asked.

“I dunno… I think I’ve started to talk more about my issues but it’s as you said earlier: Sometimes you don’t even know where to begin and then walking away and shouting all your anger into the trees helps.” he smirked.

“I get that now.” Haru smiled.

“Okay, now follow the light but just with your eyes.” Dr. Takemi said as she pointed a small flashlight at Mishimas eyes.

Mishima did as he was told. When Takemi took the flashlight away from his eyes again, he blinked the spots away.

“Hmm...” she pondered, her legs crossed “Well given what you told me, it’s very likely that you had a huge concussion but since that’s been a week ago already...”

Ren put on an overdramatic concern when he asked “Tell me, doctor! Will he walk again?”

Takemi rolled her eyes “Judging from my check-up, I’d say that there won’t be any lasting damage. Are there still any symptoms left?”

“Well… hearing loud sounds still hurts a bit...” Mishima said.

Takemi nodded “That could last for a while but it should wear off again too in a few weeks tops.”

Mishima nodded “Thank you, Doc.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Takemi purred, making Mishimas head red.

“I’m really glad… I was a bit scared, since I couldn’t really rest up properly after it happened…”

Takemi leaned back in her office-chair and twirled the flashlight between her fingers “How did that happen again?”

“I… was hit in the head...” Mishima stammered.

“Well… assassinating does come at a cost...”

The two Thieves gaped at her, Mishima much more than Ren though.

“Wha-… What?” Mishima eventually squeaked.

“Hmmm...” Takemi continued to eye him before her eyes landed on Ren. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, my little guinea pig?”

“We didn’t.” Ren replied.

“Was it really you at Okumura Industries?” Takemi asked.

“How do you know about that?” Mishima recoiled in his chair as if someone was waving a gun in front of him.

Ren held Takemis look “We were. We didn’t assassinate anyone though.”

“Okumura wasn’t known as the best employer… I suppose you have made a lot of people happy by getting rid of him.” Takemi replied.

Ren shook his head “We didn’t kill him. We got the workers to walk out but we never wanted him to die.”

“It was an accident! We don’t know how it happened!” Mishima whined.

Takemi only nodded “You told me that you wouldn’t lie to me, so I believe you.”

“But…. But how did you know?!” Mishima was still white as a sheet.

“I’m normally not one to go with the rumors but there have been a lot concerning the Phantom Thieves lately...” Takemi reached towards her desk and pulled a few loose sheets of paper out of a stack. “You have stirred quite the crowd with your stunt..”

Ren raised an eyebrow before he took the papers out of her hand. He rifled through them before looking at Mishima.

Hermes just gulped “Wh-… What?” he stammered, unsure if he even wanted to know.

Ren turned around the stack to show Mishima the top.

“ **The Phantom Murderers!”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the rather gloomy conversation last chapter, Ann still can't lose the feeling that they were responsible for the situation that Haru's in now. In the meantime, the others help Haru by giving some tips on how they experienced their grief. Another Haru-intensive chapter, but I just really like her and she deserves a lot more attention than the original gave her. 
> 
> But the Thieves have stirred up quite a storm with their last stunt and things start to move a lot faster, now that even their trusted doctor in the woods gets mail.


	62. The Bad Kind Of Press

The Phantom Thieves had gathered around the kitchen table, where Ren had spread the papers that he had taken from Takemis clinic.

“The Phantom Murderers”

“Who are the Phantom Thieves?”

“The Heroes turned Villains!”

“Are we safe?”

“Who will be their next victim?”

“Good Guys or Ruthless Killers?”

“This can’t be happening...” Ann whispered as she stared at all of the different newsletters.

“And all of these were delivered to Dr. Takemi?” Makoto asked. She had taken on her thinker-pose again.

Ren nodded “It’s strange, considering how far away she is from…. everything really...”

“If those news even reached her remote shack, then it’s safe to say that everyone around us has gotten them too...” Sojiro said.

“Back into hiding we go...” Futaba tried to play it cool but everyone knew that it was just for show.

Mishima was sweating ever since he and Ren had left the clinic “Everyone knows now...”

“Now Haru will find out that we were responsible for her fathers death from some stupid newsletter! We should have told her earlier...” Ann wrapped her arms around herself and chewed her lip.

“We don’t know that yet.” Morgana tried to calm her down.

“Speaking of, where are they?” Yusuke asked.

“Ryuji and her went out. They should return soon..” Hifumi replied.

“And then what? Do we just show her those articles?” Morgana asked.

“There’s so many of them too...” Yusuke muttered.

“And they all say that it was our fault...” Mishima whined. “But… it wasn’t our intention!”

“I guess our intentions don’t matter… If we hadn’t meddled with Okumura Industries, he would probably still be alive.” Ren had to admit. He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples to get rid of that stinging headache that his bad conscience gave him. He had been so sure of himself. He had thought of Okumura as just another opponent that he could outsmart with a grand plan.

“They even say that we just did it for fame...” Futaba sighed as she read one of the articles. “But that’s not it. Right?”

“We certainly didn’t play it on the down-low this time...” Ren muttered. He shook his head “I’m sorry… You guys made me the leader so that things like this wouldn’t happen...”

Makoto placed a hand on his shoulder “No, you’re not to blame. I think we’ve all been far too eager to not just free Haru, but to also get our name out there in unknown land.”

“We’ve all been too reckless… It wouldn’t be a surprise if someone found out that we were the Phantom Thieves all along while we were rallying everyone...” Morgana sighed “It used to be just Ryuji who's the loudest but I guess this time it was all of us who let our guard down.”

“Seriously dude? You’re talking behind my back?” Ryujis voice startled all of them when he entered the kitchen, closely followed by Haru. When he noticed all the sad and shocked faces, his brow furrowed “Uh…. what’s going on?”

Yusuke quietly handed him one of the nicer articles.

Ryujis eyes went wide upon reading before he eventually exclaimed “Bullshit!”

“That’s not the only one...” Ren said as he motioned to the full table.

“For real?!” Ryuji asked “Those are all different ones?”

“May I..?” Haru asked before she carefully pulled the sheet of paper out of Ryujis hands.

“Haru, we….” Ann stammered, her lip already trembling again.

Haru looked over the article without changing her face. After she was done, she took a step forward and placed the paper on the table again before she looked into the round of sad faces. “They think that it was the Phantom Thieves who killed him?” she quietly asked.

Ren nodded “Yes. And… I’m afraid that they might be right.”

“I’m so sorry!” Mishima was on the verge of crying too. “I.. I never thought that this would happen! All we wanted to achieve was get everyone to walk out, not blow up everything! If you want to hate someone, it should be me. The others put their trust in me and I let all of you down… and now your fathers blood is on my hands...” he sobbed and sank to the ground.

“Mishima...” Haru whispered before walking up to him. She squatted down in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder “I know that you would have never wanted something like this to happen.”

“All I had to do was wait for Ren and the others to do their jobs and make the workers think. But then the old man died and I was so… mad and felt so helpless like I was back then with Kamoshida and I thought that I could finally do something so I wouldn’t feel so fucking small!” he yelled into his hands. “Forgive me, Haru!”

“Mishima.” Haru said, her voice a little stronger now. “I have nothing to forgive because you are not to blame.”

Mishima peeled his hands from his face and stared at her “You… think that?”

Haru nodded “I know that.”. She got back to her feet and extended her hand to help Mishima up.

Mishima wiped away a tear and carefully accepted her hand as he slowly rose from the ground too.

Haru gave him a sympathetic smile before she turned to look at the others “I know that this… outcome was nothing like you planned. I don’t blame any of you, if that’s what you feared.”. Everyone averted their eyes. “And I know that you wanted to shield me from things that you thought were too much for me right now. But I’m as much a part of this team as you are and I don’t want to be left out anymore. So please, let me help you carry the burden.”

The others exchanged uncertain looks before Ren eventually nodded “Very well. If that is what you wish.”

“It is.” Haru nodded and stepped up to the table to look at the rest of the reports. “My… those sure are a lot of articles.”

Makoto cleared her throat before saying “Yes. And they have even reached Dr. Takemi.”

“Someone’s really out to destroy us...” Ryuji sighed. “This is effed up. How are they even spreading it this far? Is Seiiki involved with this shit too?”

“But how could they have known about everything so fast?” Yusuke asked.

“I dunno… Bad luck?” Ann sighed “It seems like we’ve had a lot of that recently.”

“Maybe we’re cursed...” Futaba sighed. “It sure feels like everything we touch is turning to shit.”

“Language!” Sojiro grumbled.

“Cursed or not, with this going around about us, we should lay low for a while again. For our own safety.” Ren said.

“Yeah… who knows what people might do if they think that we’re killers...” Morgana said.

Ryuji grimaced “What the hell? Why are they jumping to conclusions so fast? They were treating us like heroes just the other day!”

“The publics opinion can change rather fast.” Yusuke said.

“But… haven’t we shown everypne so far that we’re better than that? How can they go from celebrating us to hating us within days?” Ann asked.

“The news-spread definitely seems to play its part...” Hifumi said.

“Hmm...” Haru hummed, causing everyone to turn silent.

“What is it?” Morgana asked.

She shook her head “It’s probably nothing… But isn’t it a bit strange, how many “newspapers” have emerged all of a sudden? It’s been less than 2 days since the incident.”

Makoto placed her index-finger on her chin as she scanned the papers one more time “Considering that the only newspaper we have known so far was on our side…”

“This wave of negativity and PT-bashing sure seems a bit excessive...” Ren completed her thought.

“Mishima, you said that you’ve taken down negative press before.” Hifumi said “Do any of these ring a bell with you?”

Mishima looked at everything over and over again “No… I don’t think so.”

“But Ohyas paper took on a new design too when we rallied the people.” Morgana pointed out.

“Still, if it was just our resident doubters, they probably wouldn’t come up with 6 new names, right?” Futaba asked.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if it was from the people connected to the factory, but the amount of backlash is what surprises me...” Makoto said. “Haru has a point. The reaction of the public is just… too much.”

“But it’s been like that the other way around too!” Ann said “Don’t you remember all those fan-mail and how desperately people wanted us to help them?”

“It’s like they either love us with all their heart or hate us to their core...” Yusuke said.

“And now it seems like everyone will despise us thanks to those newsletters...” Futaba said.

“Something feels off…” Makoto pondered.

“Guys… aren’t we going into the wrong direction?” Ann started “After all, even if those reports are very exaggerated… We’re still responsible. Aren’t we grasping for straws and concentrating on the wrong things?”

Haru shook her head “No… Mako-chan is right. How could the workers possibly get the news over here so quick? Besides...” she paused “..do you really think that any of them would be this outraged about my fathers death? He hasn’t been the kindest boss...”

The others exchanged a few looks before Mishima said “I can only talk about those who we’ve been in contact with, but my overall impression wasn’t that they wanted him dead. Sure, they also didn’t seem very sympathetic...”

“Then who wrote all of this?” Futaba asked.

Hifumi looked at Haru “Do you think that it might be connected to your fathers other contacts?”

“Wait… what contacts?” Ren asked.

“I’ve heard it from Iwai before but my father confirmed it. Father equipped Kaneshiros men.” Haru said.

“So he was working for Kaneshiro?” Shinya asked.

Haru shook her head “No. It seems like both father and Kaneshiro were answering to someone else.”

Makoto and Ren exchanged a look before Makoto said “That would check up with what Kaneshiro told us back in that vault. He said that most of the money was stored for someone else.”. She reached for her glass to take a drink.

“This mysterious higher-up also provided father with the means of threatening the competition.” Haru pointed out.

“So it really was Okumura?” Ann asked, remembering the jeweler who used to make guns.

“Not himself. We found correspondence with a mysterious man on the outside, who awaited Okumuras orders.” Hifumi explained.

“Some workers were talking about gunsmiths being forced to go into hiding too...” Mishima recalled.

“I asked him about these people, but he wasn’t able to tell. The only one he knew about apparently is only known as the Crow.”

Makoto almost dropped her glass when she heard the name. When she looked over to Ren, he seemed equally surprised. She coughed the water out of her lungs before asking “Did you say Crow?”

Haru nodded.

“And so the dots connect...” Ren muttered, softly patting Makotos back, who was still coughing and wheezing.

“Would you mind filling us in?!” Futaba threw her arms up.

“Kaneshiro dropped that name too. Something about the Crow not going to be amused about us disrupting his operations.”

“Given that he also intimidates people out of their jobs, it would make sense.” Yusuke said.

“So Okumura and Kaneshiro… they were both subordinates to something bigger?” Sojiro asked.

“Honestly, nothing surprises me anymore..” Ren rubbed his temples.

“And the Crow is what? Those guys henchman?” Ryuji asked.

“It definitely sounds like he’s the one keeping the order.” Makoto said “Kaneshiro seemed to have respect for him too and he was an asshole who was in love with himself...” When she caught everyones surprised stares, she shrugged “What? Isn’t it true?”

“So there has to be something so big, that it controls both a yakuza-ring and a gun-factory.” Morgana combined.

“Now that we know this, it also doesn’t seem that absurd that these people are also responsible for the excessive media-coverage.” Yusuke pointed out.

“True. Duplicating a few posters and spreading them to god knows where also seems a lot more realistic when we think of something bigger than Okumura Industries, that was already able to look for bodyguards a days drive away.” Ren said. “They must have close to unlimited resources...”

“Great. And now they’re pissed at us...” Futaba sighed.

“We have taken out two of their associates...” Yusuke pointed out.

“But if they’re after us now...” Ann started “Do we even stand a chance? They’re clearly bigger and they’re pitting everyone against us too.”

“Medjed was able to find our home. If the true culprits are even better equipped, then they would be able to find us without a doubt...” Futaba looked around stressed.

“Dammit...” Ryuji cursed “Should we move?”

Ren took a deep breath “Let’s not freak out for now. We’ll have to be more careful just to stay safe but for now I don’t want to think about having to pack up all of this...”

“Besides, we don’t know for sure if they will really come looking for us.” Makoto pointed out.

“Ugh, why do we keep stumbling from one mess into the other? Can’t we catch a break for once?” Ann complained, pulling her hair.

“We’ve definitely made a habit out of it…” Futaba sighed before she took one of the newsletters. “They’re even asking for clues on our whereabouts. It’s a witch-hunt.”

“Where do they want those infos delivered to?” Morgana asked. “Maybe we can find out who sent all of this from there!”

Futaba shook her head “Nope. They just say that you should post it to your town message board or somewhere else prominent...”

“Smart.” Ren had to admit “That doesn’t give away their headquarters and also gives everyone else who might be out for self-justice the opportunity to take care of the problem themselves.”

“What if Seiiki spills the beans?” Ryuji asked. “We’re screwed if they start talking.”

Sojiro shook his head “From what Iwai told me, the people still think highly of the Phantom Thieves. They think that all of us have been tricked by Haru.”

“It sucks to say it but I guess that should make them keep our secret for now, right?” Futaba asked.

“Probably.”

“Yeah, but who knows? They were damn fast with turning against Haru too!” Ryuji replied.

“Even if they would change their minds, we can’t walk to Seiiki and sit down to talk with them!” Makoto stated.

Ren nodded “I have to agree. I wanted to smooth everything over with Seiiki too but for now, noone leaves this place unless it’s dead-serious. We’re in lockdown.”

Everyone nodded.

“Boss, how’s our stock? Will we get by for a few days?” Makoto asked.

The old man nodded “Luckily we restocked not long ago. Combined with the last of Harus vegetables this season, we should be able to get by for up to a week for sure.”

“Okay, that’s a good start.” Ren said “Maybe things will look different a week from now.” he looked around the room “We will also make some more adjustments to the house. I’m thinking about barricading every window as to not attract any interest should someone pass by and see the lights moving inside.”

“We have an electric gate. Doesn’t that already scream Inhabited?” Futaba asked.

“I know, but maybe people who’re on the look-out for us won’t even be inclined to check out the house if they don’t see movement in here.” Ren replied.

“Futaba, we might also need to borrow your night-vision goggles.” Makoto said. “From now on, we won’t have lights on in the lookouts. The roof-lookout will have night-vision to scan the surroundings if need be. If a search-party would come our way, I suppose that they would have some source of light with them too.”

“Damn… it’s getting scary now...” Ryuji muttered.

“We’re also going to do watches around the clock, changing shifts every two hours from now on. We need our full focus. If we slack off now, who knows how it might bite us in the ass.” Ren said. “If there’s an attack on the house, we can’t be taken by surprise.” he turned to his sister “Any ideas on some new home-defense-gadgets?”

The orange-haired girl saluted “On it, Sir!”

Ren nodded before turning to the others “I don’t want you to panic but we need to go off the grid for a while. We need to make adjustments to the house and hide the car and bike from view, starting tomorrow morning. We’ll make use of what we have. I don’t want anyone to leave this place for as long as we get by with food.”

Makoto took a deep breath “I know that there’s a lot of unanswered questions but what’s most important is staying safe.”

Ren ran a hand through his black hair as he looked into everyones worried faces “We should get some sleep.”

“As if we could...” Ryuji muttered.

“Knowing that we’re being hunted is not a good feeling to fall asleep to...” Yusuke agreed.

“Welp, I’m gonna be in my office and look what I can use to make some defenses...” Futaba got up.

“Don’t stay up too long. You still need to sleep.” Sojiro said but Futaba was already out the door.

“I’m gonna take first watch.” Ryuji said and left.

“I’ll take the other...” Shinya volunteered, defeated.

Haru looked around the kitchen “We haven’t had dinner yet. I’ll prepare something.” she said and hurried off to the pantry, looking forward to take her mind off of things.

“I’ll go and… feed the chickens..” Sojiro muttered, seeming rather clueless himself.

“I still have some brushes to clean..” Yusuke murmured and made an exit.

One after the other, the rest of the Thieves left the kitchen until only Ann and Haru were left, the latter preparing something to eat for everyone.

“Can I help you?” Ann asked.

“Of course.” Haru replied with a small smile before pushing the carrots over for her to peel them.

Ann reluctantly took the peeler before eventually saying “I’m sorry for being so weird this morning…”

“It’s okay. I think all of us are under shock after what happened...” Haru replied while cutting up some leeks.

“Yeah, but you were hit the worst by all of it. If anyone had the right to storm off crying, it would have been you.” Ann sighed.

“It’s not a competition, Ann.” Haru softly smiled.

“I know...” the blonde sighed “That still doesn’t excuse that I was a bad friend. I was so focused on us being the reason why your father died, that I couldn’t even look you in the eyes anymore. I felt so guilty but I also didn’t know how to tell you...”

“I don’t blame any of you for his death.” Haru repeated. “I know that you would never do that on purpose.”

“But we let it happen. Isn’t that equally bad?”

Haru shook her head “No, because I have no doubt that if you had the inkling of a suspicion that something like this would happen, you would have done something to prevent it.” she turned her head and looked at Ann “I know that the Phantom Thieves are good people. No matter what anyone says.”

Ann took a deep breath “That’s good to hear… Because I’m not sure if I know anymore...”

Haru put down the knife and put her hand on Anns arm “Ann, you can’t think like this. Do you think that everything we have done leading up to this was a mistake? Because I don’t.”

“But our actions are the reason why your father is dead!” Ann argued.

“And before that, Ren had to kill Kaneshiro.” Haru replied.

“Yeah, but that was different. We knew that this had to happen and Ren did it in self-defense. But your father wanted to change!”

Haru nodded “I know.”

Ann shook her head “I don’t expect you to have an answer… It’s just something that’s been going through my mind ever since yesterday evening… Even Boss had to step in to give some advice...”

“And did it help?” Haru asked.

Ann slowly nodded “Yeah… I think if he hadn't talked to me, I probably would be too scared to talk to you right now.” she picked up peeling the carrots again “So how did your coping-tricks with the others go?”

“It was surprisingly helpful.” Haru said. “It’s fascinating to see how everyone has different ways of coping or honoring the deceased.”

Ann smiled “Yeah… I guess all of us handle things different, huh. Probably not just with grief but everything really...”

Haru nodded “Yes. And some times it’s nice to draw inspiration from that. Concerning grief, all of us had their fair share and I have to say that it feels better to share with people who have gone through something similar.”

Ann nodded “Yeah, I get that. It’s much easier to talk, when you know that the person in front of you knows what you’re going through instead of just assuming it.”

“That’s why I appreciated how you handled everything yesterday.” Haru smiled. “You were there to support me without smothering me.”

Ann smiled “I’m glad that I was able to help you.”

“And please stop thinking that the Phantom Thieves are to blame for everything.” Haru said “It’s not true. You tried to help me and hundreds of other people when we got entangled into something much bigger that we haven’t even been able to grasp yet.”

The blonde girl nodded. Especially the part that they hadn't grasped was the scariest.

Upstairs, Makoto and Ren were working on barricading their windows while having minimal light. They pushed their large closet in front of the window before taking a deep breath. As they stood in the middle of their room, closed off from night, Ren ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He had tried to keep it in in front of everyone but he wasn’t dead inside.

“What a shitshow...” he sighed eventually.

Makoto made sure that the window was completely covered when she answered “We’re in far over our heads…” she sighed “A huge network lurking in the background, trying to destroy us and stirring the people against us…”

“Okumura and Kaneshiro were connected. Okumura providing him with the guns isn’t really a surprise but someone above both of them, who set all of this into motion?” Ren dropped down onto their bed.

“And what are the odds that we happen to stumble across both of them?” Makoto said.

“Ann’s right, we’re stumbling from one mess into the next without even realizing it.” Ren replied. “What the fuck is so wrong about wanting to help people and why the hell does all of this have to blow up so out of proportion?”

“Well, we did orchestrate each operation a bit bigger than the last...” Makoto said.

“Not with the whole Medjed-thing. The things we could have told, but I guess we would have killed people with that too because we would have robbed them of their sleep...”

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him.

Ren sighed “Sorry… I’m just… really confused by all of this. We went all in to get Haru and all those workers out and now that we’re back, we have to go into hiding because apparently there’s someone even more evil than Okumura.”

“From their point of view, they must be pretty annoyed with us too.” Makoto sat down beside him “We took down two of their subordinates. And they weren’t small. And we’re just a group of teenagers.”

“Huh…” Ren said “I was about to say that you shouldn’t care about the other sides feelings but now that you put it that way, it actually makes me feel better about ourselves. We did accomplish a lot...”

Makoto nodded. “Yes. And I don’t think that our intentions were wrong. If we hadn’t done what we did, we would have never met Hifumi, Shinya, Iwai, Kaoru, Ohya or Eiko...”

“Mishima probably wouldn’t have stayed with us either, if we had just denied helping him with Kamoshida..” Ren said before sighing “You’re right. Things would have been very different if we had chosen not to care. We would have lost Yusuke to Madarame too. I don’t regret doing what we did. It just really… irks me, that our good intentions are met with so much hostility by what seems to be the ultimate evil… And everyone just goes along with it! Haven’t we shown them that we’re different?”

Makotos eyes went wide “The ultimate evil, you say?” she muttered before placing her finger on her chin in thought.

“I mean, they probably don’t call themselves that...” Ren replied. “What’s wrong?”

Makoto shook her head “It’s probably nothing...” she leaned against his shoulder and let out a sigh “There’s just so many questions going through my head and we can’t even ask anyone outside...”

Ren smirked when he put his arm around her “I knew that the whole “I know there’s a lot of unanswered questions”-thing was mostly directed at yourself.”

Makoto exhaled “It was. I might need to hear it a few more times though or I might go crazy. Niijimas don’t perform well when they aren’t given the opportunity to find answers.”

Ren smiled when he brushed a strand of hair behind her hear “Lucky for you, you don’t have to perform anything over the next week.”

“That’s not what I need to hear...” she replied with dropped eyebrows.

Ren patted her shoulder “Okay, so strictly hypothetical: What would you do, if you could go out and investigate?”

Makoto was still leaning against his shoulder when she said “You’re going down a dangerous path.”

“I’m known to love danger.” Ren smirked. “So hit me. But not for real.”

“Hm… well I guess I would want to talk to Iwai and tell him to keep an eye open about the situation in Seiiki. We know that they know where we live, so knowing in advance if they should lose trust in our cause would give us an edge concerning search-parties for our location.”

“Smart. What then?”

“I would ask Ohya and Kayo about the newsletters. Whether they have seen it before, whether they have any idea who could have published them… Kayo was in there to spy on Okumura. Maybe she found out something about him, that we don’t know yet.”

“And then we could go for a drink at Eikos.” Ren said.

“And ask her about her perceptions of the publics opinion.” Makoto agreed “She managed to get our name out there so she must have insight into what her patrons think.”

“And that too I guess...”

“If we had all the time and resources in the world, I guess I would want to go back to the town near the factory to find out what the workers are talking about and how the general mood is after Okumuras death.”

“Going there would probably be risky even without someone breathing down our necks...” Ren said.

Makoto nodded “I guess you are right. But you wanted to hear my ideas.”

“I did.” he softly muttered “I love hearing you talk strategy.”

Makoto looked up at him and smiled “You are probably one of very few then.”

Ren smiled “Then they’re all crazy.”. He placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I keep wondering what my father would have done.” Makoto said. “I think he would have investigated every lead straight away, no matter the threat.”

“Would you want to do this too?”

Makoto thought about it for a moment before shaking her head “No. My father had a very strong sense of justice but sometimes he was almost too obsessed with it, even to a point where he tended to risk his own safety under the pretense of doing what he thought was right and just.” she looked up into his gray eyes “I know that I have inherited that sense from him but I would like to think that I’ve learned. I know that the safety of the people I care about is more important than anything else. I don’t want anyone to get hurt anymore because I can’t bare to sit still for a few days until it’s safer to act.”

Ren smiled back at her as the scar in his stomach started throbbing. It always did that when he remembered what happened at the bank.

“The reason why my sister despises the memory of him so much is because he was so reckless with pursuing the truth, that he didn’t even stop to think about his daughters and what would happen to them, if he got hurt.”

“I guess that’s a valid reason...”

“Yes.” Makoto nodded “And deep down, I always knew that she had a point. But he was my father and I still loved him, no matter how much Sae and I struggled with growing up without both of our parents. I knew that he had done it because he thought that he had to, to protect others. And that’s all he thought about. Protecting others. Although he sometimes was too focused on protecting strangers when he also would have had two daughters to protect… But I can relate to him. I know what must have been going on in his brain, when he risked everything to protect some strangers. There just… wasn’t enough room to think about all the consequences for him. Or us. But not because he didn’t love or care about us, but because his sense of justice got in the way.”

“He would have been a good cop.” Ren said.

“I believe that’s what he wanted to be, even if the system doesn’t exist.” Makoto closed her eyes. “I was so close to becoming exactly like him. Driven and obsessed with my own sense of justice, blind to everyone around me. But then I met you and now I can’t stop thinking about how I don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially not because of my rash decisions...”

Ren smiled and stroked her back “I hope that that’s nothing bad for you?”

Makoto shook her head “It’s not.” she smiled “I guess I just had to find the right group of people to teach me that. And the right person by my side to keep me grounded.”

It didn’t happen often that Ren was left speechless, but now he was.

“I never thought that I would let myself be guided by emotions so much but ever since that bank… I don’t want anything like this to ever happen again. Because I don’t ever want to see you hurt like that. I… truly love you. With all my heart. And I will never do something that could lessen the chances of us spending more time together.”

“Makoto...” Ren muttered, completely flustered.

She reached out her hand and stroked his cheek before she shifted positions so that she was sitting in his lap. She leaned forward to brush a kiss across his lips when he softly whispered “I love you too. So damn much.”

There was no time for more words as they forgot about the situation they were in. At least for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves figure that something big is going on behind the scenes and decide to disappear for a while to let things calm down. Will this be the right decision though? With no idea how the public would react to them and a lack of leads, it seems like the safest call for now. 
> 
> Also, Makoto shows some change when she starts to think about family first over investigation. 
> 
> On a different topic, and I would appreciate it if readers who don't usually comment would give their opinion too: Are 2 chapters a week too much to catch up with? Given that the timeframe between saturday and tuesday is narrow, it's only natural that the Hits aren't as many as in the tuesday-chapters. I myself don't have a problem with updating twice a week so far, what I want to prevent though is that a reader gets discouraged to continue reading because there's just no time to "catch up". It would be great if you could tell me your opinions and thoughts on that:)


	63. Lockdown In LeBlanc2

Ren had no idea what time it was when he woke up the next morning. Due to the barricaded window the daylight was kept at bay too, so he was only able to tell that it must have been morning already by the faint light that shone through the crack between the wall and the closet. His face was halfway buried in Makotos hair when he realized that for once, they weren’t required to get up immediately. There was no expedition to go on, no drive to make, no people to meet and no tasks to complete except for fortifying the house. He took a deep breath and inhaled Makotos smell before blissfully drifting into a half-sleep again with her laying in his arms, her back against his chest. He had been on watch somewhere around 2am but he barely remembered getting there and then going back to bed 2 hours later. Luckily it had established itself among all of them to just knock instead of entering a room, so he had had enough time to get dressed. Ren felt that he was about to fall asleep again when Makoto started stirring in front of him. He leaned forward and put a kiss on the back of her head.

She twisted around in his arm so she was facing him “I didn’t notice you coming back from your watch...” she muttered, still a little sleepy.

“You slept pretty tight.” Ren replied. “I have no idea what time it is though.”

“I guess it can’t be that late, if I wasn’t called for a change of shifts.” Makoto said before straining her neck to kiss him.

“For a short moment, I thought that we could actually use this lockdown to have a day off but then I remembered that everything has gone to shit.”

“You’re starting to sound like Ryuji.” Makoto noticed.

“It’s dark. You never know.”

Makoto scoffed “I’m pretty sure that I can tell my boyfriend apart from other men.”

“And what more could I wish for?” he chuckled before leaning forward and searching for her lips.

“I think we should get up...” Makoto eventually said after a long kiss. “There’s a lot to be done and like you said, we are not in a situation where we can take a day off to relax.”

“But it’s so dark and cozy in here...” Ren muttered.

“It will still be when we go to bed tonight.” Makoto replied.

“Point taken.” he sighed as he wiggled his arm free from underneath her head and their pillow before sitting up. “This dark atmosphere is really not helpful for waking up.”

Makoto reached out and gently stroked his bare back. He hadn’t been in the mood to get changed when he returned from his watch in the middle of the night. And knowing that Makoto had kept the bed warm, he had decided to just drop his shirt and pants on the floor before crawling back under the blanket with her.

Ren rubbed his stomach when he asked “What’s wrong with the weather today?”

“Why do you ask?” Makoto asked, confused.

“I don’t know… Scar’s acting up. It’s been doing that recently when there’s a sudden change of weather...” Ren said as he climbed out of bed and patted the floor for his dropped clothes. “Isn’t yours doing that too?”

“No.” Makoto replied, sitting up in bed now too. “Is it painful?”

“It’s not really pain but I just… feel it, I guess.” Ren replied before turning on the flashlight that they had placed on the floor beside their bed.

Makoto got out of bed and walked over to hug him from behind, her head leaning against his shoulder-blade. Her hands wandered to his stomach to rest on the knotted and tough skin that the bullet had left behind.

Ren smiled when he placed his hand on hers “Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s fine, really.”

Makoto nodded against his back before drawing back to get dressed too.

“Hey...” Ren said when he watched her get dressed in the shadows. When she turned around to look at him, he closed the distance and wrapped an arm around her “I love you.”

Makoto smiled “And I love you.”

“Even with the situation being kind of serious… it’s still nice to be back in our room.” he muttered with a small smirk “Even though we have to get up at irregular times during the night.”

Makoto raised her head and gave him a kiss “I agree.”

As they both left their room they came across Ann, who just climbed down from the roof. “Good, you’re already up. Time to change the shifts.” the blonde directed at Makoto.

Makoto nodded and gave Ren a last kiss on the cheek before she headed for the ladder. “Everything quiet out there?”

Ann nodded “Nothing happened so far.”

Makoto put her foot on the ladder.

“I’ll bring you breakfast.” Ren called out after her before he looked to Ann “Who’s got the other watch?”

Ann yawned “When I switched in, Morgana took the other post. I think Sojiro takes over for him now.”

“Did you barricade your windows already?”

Ann shook her head “We don’t have anything to block them entirely. Ryuji is in the cellar right now, looking for some large planks.”

“Call me, if you need help.” Ren said before heading downstairs. It felt like everyone was preparing for a storm. When he entered the kitchen, only Futaba was sitting at the large table. She was tinkering with something while a bowl of oatmeal stood at her side, which she took out the occasional spoon of before returning to her task.

Haru stood at the stove, ladling out oatmeal into bowls.

Ren already missed their joined breakfasts but it was good that everyone was in crisis-mode now. It was better than them not taking the current threat serious enough. “Thanks.” he said to Haru as she placed a bowl and a cup in front of him.

“What about Mako-chan?” she asked.

“She’s on her shift already. I’ll take a bowl up to her later.” he said before taking a spoon. “Anything happen on your shifts?” he asked the two girls.

“Nothing sus’ on my watch...” Futaba said, her focus on her gadget.

“I have nothing to report either.” Haru added.

Ren nodded before taking a sip of is tea. “Whatcha building there?”

“Motion sensor.” Futaba replied. “Gonna stick it to one of the trees along the road, so we hear when someone comes up over the road.”

“Smart.” Ren said, already having a queasy feeling about someone having to go out there far enough to set it up.

“I was thinking about doing more but there’s no way that we could cover the whole area around the house anyway..”

“A few would be better than none. Maybe we’re lucky. How many do you think you can build?”

“I dunno… 4?”

“Let’s do it then. You need any help?” Ren said.

“I’ll ask Mishima, if I should. He got skills with a screwdriver and he has surprisingly calm hands given how shaky he looks all the time.” Futaba replied, never raising her eyes.

“You do that.” Ren said before getting up. “Thanks for breakfast. Is your room barricaded already?”

Haru shook her head.

“I’ll see to it.” Ren said. “But first, I should bring Makoto breakfast.”

Haru smiled when she handed him a bowl. Makoto would have to drink the tea later, since the cup was a bit harder to transport up a ladder.

The view on the roof was still breathtaking, even after living there for more than half a year now. Since they had waned themselves in safety for a while now, they had been kind of lax with watches over night. He found Makoto lounging in the armchair as she was overlooking the surrounding like the queen she was.

“Your breakfast, my queen.” he announced with a mock-bow.

Makoto gave him a raised eyebrow as she took the bowl from his hands.

“How’s it going?” Ren asked as he sat down on the armrest of her seat and looked over the treetops with her.

“I’ve only been here for 20 minutes.” Makoto said “But everything seems quiet so far. How are things down there?”

“I’m gonna go and barricade the rest of the rooms today. Futaba is working on a motion sensor for the road leading up to here and that’s about everyone I’ve met so far.” Ren said “It’s strange to not have breakfast together.”

Makoto nodded “I’m sure that we will be able to do it again once the situation calms down a bit.”

“I know...”

Makoto gave him a smile before pointing to the ladder “And now off you go to work.”

Ren got up and did another bow before descending to the first floor again. He was about to look for Ryuji when he heard hammering from his and Anns room. He carefully opened the door to find the blonde boy nailing a large wooden board to the walls to block the window. “Looking good.”

Ryuji turned around to look at him before he wiped the sweat off his brow. “Thanks. There’s still the second window to go though...”

“Lucky me, that I only had one to block with our closet.” Ren smirked.

“Lucky you indeed.” Ryuji sighed.

“I could use your help with the girls room, once you’re done.” he said.

“Sure.” Ryuji let out a deep breath.

“How are you holding up?” Ren asked when he walked over to help him put the second large plank into place over the next window.

Ryuji shrugged “Fine, I guess. We’re all a bit on edge. It’s weird to prepare for something that we’re not even sure will happen. I feel kinda anxious all the time. Everything’s just messed up...”

Ren nodded as he handed him the nails. “These are weird times for all of us...”

“I’m kinda pissed… If those people who cheered us on earlier suddenly come after us, then what does that mean? One of them literally asked us to kill their mayor and now they’re freaking out when we someone claims that we actually killed someone? That’s just a bunch of bullshit.”

“Given the information that we now have, everything really starts to point towards the true culprit doing a dirty campaign and trying to quench the support for us.”

“But why do it like this? Why not just kill us and be done with it?” Ryuji used his stored anger to drive the nail through the board and the wall with only two hits.

“Hmm…” Ren pondered before saying “The only logical explanation is that they don’t know where we are.”

“But what about all those newsletters spread all around us?” Ryuji asked.

“If they are as powerful as we think they are, they probably hung those up all over the country and not just around here...”

Ryujis eyes went wide “So we really have to sit tight and hope that they won’t find us, huh?”

“That’s the plan.” Ren replied as he stepped back from the hanging board.

“Man… Now I really want to know who those guys are. Hanging up posters all around? They must have time on their hands...”

Ren remembered Makotos words from yesterday when he said “Who knows how much free time these guys now have, since we’ve taken out not one but two of their assets...”

“Pretty pathetic, if they’re traveling the country to hang up posters now...” Ryuji said as the two guys walked over into the girls room.

With combined forces, they managed to nail two more windows shut before Ryuji had to take on the next watch-shift. Ren continued to walk through the house and check on everyone. He met up with Makoto and Yusuke in front of the house to move the car and Makotos bike.

In a fit of paranoia, they didn’t dare to start the car, so Yusuke and Ren ended up pushing the car, with Ren both pushing and steering. Following them was Makoto pushing Anat. They parked all the vehicles against the gates wall, so they were undetectable from outside of the gates. To be safe, they covered the car as much as possible with a tarp before they retreated back to the house.

In the backyard, Morgana and Shinya had taken it upon themselves to chop firewood, supervised by the resident axe-expert Haru who tended to her garden in the meantime. The two boys struggled hard with one big log in particular until Haru walked up and split it with one clean cut. The two boys gaped at her but Haru just giggled before walking back to her planters. As the weather started to grow chillier, more and more of Harus plants started to wilt and die. Ren cursed to himself. This was one of the worst times for them to be targeted by a mysterious network. Winter was around the corner and they couldn’t even go out and stock up their storage. Having to live off of their entire resources for a week to lay low was bad enough already but it wouldn’t be easier to find food after that either.

“If we can find some materials, we might be able to build a greenhouse...” Sojiro walked up beside him.

“You think that would work?” Ren asked.

Sojiro shrugged “It’s worth a try. By now, everyone is starting to fill their storage for the winter so it will get harder to purchase food from the outside too.”

“And here we are, draining ours before the winter even started.” Ren sighed.

“If we ration wisely, we’ll get through the week and still have a bit left.” Sojiro replied “But it will be tougher, once the vegetables won’t regrow.” he scratched his chin “We have to think of the chickens as well. As long as we keep them fed, they can help us too.”

Ren nodded “Take a look and see if you can find everything for a greenhouse around here. Say the word, if you need something.”

“On it.” Sojiro nodded.

When Ren walked back inside, he found Hifumi sowing curtains into additional blankets. Fall hasn’t fully hit yet but as the days started to grow shorter, so did the nights grow chillier. Although Ren had to say that since sharing a bed and a blanket with Makoto, he didn’t feel the need for another blanket yet. But he knew that not everyone was as lucky as him. “Do we have enough curtains?”

Hifumi looked up and shook her head “I won’t be able to make one for everyone but Makoto suggested that we salvage some of the remaining clothes that haven’t been claimed by anyone yet.”

“I see.” Ren said.

Hifumi nodded before returning her focus to the needle in her hand.

Ren sat down on the armrest of one of the sofas “How are you holding up?”

Hifumi looked surprised by his question. “I’m… doing well...” she replied, confused. “Why do you ask?”

Ren shrugged “I feel like every time you are involved in these missions, you end up having to make tough decisions. If it weren’t for you shooting someone, we would have never made it out of that bank and if you hadn’t volunteered to go undercover at Okumura, Haru would have been all alone and probably would have learned from the revolution the day it happened.” he scratched his head “Back at the bank, Makoto and I got shot so that kinda stole the show and now Haru is grieving her father.” he sighed “I’m sorry… I’m not making sense… What I mean is that you’ve gone through a lot too and I don’t want you to have to cope on your own because you think that others have it worse.”

The black-haired girl nodded “Thank you.” she averted her eyes before eventually saying “To be honest, I have been thinking a lot about the personnel of the house. During my time there, I got to know a few of them and their fates. They didn’t deserve to die.”

Ren nodded “Not even Okumura himself would have deserved it, if he really ended up seeing his errors...”

Hifumi looked him in the eyes “Okumura was a cold and calculating man. It was hard for me to imagine that there was something good in him, or that he ever was this completely different person, as Haru always claimed… But that day, after she talked to him… He looked completely changed. Like the thick layer of ice on his heart had shattered and revealed his true self.”. She folded her hands in her lap when she looked back at the curtain/blanket in her lap before quietly saying “Haru never stopped believing that there was something good in him, even when he hurt and pushed her away over and over again. She never gave up on him. For a short moment, I thought that she finally got the happy end with her father, that she always wished for. It’s… horrible that things had to end this way.”

“It really is...” Ren said.

Hifumi shook her head “All of us have watched the factory go up in flames and I think that noone was left cold by it. I appreciate your concern for my well-being. But I can assure you, that I will be fine.”

Ren nodded “I’m glad to hear it. I appreciate all you’ve done for us and I don’t want you to feel like you’re the second row. You’re as much a part of our family as everyone else.”

Hifumi smiled shyly “Thank you. That’s how I feel too.”

Ren smiled at her before asking “Have you seen Mishima?”

Hifumi nodded “He’s on a shift right now. I think he’s in the back-lookout.”

Ren nodded “Thanks. I’ll check up on him and then take over from him.”

Ren found Mishima sitting in the plastic chair in the lookout-post, that was situated in the corner room next to Ren and Makotos. The two outer walls had collapsed completely, offering a good view of the back and the side of the house. “Everything quiet?”

Mishima flinched before he whirled around to stare at Ren. He let out a sigh “You scared me...”

Ren smirked “The bad guys would come from the other side...”

“I know… haha...” Mishima nervously replied before turning back to look outside “So far, nothing is happening.”

“That’s good.” Ren said as he walked up beside him. He shoved his hands into his pockets before asking “How are you feeling?”

“Huh?” Mishima seemed equally perplexed as Hifumi had been. He scratched his head “Well… I think I’m starting to come to terms with everything. I… still feel guilty but I think I’m starting to understand that there was no chance of me being able to control everything. In the end, I was just walking outside with everyone else. If someone decided to go back and set up a fire… There was just so much going on. We would have needed massive numbers of people to oversee everything up to the smallest detail.”

Ren nodded “You’ve come a long way. Would you have believed me, if I had told you that you would go undercover to start a peaceful walkout from one of the biggest functioning factories back when we first met?”

“Haha… definitely not...” Mishima nervously laughed. “I probably wouldn’t have believed it a few weeks ago either...”

“And here you are. You’ve become the hero that you always pictured us to be.”

Mishima shook his head “I still don’t feel like a hero…” he sighed “I would have never been able to get all these people on my side, if that old man hadn’t died in front of all of their eyes.” he gulped before telling Ren his side of the story.

“Damn… I’m sorry...” Ren mumbled.

“It’s crazy to say this… but if that event hadn’t happened… I think I would still be at the factory, trying to get everyone on my side. You say that I’m a hero but if I was, I would have saved that man.” Mishima said.

“But you tried, didn’t you?”

Mishima looked up at Ren “Well… yeah. But that didn’t change anything.”

“Would you have done something like that back at Kamoshidas castle?”

Mishima grimaced before he slowly shook his head. “I… would have been too scared.”

“See? You said that that factory was even worse than Kamoshida. And still you stood up and tried to save that man, instead of silently watching like everyone else.” Ren said “Pretty heroic, don’t you think?”

“I… guess...”

Ren smiled and patted him on the shoulder “You did good. It’s time to acknowledge it too. And what better way to do that, than while being locked up in the house for a week?”

Mishima chuckled before sighing “I was actually planning on visiting Shiho once I was out...”

“Sorry, man…” Ren sympathized “You’ll get to see her again soon.”

Mishima smiled “I know. Until then, I will do all I can to keep this place safe.”

“I know you will.” Ren smiled back at him before asking “How long have you been sitting here already?”

Mishima looked at the stopwatch beside the chair “I’m almost done with my two hours.”

“Then get outta here. I’ll take over early.”

Mishima got out of the chair “Oh. Okay. Thanks Ren.”

“Has Futaba approached you yet because of her new project?”

“Oh, yeah. But we’ve already finished those before I sat down here. I think she said something about putting them up now?”

Four hooded figures walked down the road to LeBlanc2. All of them wore hoods over their heads and among them were two children. The third wanderer wore baggy pants and was only about a head taller than the kids. The fourth companion towered over them, lanky and several heads above them all.

They were halfway down the road, when the third bent down near a tree and shoved her hands into her pockets to pull out a small box and two zip ties. She placed the small box against the tree before looking up at her companions. “Here?”

The tallest of them all made a frame with his fingers “Hmm…”

“I didn’t ask if it fits your aesthetics!” the kneeling figure hissed.

“Can you hurry it up?” one of the kids asked. “The faster we get this done, the better.”

“Yeah! We shouldn’t even be here. Now’s not the time for you two to argue!” the second quietly whined.

Futaba grumbled something before securing the motion-sensor with the two zip ties.

“I would have placed it a millimeter lower.” Yusuke replied.

Futaba rolled her eyes and grumbled something incomprehensible as she got back up. “Okay, one done, three to go.”

“Morgana and I will scout out the area!” Shinya announced before the two kids hurried off into the woods.

The four Thieves walked through the forest and placed the rest of Futabas motion-sensors. They were about to complete their round of the perimeter when Futaba halted abruptly.

“I wonder what’s on the bulletin board now….” she pondered.

Morgana stared at her with fear “You… don’t want to go there… right?”

“Huh… now that you say it...” Futaba replied with a smirk.

“No!” the kid hastily said “Queen and Joker will kill us!”

“What if something bad is on there? Like: “They live over there” or something?” Futaba asked.

“What if someone stakes out the board, just waiting for us to come around?!” Shinya shrieked.

“Shinya and Morgana have a point. There’s a reason why we go into hiding. Walking to a place that is strongly affiliated with us would be serving ourselves on a silver platter...” Yusuke spoke up.

Futaba sighed “Fiiine… I guess you’re right.”

Morgana exhaled “Okay. Then let’s get back home as fast as we can.”

After each Thief had finished their days tasks, everyone except the two guards on duty Sojiro and Shinya gathered in the living room. In another fit of paranoia, Ren and Makoto also deemed it best to leave the fireplace cold tonight, as to not give any sign through the chimney. And so it happened, that they sat together, huddled into blankets made from curtains, the only light coming from a single lantern in the middle of the room.

“Well this is boring...” Futaba muttered as she huddled under a curtain with Haru.

“Our usual evening activities are greatly reduced now...” Yusuke said.

“Maybe we should have gone to the bulletin board. At least we might have gotten something to read...” Futaba sighed.

Makotos and Rens eyebrows shot up immediately before Futaba said “Relax. I thought about going but they convinced me not to.”

“Well that’s good.” Ren said, still looking suspicious.

“I thought about what might be posted now too, but it’s too dangerous.” Makoto said.

Ren couldn’t help but smile about Makoto calling everyone to reason over something she would definitely be itching to do too.

“You know what I’ve been wondering?” Ann asked, huddled into one of Ryujis sweatshirts. “We haven’t told Iwai, that we’re off the grid for now. What if he or Kaoru think about coming by to check up on us?”

“Eiko will likely have heard about the recent events too by now, especially with Ohya and Kayo back at New New Shinjuku.” Yusuke pointed out.

“Well, informing Iwai won’t be a big problem.” Futaba shrugged. “Remember that I gave him a transmitter? It works two ways and I know that he knows morse-code. We should be able to tell him that we’re in hiding for now.”

“So we would just have to hope, that Eiko won’t come for a visit...” Morgana said.

“She knows that she’s supposed to wait for us to approach her.” Makoto said. “Although the general opinion about us has never been this heated...”

“It’s good that we have watches throughout the day. If she would come by, she knows how to do it without being spotted.” Ren said.

“There’s just so many things to think about...” Morgana sighed.

“Honestly, I wish I could just hide in bed all day as to not make any wrong move to give away our location...” Ann shuddered.

“It felt like we could be jumped by some PT-hunters any moment, when we were outside to place the motion-sensors...” Futaba uttered. “Wasn’t even fun to argue with Inari, for once...”

“Feels like a decade ago, that we went to the pool in Seiiki when it’s only been a couple weeks.” Ryuji muttered. “Now everything is effing depressing...”

Everyone stared into nothing for a moment before Futaba eventually jumped to her feet “Okay! I’ve had it with the sulking. It’s time to do something fun!” she disappeared into the cellar.

“Why is this making me nervous?” Makoto asked.

Ren shrugged “Hey, maybe she’s worked on her Stand-Up-Program.”

“Now that’s making me nervous too...” Yusuke uttered upon remembering her first try.

“Yeah… I got none of those jokes...” Morgana said.

“Not just you...” Ryuji added.

Futaba emerged with a round board tucked underneath her arm. She placed it on the table and propped it up against the wall.

“You had a dart-board down there?” Ren asked.

“Yup. Found it while cleaning up and kept it for hard times...” Futaba shrugged and held up two darts. “We have to adjust the rules though...”

Makoto squinted at the board “The lighting isn’t ideal...”

Futaba rolled her eyes “You’re such a try-hard. There’s the board. You throw the dart in vaguely that direction.”

“I think I’ll save my Shogi-board...” Hifumi quickly shuffled to the table.

“Fair enough.” Futaba said and walked up to Ren to hand him the two darts.

“So I guess playing teams is out of the question?” he asked.

“We can still do teams but then it’s only one shot per person.” Futaba shrugged. “We can do teams of two, everyone has one Throw and the highest summed up score wins.”

“I call Ren!” Ryuji was the first to proclaim.

“Hey! No fair!” Ann pouted “Having Ren as your partner is an easy win! His aim is insane.” she huffed before saying “Fine, I’ll team up with Makoto then and we’ll take you down. Right, Makoto?”

Ren smirked at his girlfriend “Or is the bad lighting a disadvantage for you?”

Makoto smiled back with that smile that sent a shiver down everyones spine when she answered “Not at all.” she stepped up and took the darts from his hand “But it should be Ladies first, don’t you think?”

“Of course.” Ren smirked before retreating with a bow. He would have liked to give her a kiss but he had learned that Makoto only knew foes when she was in competitive-mode.

“Crush them, Makoto!” Ann motivated her before cheering when her partner hit the bulls eye.

Anns turn was a little less successful, but the two girls still managed to put a decent number on the board.

Next up were Haru and Futaba. Harus aim was a bit off due to the small dart in her hands. Upon Futabas suggestion to just take her axe, everyone else was fast to object. Yusuke and Morgana both hit a 20 and while Hifumi was able to hit a double 20, Mishima only managed to hit an 8. By the time Ren and Ryuji were up, their girlfriends were still in the lead.

“You got this, man.” Ryuji kneaded Rens shoulders as if he was a boxer walking into the ring.

Ren twirled the dart in his hand as he stepped up to the mark. He found Makotos eyes and gave her a smug wink “This is for you.”. Without looking, he hit the triple twenty.

“Such a show-off...” Futaba sighed.

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji pumped his fist in the air.

“Your turn.” Ren made way for Ryuji.

“So everything higher than 10 will do, right?” Ryuji asked with a grin.

Ren nodded “Take a breath and take your time. We can win this.”

Ryuji nodded and rolled his shoulders, his eyes on the board ahead.

Ann leaned over to Makoto “You wanna win this too, right?”

“Of course.” Makoto muttered back.

“Even with… unfair methods?”

Makoto raised an eyebrow at her but then remembered that smug look that Ren cast her while he threw a higher score than her. “Do it.”

Ann grinned before she let out a loud yawn that probably was supposed to sound cute. It seemed to be only to gain Ryujis attention, for Makoto suspected that her taking off the hoodie in the most obvious way possible was supposed to be the real trick. Makoto had to grin when she noticed Rens so cocky face falter upon realizing that his teammate was hit with an ailment.

“You have got to be kidding.” Ren said with a raised eyebrow before he shook Ryuji by the shoulder “You see what she’s trying to do, right?”

“It’s her special attack.” Futaba called out. “And it’s very effective on Ryuji!”

“Keep it together, Ryuji!” Ren spurred him on “She’s just trying to throw you off your game.”

Ryujis eyes darted between Ann, lasciviously toying with a strand of hair, and Ren. He gulped before saying “Right.”. He did his best to focus on the board ahead of him and took a deep breath before he took his shot.

Everyone followed the darts flight with excitement. Makoto was the first to announce the result.

“It’s a ten.”

“That means a tie!” Haru exclaimed.

“What?” Ryuji exclaimed before walking up to the board to check himself. “But I was aiming at the other end of the board!”

“Aww, I hope that I didn’t throw you off guard.” Ann cooed into his ear as she leaned against his shoulder.

“Yeah right...” Ryuji muttered.

“You just wanted to be on Rens team to get carried anyway.” Futaba threw in before addressing everyone “Okay, it’s official. It’s a tie for the win between Ren and Ryuji and Makoto and Ann.”

Ren grinned when he walked up to Makoto “You happy enough with a tie?”

Makoto smirked at him “Not really.”

“I can’t believe that you authorized Ann to play dirty.” he grinned.

“She suggested it and I found myself unable to deny her after that self-assured throw of yours.”

“I’d be lying if I said that I knew that it would hit the triple twenty.” Ren admitted “But I guess luck’s just on my side in so many ways.”

“Was the wink really necessary though?” Makoto asked.

“Your face made it worth it.” Ren grinned as Ann and Ryuji approached them. He smirked at the blonde-haired girl “Well played, Ann.”

She put on an innocent smile “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got really hot all of a sudden...”

“Nice try. Makoto already admitted that you announced it in advance.”

“Ugh, fine.” she sighed. “You got me.”

“Surprise, surprise...” Ryuji muttered.

“I wouldn’t have done it, if it wasn’t so much fun to mess with you.” Ann grinned and pinched his cheek.

“Well, I guess in the end we all ended up showing our skills.” Ren concluded.

“Except Haru.” Futaba threw in. “We would have wiped the floor with all of you, if you had allowed her to use the axe!”

“Which number would have been the one that counts then?” Hifumi wondered.

“All of them, of course!” Futaba replied.

“We’ll do that another time, maybe.” Makoto stalled.

“Yeah. For now, this seems like one of the very few leisure-activities at our disposal for the next week. Maybe we shouldn’t destroy it on the first evening already.” Ren said before looking through the group “We should end the day for now. We all have night-shifts ahead of us, so be sure to rest accordingly before that.” he took a deep breath. “I know it’s hard right now… but we will get through this. I know that it sucks that we don’t even know if these measures are necessary or if we really are in danger, but there’s too much at risk to be sloppy.” he took Makotos hand. Not long after that everyone else held hands too, forming a cirlce. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwing out the word Lockdown in times like these somehow hits different. I felt that it was time to check up on a few characters and over all just have a bit more conversation, especially with Hifumi and Mishima while also showing a bit of the Thieves preparing for their hiding-phase. 
> 
> I did say a few chapters ago, that there won't be much of "inbetween-arc-shenanigans" here but I just couldn't. I just live for random moments of friendship and fun, even in trying times like these. And playing Darts was just something that needed to be implemented, since it's one of the most awesome new additions that P5R introduced:)
> 
> But don't worry, this is the first and last chapter treating the lockdown. Tuesdays chapter is one that I'm very looking forward to posting;)


	64. Stalked

Their week in hiding was tedious. While they spent their first day prepping the house for their mission to go off the grid, they found themselves with nothing to do on every following day. When the week was over, everyone was anxious to hear Rens and Makotos verdict, whether it was safe enough to walk outside or not.

It had become an unusual sight to see almost everyone gathered at the breakfast-table when Makoto and Ren entered the morning of day 8.

“It’s been a week!” Ryuji said before they even took a seat.

“We know.” Makoto assured him.

“So we could try to check what’s going on outside, right?” Morgana asked, antsy.

“We could...” Ren carefully said.

“Then let’s do it!” Futaba exclaimed, excitedly.

“Hold up.” Sojiro interrupted. “Just because we’ve let things settle down for a week, doesn’t mean that you can all run around like nothing happened. The bad press will still be on everyones minds and if people were upset about what happened, then they won’t have forgiven you within 7 days.”

Ren nodded “Exactly. We might be able to stretch our legs and get out of this place for a bit but I’d use that time mostly to check out the situation and still keep a low profile. I’m talking hoods, hidden faces, all that jazz...”

“And obviously no visits to any settlements.” Makoto added.

“What about food? I thought we were running low?” Morgana asked.

“We can just morse Iwai to get us some stuff and take it out of the settlement to meet up in the forrest.” Futaba offered.

Ren pointed a finger-gun at her “Then that’s what we’re gonna do. You set everything up, okay?”

“Got it.” Futaba nodded.

Makoto looked at the others “I’d say that only groups of two go outside and not everyone at the same time. Stay off the busy roads and avoid peoples attention.”

“So basically sulking around in the woods.” Ryuji summed up.

“Kinda.” Ren said. “But at least we get an hour outside and out of each others hair.”

“And we definitely need to get out of each others hair.” Makoto underlined.

Ann rolled her eyes “Geez, Makoto. So what if I forgot my jacket at the post for once.”

“You did it for four days in a row.” Makoto argued.

“You could have just used it for yourself to keep warm instead of making such a drama.” Ann groaned.

“It’s not just that! You constantly leave your stuff lying around the house.” Makoto shot back. “How many scrunchies can you lose?”

“Yeah! But it’s not as bad as with Inari here!” Futaba pointed to the artist “He put all of his art-stuff into MY office! Without asking. It looks like an atelier down there and it stinks of paint! I almost fainted the last time!”

“You are blowing things out of proportion.” Yusuke replied, looking a bit more irritated than usual.

“I almost dropped out of my chair yesterday!” Futaba exclaimed “Do you want me to die?” she dramatically asked.

“You are wildly overdramatic.” Yusuke said before turning to Morgana “What is even more upsetting is Shinya kicking and screaming every night.”

“Hey! I can’t help what I’m dreaming.” Shinya exclaimed. “Mishima whimpers all the time and noone complains!”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Sojiro cut through the rising argument. “It’s time that all of you get out for a while. So who wants to make the start?”

“I thought we take a nice little stroll but you’re making this a marathon...” Ren wheezed as he hurried after Makoto, who strode through the woods as if she actually had a place to go to.

The brown-haired girl slowed down a bit and turned around to him. She let out a long sigh “I’m sorry… I didn’t notice how fast I was walking...”

“I’m pretty sure you noticed by how far I was falling behind...” Ren uttered.

Makoto glared at him “I said I’m sorry.”

Ren sighed “Look, it’s pretty obvious that you’re pissed but it just seems that you’re pissed at everything. Can you at least tell me what’s pissing you off the most or the Top 3 or something?”

Makoto looked annoyed “I’m not pissed.”

Ren snorted “I’m just gonna say it unfiltered because I know that you can take it: You’ve been bitching about Ryuji sneezing funny and Yusuke walking off-beat. And that’s not the end of the list of the ridiculous reasons you’ve found...” he sighed and tried to close the gap between them “I get that you’re antsy to get investigating and the prospect of not knowing how long we have to stay in hiding sucks but guess what? We all think that.”

Makoto had a defiant look on her face before she forced herself to listen to his words and actually admit that he was right. She had been acting irrational over the last few days. She sighed “Was I that bad?”

“Truth: Yes.” Ren said before reaching for her hand “And I’m pretty insecure now because of that one remark about my weak arms that you made.”

Makoto winced “I’m sorry…”

“I could lift you up, just so you know. I just know how much you hate losing the ground beneath your feet.” Ren argued.

Makoto actually had to smile “I know. And I appreciate it.” she let out a deep sigh “I was a real harpy, wasn’t I?”

“I found you clapping Yusuke a beat to walk to both amusing and kinda disturbing.” Ren replied.

“Oh god...” Makoto buried her face in her hands with another loud sigh. “I told you… It’s the Niijima-genes...”

“Huh… It makes a bit of sense, when you think about it. You can’t look for things to fix on the outside so you just decide fix things that don’t really need fixing under any normal circumstances.” Ren said before rubbing her arm “But could you maybe start fixing unnecessary things on our car or Anat instead of people?”

Makoto took a deep breath and nodded “I will try.” she wrapped her hands around his upper arms “And I really like your arms.” she shyly smiled up at him.

The corner of Rens mouth twitched upward when he replied “Thanks.”

Makoto turned around and checked their surroundings “Do you feel like we’re being watched too?” she asked.

Ren strained his ears to check if he heard anything aside from the peaceful forest-noises. “I don’t hear anything.” he eventually said.

Makoto shook her head “I don’t have any evidence either. It’s just a feeling...”

“Hmm...” Ren looked around before smirking at her “Are those your Niijima-genes again? Are you looking for a case where there is none?”

Makoto sighed and shook her head “Perhaps you’re right. I’m starting to see danger everywhere...”

Ren put his arm around her before saying “Let’s go back. I’m sure the others are already waiting for their turn to go out...”

Morgana and Shinya enjoyed their brief incognito freedom by climbing some trees and racing through the woods. While Shinya was definitely a better shot than Morgana was, especially when it came to guns, Morgana had found out that he was far more agile when it came to climbing. He was already sitting on a wide branch when Shinya was still trying to get a good footing on the bark. At some point, the boy grunted and kicked the tree in frustration.

“Kicking it won’t help.” Morgana uttered from above, much to the other boys annoyance. “Take a deep breath and try again.”

Shinya sighed before taking an audible breath and approaching the tree again. His climbing was far less elegant than Morganas, but eventually he managed to scramble up the tree and sit down on another branch. “How are you so good at this?”

Morgana shrugged “I don’t know. I remember hiding in trees a lot before I met Joker but I guess I must have known how to do it before too...”

“You really don’t remember anything from before you met Ren?” Shinya asked.

“I remember wandering around on my own for a while before he found me.”

“Yeah, but what about your parents? Don’t you know anything about them?”

Morgana jogged his brain before reluctantly shaking his head “I don’t know… It’s like… the memories are there but they’re locked away. I know it’s not normal to forget almost ten years of your life but it feels like I forgot who I was before that. As if all my memories have been wiped until one point. I knew how to shoot a slingshot before I met Ren but I have no idea how I learned it and why.”

“You remembered how to operate a slingshot but you can’t remember your own name?”

Morgana huffed “What’s so wrong about Morgana?! But no… Back then when Joker found me, the first thing he asked was my name. And it felt like it was on the tip of my tongue. Like I had said it many times before, but somehow it wouldn’t come.”

“That’s weird...” was all that Shinya said.

“What about your parents?” Morgana asked to change the topic.

Shinya shrugged “My father left us pretty early so it was just my mom and me. She was working all the time and we ended up getting into fights a lot because I got into fights with other kids and she scolded me every time even when it was them who started it. I don’t think that she didn’t love me, but I felt like she was angry about her situation and I was a part of that. So when Kamoshida came along, I figured that I could go with him to help her and give her freedom.”

“Don’t you want to go back to her?” Morgana asked.

Shinya shrugged “I dunno. At first I told myself that she probably wouldn’t want to see me again anyway because in my head, she had a great life once I was gone. I told myself that it was okay, but it made me angry too. Isn’t a family something that every kid has? Why couldn’t I? I would like to know how she’s doing. But on the other hand, I also don’t. I’m fine with things as they are now.”

“But wouldn’t she have heard about Kamoshida? What if she thinks you’re dead?” Morgana asked, wide-eyed.

Shinya shook his head “There’s a bunch of kids that lived in the same settlement. If she asked, they probably told her that I went with another group.”

Morgana looked at the ground beneath them. If he had any idea about his parents.. he would want them to know that he was alive and well. He was about say something when he heard leaves crunch somewhere ahead of them. He quickly motioned Shinya to be quiet as he pulled his legs up to disappear in the tree. The kids heart stopped when the stranger stopped right under their tree and looked up to meet Morganas eyes.

“Hello up there.” he greeted with a smile.

Shinyas confusion was visible when he slowly resplied “… Hello?…”

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous to play so far away from everything?” the stranger asked. He seemed about the age of the others.

Morgana raised an eyebrow before replying “We’re good. We know how to defend ourselves.”

The teenager chuckled “I don’t doubt it.” there was something glinting in his eyes when he added “I suppose that all of the Phantom Thieves have their set of skills.”

The two kids exchanged a brief glance before Shinya replied “They’re cool, aren’t they?”

The stranger chuckled again “Are you perhaps looking up to them?”

Shinya shrugged “Sure. They fight for what’s right. I want to be just like them when I grow up.”

The stranger seemed to think about that for a moment “So you aren’t worried by the recent allegations?”

Shinya shook his head “Nope. I know that they wouldn’t do that. And I know that a lot of people need their help. So I hope that they come back soon.”

Morgana only nodded along with Shinyas act, hoping that the strange man would soon walk away again.

The stranger nodded with a smirk before saying “Well, maybe they are already closer than you think.” he nodded to the two boys before saying “Take care now.”.

Morgana and Shinya sat in the tree for a while longer before Morgana dared to speak again “Who was that?”

Shinya could only raise his shoulders “I don’t know. But there was something scary about him. Do you think that I was able to throw him off with my story?”

Morgana could only shrug.

**MURDERERS!!!** was what looked to be spray-painted all over the bulletin board. Beneath the bright red layer of paint were multiple layers of letters and probably older requests from the time that they had been away and hadn’t been shunned by the wide public.

Mishima stood in front of his lifes work and looked at what it had become with great sadness. Beside him stood Hifumi with an equally troubled look on her face. Every one of them had worked so hard on building up their reputation as the Phantom Thieves. As the publics helpers. Mishima squeezed his eyes shut before angrily ripping off the newsletters, that had even been hung on their very own message board. Had their opponents no shame? In a surge of anger, he ripped the paper apart, once, twice, more than he cared to count, until nothing but shreds were sailing to the ground.

“Someone must have sprayed this recently.” Hifumi noticed after a closer look. “There are some pretty recent letters right underneath.”

“Are there any good ones too?” Mishima whined, not daring to look himself.

“They are definitely worth reading...” Hifumi said. “But maybe doing it here would jump our agreed-on time.”

Mishima sighed “Then let’s take all of it with us. Let’s give people some new surface to spray.”

“We know what most people think of us by now. It doesn’t come as a surprise that they make their opinion known here.” Hifumi noted.

“I know...” Mishima said with a heavy heart “It still feels like a punch in the face when it’s on this board of all things...”

A somewhat bone-chilling voice spoke out from right behind them. “Ah yes, the infamous bulletin board of the Phantom Thieves. A beacon of hope to so many. What a shame to see it disgraced like this.”

Mishima and Hifumi exchanged an uncertain sideways glance, not daring to turn and reveal their faces to the person standing behind them. The voice sounded young, but there was something scary about it too.

A small chuckle escaped the stranger “Forgive me, I didn’t want to startle you. Oh well, I shall be on my way again.” Mishima heard leaves shuffling as he imagined the stranger turning to walk off again. The rustling stopped a moment later, before the mysterious figure added “Your work as the Phantom Thieves spokesperson was rather impressive, Hermes.” he made a short pause before adding “And I know that you won’t be able to see it, but I’m bowing down to the Shogi Princess. It’s a shame to not be able to see your talent in action. Watching someone dominate her field of expertise like you did was always a source of inspiration to me.”.

Mishima and Hifumi stared dead-ahead as the shuffling of the leaves turned quieter and quieter. Only after it was completely gone did they dare to move again.

“Wh-.. What was that?” Mishima stammered.

Hifumi looked even paler than usual “I… am not sure….”

Mishima nervously looked around before saying “Let’s take everything and go back… Right now.”

Hifumi didn’t object as she went to help Mishima take down all the notes before they shuffled back home.

Haru and Yusuke didn’t talk as they walked through the woods. A part of why their friendship was so comfortable was that they both knew that some times it was okay to not speak and just take in the scenery around them. After being stuck in the house for so long, they also didn’t feel like there was anything that they hadn’t told each other. While all of the Thieves had managed to be a great support in her still ongoing time of grief, Haru found it most comfortable to share her thoughts with Yusuke. The fact that she could tell him things while he was sketching or even painting something and he would still manage to listen while producing the most beautiful art made her feel less guilty about keeping someone from doing something else because she wanted to talk about herself.

The death of her father only happening one and a half weeks ago felt surreal. So much and yet so little had happened in the meantime. The one week of isolation from the outside world had actually felt good, considering how much rumors about her father were going on outside. And there was still the conversation that she probably needed to have with Seiiki at one point. Even though she felt like she had nothing to say to them. She took a deep breath and looked up at the trees. Soon they would be able to see the sky, once all the leafs had fallen down. She had always enjoyed the winter time. Huddling up in front of the fire, a cup of tea in hand. She hoped that the atmosphere around LeBlanc2 would settle down soon, so the entire group would be able to enjoy the season together.

“The air is getting rather crisp.” Yusuke stated after a while.

Haru nodded.

“Seeing all those dead leafs makes me sad every year.” the artist uttered. “Every fall, my drawings get depressing.”

“But the leafs falling down also opens the path for new life next spring.” Haru said. “Although I do agree that it’s always sad to see plants die. I enjoy the colors that they take on before they fall though. It’s like nature gives us one last presentation of its beauty before the next generation takes over in the following year.”

“Hmm..” Yusuke hummed “A beautiful analogy.”

Haru smiled at him.

Both of the Thieves froze when seemingly out of nowhere a voice addressed them from behind their backs. “Death clearing the path for new life… It’s quite a metaphor.” . Haru drew the hood over her head tighter. She threw Yusuke an uncertain look, asking with her eyes what he thought that they should do.

Yusuke slowly started to turn around to look at the stranger approaching them. He was slender and dressed in a beige double-rowed trench-coat. His smile looked honest but there was something in his eyes that Yusuke couldn’t quite describe. Eventually Haru followed his lead.

A teenager about their age came to a halt in front of them. His posture was flawless, as Haru noticed. In his right hand, he held a small bouquet of wildflowers.

Yusukes expression was cold when he asked “Is there something we can help you with?”

The strangers eyes met Harus and a cold shiver crept down her spine. His voice was soft and polite but there was something about it, that didn’t seem honest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She flinched when he extended the bouquet towards her. “But given the talk that I happened to eavesdrop on, I merely wanted to express my condolences to Miss Okumura.”

Haru reluctantly reached out and took the flowers from him “Thank you.” she nodded.

The stranger sighed “Your father hasn’t been known for being fair. But we can’t pick our parents, can we?”

“We can’t.” Haru still remained guarded.

The stranger gave her another smile before he turned his focus towards Yusuke “I see that you are in the best of hands. I have to say that I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing your art but I am quite intrigued of seeing your view of the world brought to canvas.” there was a short break before he dropped “Fox.”

Yusuke shook his head “My view has changed drastically over the last months. I don’t paint to entertain masses anymore. My works come from the heart. I am sure that I won’t please everyone with it but this is the path that I have chosen.”

The stranger smiled “What a commendable and admirable decision. We all would be so much better off if we just chose to live for ourselves instead of others.” he tipped an imaginary hat before turning away.

Haru looked at the bouquet in her hands before looking up at Yusuke, who followed the stranger with his eyes.

The two blondes had settled on clothes more fitting for the seasons colors for their walk outside. Both of them had their hoods drawn over their heads to hide their blonde hair. As they wandered through the forest, red and brown leaves sailed to the ground all around them.

Ann took a deep breath and looked at the sky before saying “I missed getting out of the house...”

“For real… I’m sure that we’ve all lost a lot of stamina during that one week.” Ryuji sighed “We have to consider that for our next fights...”

“I’m starting to miss fighting shadows… We could all use it to blow off steam...”

“Maybe you and Makoto wouldn’t catfight all the time then...” Ryuji said.

Ann gave him an annoyed look “If I didn’t know that her and Ren were doing it, I’d say that she needs to get laid...”

Ryuji snorted and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. His eyes went wide when he processed what he found in there. He'd almost forgotten about it with everything going on around them recently. Maybe now was a good time. He grinned when he said “Cheer up, I got a present for you.” he tossed her a gleaming object that Ann was barely able to catch.

“Hey! What about a heads-up? What is this, anyw-?” she stopped mid-sentence when she opened her palm to find a silver ring. She looked at Ryuji, who had continued walking. “You’re giving me a ring?!”

Ryuji turned around and shrugged “Remember when I ran back after our first night in that town near Okumura? You said that you liked all that shiny stuff, so I went and got something.”

Ann gaped at him before her eyes darted back to the ring. “What…? But…. You’re giving me a ring…?” she continued to stammer.

Ryuji shrugged “Yeah? You don’t like it?” he turned around and continued walking.

“Wait!” Ann called out while still trying to keep her voice in check. “You can’t just give me a ring and walk away like that!” she hurried after him, the ring clutched in her hand “What is this supposed to mean?!” she asked, desperate. Just how dense could he be? Did he really think that this was a normal gift to a girl?

Ryuji raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging “I dunno. Maybe it was just the cheapest thing to buy at that stand.” he tried to act chill while rubbing the back of his neck, but Ann noticed that his cheeks turned slightly redder when he added “Or you can see it as whatever you want...”

Ann stopped and gaped at him. When he turned to look at her again, she asked “Are you serious?”

“About what?”

“Are you seriously giving me a ring and telling me to call it what I want?” she asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Ryuji shrugged but he wasn’t as laid-back as he was in the beginning.

Ann snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She held up the ring between her fingers and said “Okay. I already know what I want it to be.” she grinned “Now get over here and put it on my finger at least.”

The corner of Ryujis mouth twitched upward when he walked back to her. He took the ring out of her hands and slid it onto her much thinner ring finger.

“Yes.” Ann smiled, answering to the unspoken question that she figured Ryuji hadn’t wanted to say out loud. “It’s much too big though.” she added with a grin.

Ryuji grinned when he gently pushed back the sleeve of her jacket to reveal the leather string that neither of them took off. He took the ring off of her finger and started to tie it into her bracelet. “Better?” he asked.

Ann smiled at him “Perfect.”

“Did you just make me propose to you?” Ryuji asked.

“Yup.” Ann nodded. “I said Yes, in case you didn’t hear...”

“I heard.” he couldn’t hide a smile.

Ann leaned against the nearby tree and said “Were you really too scared to ask?”

“I… I wasn’t scared...” Ryuji replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m not so sure….” Ann enjoyed his misery “Telling me that you just bought the cheapest thing at the stand...”

“It was!” Ryuji argued.

Ann rolled her eyes at his stubbornnes and grinned when she grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him into a hug.

Ryujis grin reached his ears when he gave in to her pull, his hands propped up against the tree at the height of her head. Her hands still clutched his jacket when their lips met.

She was aware that the ring didn’t mean anything to anyone but them. She had only heard stories about what weddings used to be, before eventually seeing what should have been Harus. When Ann felt the now cold ring against her wrist that the one that she loved had bought for her, she still felt incredibly happy. It wasn’t like she needed a ring to know it. She had known that her and Ryuji would be together until the end for a long time now. They had been through too much already, to just simply go on without each other at some point. When they had thought, that they had nothing anymore, they had been able to lean on each other for support. They had shared good times and bad and Ann knew that nothing could shake them, no matter what. Deep down, she had always known that it was him, probably even back then when she had first told him about the “old” symbolism of rings, after one of the women in their hometown had spun her and some other girls a tale.

Ryuji had only thought about that time when he had been staring at the ring at the goldsmiths stand. _“Well I think it’s sweet! It was like a symbol, that showed to the world that you and your_ _significant_ _other belonged together.”_. He had no idea why her statement had stayed in his mind so vividly. Especially because he had thought it incredibly unnecessary back at the time. If you loved someone, why need some expensive trinket to show it? Wasn’t it the most important that the two in question knew? But now that he was with Ann, he slowly started to understand. It wasn’t just a statement to the world, but also a promise. Somewhere along the road, he must have told her already. And he was pretty sure that she knew anyway. Yet when he had seen that ring on display, he remembered a young Ann swooning over wedding rings and pretty dresses. There had been so many things between them, that they had already known would happen without having to say it. Telling each other “I love you” for the first time before they even were a couple. Them ending up ripping each others clothes off in a fit of rage and passion after everyone kept telling them that they would end up together anyway. Moving in together because everyone else had assumed that it was about time (and right they were). Them not functioning without each other was something that they were both aware of without needing to say it out loud. As was that they knew that they would never leave each other behind. She had made the first step by tying that leather string around his wrist to show that they were bound together. When Ryuji had seen that ring, he had thought that it was about time for him to find a symbol too. Not a switchblade in the back of her hot-pants. Not a step in front of her to shield her from a potential attack. He would do that until the day he died, but he wanted to do it with her holding the ring that he had given her.

As they stood there, leaned against the tree and kissing, Ann eventually opened her eyes, only to find a slender figure standing at a few feet distance. He wore a two-rowed beige trench-coat and his hair was a light-brown similar to Harus, only where her hair was curly, his was straight and reached his chin. There was something weird about him, and it wasn’t just because of his location or because he was standing there, watching them make out. He couldn’t know who they were. They wore nothing that would give them away and their bright hair was hidden under their hoods.

Ryuji, his back turned to their unwanted spectator, realized that something was off when he noticed Anns eyes focused on something behind him. He slowly turned his head but only until he saw the figure in the corner of his eye. He furrowed his brow, annoyed by the interruption “Dude, we’re kinda in the middle of something?” he low-key growled. He kept his position in an attempt to shield Anns prominent blue eyes from direct view.

The voice coming from the slender figure was light when he chuckled slightly “Oh, where are my manners. Please forgive my staring. I must have been star-struck from seeing THE Skull and Panther in person.” he sighed theatrically “There certainly are a lot of rumors surrounding you, but the fact that you two are romantically involved sure is something new.”

The two blondes both tensed up. Ryuji prepared for a fight.

The stranger chuckled again before saying “Young love is rumored to be something beautiful. Please forgive my intrusion.”. With that he walked away again.

Ryuji continued to follow him out of the corner of his eyes before he eventually allowed himself to exhale. He turned to Ann, who had a worried look on her face.

“What was that….?” she quietly asked, her voice shaking a little. She wasn’t able to pinpoint it but something about that guy had felt terribly strange and even scary. Something about this empty chuckle that he repeated had given her goosebumps.

Ryuji reached down and took her hand “I don’t know but I say that we get the hell out of here and back home.” he took another look around to see if he saw their strange follower somewhere. Only when he was sure that he was nowhere to be found, he started walking, closely followed by Ann who threw an occasional glance over her shoulder every other step.

Futaba and Sojiro stalked through the woods towards their agreed meeting-point with Iwai. Gladly, the gunsmith roughly knew what they always got. He wouldn’t be able to get them too much at once as to not draw suspicion but if they rationed wisely, it would serve for another week.

The two Sakuras found the gray-haired man leaning against a tree. A stuffed bag was standing at his feet. He took the toothpick out of the corner of his mouth when he noticed the two approaching. “Long time no see...” he muttered.

Sojiro nodded “We have run across some complications, as you might have already noticed...”

Iwai nodded “The news have reached Seiiki too. As far as I can see, most of the people are still on your side, so you don’t have to worry on that end.”

“What about Noir?” Futaba asked.

“The talk has died down about her. At least that’s what I think. I’ve voiced my anger about this topic, so I can’t say for sure that they aren’t just talking whenever I’m not around.”

“I hope there hasn’t been any bad blood because you closed your shop for so long?” Sojiro asked.

Iwai shook his head “They know that I’m strongly affiliated with you. I think most of the people who minded didn’t dare to speak up. Especially not when I wouldn't hear it, when they tried to “warn” me about an Okumura posing as a Phantom Thief.”

“Thank you for your loyalty.” Sojiro said.

“How’s Kaoru?” Futaba asked.

Iwai turned serious “He’s doing okay. He’s been telling me a few stories about the factory. Kid has seen some shit, I can tell you. Your guy Mishima definitely showed some balls in there...”

“He definitely isn’t an NPC anymore.” Futaba said.

Iwai picked up the bag “I got you a bit of everything, at least of those things that I could get without seeming too suspicious.” he smirked “I’m sure that Haru knows how to make it good.” his face turned a little more troubled again once he handed the bag over to Sojiro. “How is she holding up?”

“She’s managing. But I guess all of us know that it’s a long process. Some days it’s better, some days it’s worse.” Sojiro responded.

Iwai nodded in understanding before pushing himself away from the tree. He tipped his cap “You hit me up in case you ever need something, ‘kay?”

The two Sakuras nodded.

As they walked back to LeBlanc2, Futaba took a deep breath of the crisp fall-air. “It’s nice to get out a bit...” she sighed.

Sojiro raised an eyebrow at her “You’ve shut yourself into your room for about a year. I guessed that you would have the least problem with staying home for a week.”

“Character development, Sojiro, character development.” Futaba replied as if it was the most obvious answer ever. “Also, back then I had my room to myself and noone interrupted me all the time and noone put his stuff in my room that smells and noone ordered me to clean up my workbench because it was “too messy for her liking”.”

Sojiro chuckled “That’s more what I thought.”

“Seriously, when has Makoto ever been down there? I know that Ann, Ryuji and I are kinda like the resident messies but I had to agree with Ann today. Makoto has really lost it those past few days. She’s always been a control-freak but that was like…” she puffed her cheeks, failing to find the right words.

“Being stuck together for so long without a way out does something to your psyche. Everyone gets irritated far easier and so arguments arise about things that normally would never be an issue to argue about.” Sojiro gave her a sideways look “Like you being mad about Yusuke putting his art stuff in the basement.”

“It’s MY territory down there!” Futaba protested.

“It’s a huge cellar and he put it into a corner that you haven’t been looking at for weeks.” Sojiro replied.

Futaba pouted “… Still...”

Sojiro smiled at his daughter “See? I think all of us are a bit more on edge after this week. But we made it through. Let’s just hope that we can start to integrate into society again little by little.”

“Yeah...” Futaba sighed “Before we start bashing each others heads in.” she looked up into the trees “Huh… funny that Ryuji and Morgana actually seem to be getting along well, even after hell week...”

“Maybe that’s the… what was it again….” Sojiro pondered “Character development?”

“Maybe.” Futaba agreed.

They continued to walk in silence when eventually Sojiros arm shot out in front of her to make her stop the moment he noticed someone approaching them from the right. The figure was tall and slender with light-brown hair. Every hope that Sojiro had, that he was just someone passing them without noticing was lost when he felt the strangers eyes on them. He furrowed his brow and stopped in his track, guiding Futaba behind him to shield her as he turned to face the mysterious figure head-on.

The brown-haired teenager was still at a distance when he raised his hand and waved at them. His smile suggested friendliness, yet something about it made Sojiro doubt it.

“Oh, hello there.” the young man greeted them as if they just met each other on a hike up a mountain. “I see you are taking a father-daughter-walk.” his eyes fell on the bag in Sojiros hand “And grocery-shopping too.”

Sojiro raised an eyebrow. Something about his entire demeanor made him weary. “Do I know you?” he asked, suspicious.

The stranger put on a smile that might had people fooled but as soon as his voice was added, a cold shower ran down both the Sakuras backs. “Oh, no I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure yet. You don’t know who I am, but I have heard so much about you. The Hierophant and the legendary Sphinx’ daughter, Alibaba...”

The old man felt the girl gripping the back of his jacket. He himself couldn’t hide his surprise. He tried to play it cool “I don’t know what you’re talking about, son. Never heard those names before.”

The stranger continued smiling with that milk-curdling smile of his “Oh! My apologies then. The resemblance was just striking. But then I guess it would have been a bit too much, if your daughter was both Alibaba and the Phantom Thieves’ very own Oracle.”

Futaba pressed her face into Sojiros back. What was happening here? Who was this guy? And why did he know about Medjed? Her heart was beating like crazy.

Sojiro shook his head “Again, you must have her mistaken. We don’t want anything to do with those retched Phantom Thieves.”

“Huh...” the stranger said while taking on a fake-looking thinker-pose “I suppose you are correct. They have turned out as nothing but a bunch of murderers, haven’t they.”

Futabas head shot out from behind Sojiros back “They didn’t do it!” she exclaimed.

The stranger chuckled again “Well, the opinions do seem to differ on that one.” he offered a smile “But I would like to believe that you are correct. Anyways, I wish you a pleasant walk.”. With that, he walked off again, leaving behind a perplexed Sojiro and Futaba.

“Wait… Are you sure?!” Ryuji exclaimed as they all gathered in the living room.

“Light-brown, straight hair? Dead eyes, fancy coat?” Ann listed.

“Don’t forget the scary voice!” Morgana threw in.

“Hold on...” Ren tried to grasp the situation “You all ran into the same person today?”

“More like he ran into us!” Futaba exclaimed.

“Did he recognize any of you?” Shinya asked.

“He knew us as Skull and Panther, but that happens...” Ryuji shrugged.

“He addressed me with Miss Okumura and Yusuke with Fox.” Haru said. “I… figured that he might be someone from Seiiki….”

“But he addressed me as the Shogi Princess.” Hifumi objected.

Sojiro shook his head “He knew me and Futaba too. With our Medjed-names.”

Everyone gaped at them.

“What the hell is going on here? Was that guy just stalking around to mess with all of us?” Ryuji asked.

“But… if he had anything against us, wouldn’t he have done… something?” Ann asked.

Noone could answer.

“Well.. maybe he’s just a fan…?” Morgana tried, although remembering the strangers voice was still sending chills down his spine.

All of them jumped when a beeping sound rang from Futabas belt. The orange-haired girl turned pale when she reached for the gadget that all the motion sensors communicated with. “Someones coming” her voice quivered “On the main road.”

Everything after that happened in a split-second when everyone jumped to their feet and reached for their arms. Hifumi ran upstairs to take her sniper-post in the attic. Ren motioned Morgana to take a spot on the first floor and be ready to give some hidden fire from the slits in the barricades. Sojiro and Futaba stayed behind, although Futaba was quick to go upstairs to inform Mishima on the back-outlook. Shinya would be upstairs with Hifumi.

Ren exchanged a last look with Makoto before looking into all the worried faces of the rest. He readied his gun and walked out the door. By the time they arrived at the gate, their visitor was already standing there. Ren didn’t need anyone to tell him that he was the same one that everyone else but him and Makoto had run into today. Now that he was standing in front of them, the description was spot on.

A toenail-curling nice smile appeared on the strangers face when he said “Hello, Phantom Thieves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look who we have here! Given that we all know how the story goes and by the description of the mysterious stranger, it's probably not a mystery who he is, even without giving his name;) Aaaaah, I was so excited to get this chapter out, I ended up really liking it. We got a bit of Morganas backstory. There was a brief moment of Yusuke&Haru. While maybe not really romantic, I really had fun with the ShuMako-part (I just feel that they can be blunt with each other). And since it's been a while, it was time for a bit of RyuAnn again (I'll never get tired of those and I hope you won't either). 
> 
> So far, the mysterious stranger has only messed with everyones heads, but why is he really here? You'll see ;)
> 
> Let me know how you liked the chapter!


	65. Eventually It All Makes Sense

“What the hell do you want from us?!” Ryuji growled through gritted teeth as the Phantom Thieves stared at their unwanted visitor.

“I can assure you that I come in peace.” the stranger said with raised hands.

“That didn’t answer his question.” Yusuke said.

“You’re right." the stranger said. There was a certain lightness in his voice. "I came to warn you. You might think that laying low for a week might do the trick but you have stirred quite the crowd and they are working feverishly on finding you to take you down for good. And since I was able to find the location of your hideout, I am sure that it won’t take long for her to find it too.”

“Who are you talking about?” Ann asked.

The strangers eyes bore into Makoto when he asked “Can you guess, Niijima-san?” a smile curled his lips when Makotos face faltered.

“No… That can’t be...” Makoto whispered, her hand shaking as she went to cover her mouth in shock.

The stranger looked at the rest of the group again when he asked “Are you ready to listen now?”

Ren exchanged a look with the rest before he nodded and opened the gate with his remote.

“Thank you.” the stranger said but everything he said was in the same annoyingly nice voice. “I come unarmed.”

“Good. I wasn’t looking forward to patting you down.” Ryuji muttered.

“A shame. People tell me that I am quite the looker.”

Futaba raised her eyebrow “That was so off-topic it could have been an Inari-quote, if he actually gave a damn about his looks.”

“I do pay attention to my looks.” Yusuke objected but even Futaba was too much on edge to start a full argument about it.

As they entered the house with their guest, they were already awaited by the rest of the gang.

The stranger smiled “Ah, I see the entire gang has gathered.” when he spotted Shinya he had to chuckle “And here I was, thinking that I knew everything about you. I certainly was clueless about a second kid in your group.”

“What are you? Our stalker?” Ann asked.

“And how do you know so much about us?” Sojiro asked, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The stranger turned to Makoto again and asked “Have you figured it out?”

“It’s my sister, isn’t it?” Makoto asked, still shocked.

The stranger chuckled “Well, the intellect definitely runs in the family.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Futaba interrupted “What does her sister have to do with all of this?”

“She went to pursue justice..." Makoto muttered.

“Then we are on the same side.” Yusuke pointed out.

“Oh quite the contrary.” the stranger shook his light-brown hair. “She has been gathering intel on you for a few months now. You have been eluding her for so long, that she has gotten quite angry.”

“Not our fault...” Ryuji muttered.

“That might be true. But it doesn’t change the fact that once she finds you, it will be the end for you.”

“I’m sorry… uh…” Ren massaged his temple.

“Oh, of course. The name is Goro Akechi.” the stranger introduced himself.

“Okay, Akechi… how do you know all of this?” Ren asked.

“I am Sae-sans partner. I helped her work the case and assemble the intel.”

“Then why should we trust you?” Ryuji growled.

Akechi sighed theatrically when he said “I joined Sae-san because I thought that she was acting for justice. True justice. It pains me to say that she has changed. The more I read into your case, the more I realized that your intentions weren’t bad but Sae-san refused to see it. I’m afraid that she has lost the vision that her father once had and instead became hungry for victory. Victory above everything.” he shook his head “I used to look up to Sae-san but now all I can see is a bitter woman, trying to win at all costs.”

Ren cast a look at Makoto, who blankly stared at the floor.

“So you decided to turn coat and… warn us?” Morgana asked.

Akechi nodded “I have to say that not everything you’ve done was rightful but you don’t deserve what is coming to you, if Sae-san finds you.”

“Makotos sister wants to kill us?” Ann asked, wide-eyed.

Akechi shook his head “She’s not out to kill. The reason why she was brought to your case is because someone asked her to look into it.”

Ren furrowed his brow “You say that she’s been on our trail for a few months already. Let me guess, the one who hired her was that mysterious network that stood above both Kaneshiro and Okumura.”

Akechi chuckled “I couldn’t have deduced it better myself.”

“So she’s hired by the true culprit!” Futaba exclaimed.

“That’s insane...” Ann sounded desperate.

“You can call them as you will but you have been a thorn in their side for quite some time now.” Akechi said. “Sae-san has been put under a lot of pressure by them too, which has impacted her ability to judge for herself even more.”

Silence fell in the living room as everyone processed what just happened.

“But doesn’t it mean anything to her, that her sister is one of us?” Ann asked.

Akechi seemed proud when he explained “Sae-san is unaware of her sisters affiliation with the Phantom Thieves so far. I was able to make that connection from a photograph that I’ve seen once. The resemblance certainly is uncanny.”

“What do you suggest we should do, now that you found us?” Makoto eventually managed to speak again.

“Quite frankly, I have given up hope on making Sae-san see her errors. She has all the intel laid out on her desk and it’s only a matter of time until she makes the same connections that I have.” Akechi said “If we were to throw her off your lead one more time, you would have the opportunity to slip out of her grasp and disappear.”

“And how should we do that?” Yusuke asked.

“By breaking in.” both Ren and Akechi said at once.

“That was freaky...” Ryuji muttered.

Akechi smiled “It seems that brilliant minds work alike.” he turned serious again when he addressed everyone “As her partner, I know her base of operations and I know how she works.”

“You’re saying that she’s after us already but that we should go to her and mess with her case?” Sojiro asked.

“We would have to do it in secret, of course.” Akechi said. “Needless to say that this will be the last operation of the Phantom Thieves. Messing with Sae-sans case will only give you more time to dive under. After that, you would have to disband and go your own ways again as to not draw too much attention to you.”

“Wh-… What?” Ann stammered.

Makoto looked at the stranger “You have to understand that this all very sudden… You come here after stalking us for a day and say that my sister is out to get us, propose that we break into her base and then split up for good.”

Akechi nodded “I am aware. But I’m afraid that time isn’t on your side.” he looked to Makoto again “You probably know Sae-san better than anyone. You know her abilities and you know how she gets when she’s challenged.” he looked to the others again “Like I said, I want to help you. But there is not much time. I will come back tomorrow morning and expect your decision then. I will have to start my travel back to Sae-san shortly after that as to not make her suspicious about my long disappearance.”

Ren nodded.

“Well then.” Akechi said and walked towards the door “I hope that you make the right decision.”

Ren accompanied Akechi to the gate.

“You are a capable leader and your team seems to look to you for guidance.” Akechi said as they walked along the driveway. “I hope that you understand and trust me on the urgency of this matter. Although I am sure that Niijima-san is more than capable of telling you about who you are up against.”

“I don’t doubt “Niijima-sans” experience with her own sister, but you do have to admit that a stranger popping up out of nowhere, dropping weird comments before then showing up at our door to warn and urge us to take action against someone we don’t even know or had a problem with before is a bit suspicious.” Ren replied.

Akechi chuckled “I have to admit that if you put it that way, you do have a point.” he turned to look at Ren with a smirk that the leader was unable to interpret “It’s a shame that you don’t have much time to make a decision on whether to trust me or not. I think I would enjoy to argue and discuss with you a bit further. I have to say that you are a very intriguing personality, Joker. You seem to have come from nowhere, yet you managed to assemble a group who would die for you, among them the heiress to a gun-mogul, the sister of a lawbringer and two widely known scavengers. And if that alone wasn’t enough already, you started fighting crimes.”

“I don’t know if your research came to the same conclusion, but we basically stumbled into it all.” Ren replied. “You keep repeating that we fight crimes. If it’s so obvious from your investigations, why doesn’t Sae see it that way too?”

Akechi shook his head “It pains me to say that Saes views have been clouded by politics.” he sighed but every time he did, it just seemed fake “While your intentions were pure, I’m afraid that you got entangled in a game that is much bigger than you.”

“We’re a bunch of teenagers. There’s a lot that’s far bigger than us.” Ren replied and pushed the button to open the gate.

Akechi smiled “It’s a welcome change to finally be able to talk to the man and the myth, that I have followed so long on my paper-trail. I'll admit that it's quite refreshing.”

“I don’t know if I should be weirded out or flattered by that.” Ren replied. “I guess that I could reply the same thing but it would be nothing but an empty pleasantry. I have a feeling that you are as interested in exchanging those as I am, since every word you say seems so thoroughly calculated.”

“I apologize if I come off as untrustworthy. Being Sae-sans student does that to you.” Akechi said before stepping through the gate “I implore you once more to heed my words and make the right decision with your team. I will see you tomorrow.” he turned around and walked away as the gates swung shut between them.

When Ren returned inside, the mood was unchanged. Makoto had dropped down on the couch, her eyes looked both empty and troubled at the same time.

“You were chatting with Akechi pretty long...” Futaba noted.

“He’s obsessed with me.” Ren replied as he sat down beside Makoto and put an arm around her.

“Can we talk about the obvious elephant in the room?” Futaba stated eventually.

“Which one?” Ann asked. “The one where he said that we have to split up?”

“Or the one that we have to break into Makotos sisters place to tamper with evidence?” Yusuke added.

“Or how weird this Akechi-guy is...” Morgana muttered.

“I can’t believe that Sis is after us...” Makoto whispered.

“Fuck!” Ryuji exclaimed out of nowhere before looking at Ren “Hey… what do we do now?”

Ren squeezed his eyes shut to get a clear head again. All of this was just confusing and suspicious. But were they really in a position to simply ignore it? They knew that they had angered something far more influential, so at least that much made sense. But who was this Akechi? And should they really trust him so easily? He squeezed Makotos arm and asked “Makoto… I know it’s hard, but I need you to give us your assessment about Sae. How likely do you think it is, that she has become the person that Akechi claims her to be?”

Makoto buried her face in her hands “I haven’t seen her in years!” she desperately exclaimed.

“I know...” Ren was understanding “But you’re the only one who’d be able to at least make a guess.”

When Makoto raised her head again, Ren noticed that she was crying “I don’t know!” she said, this time a bit louder “Whatever I say will decide our next steps. I can’t make this decision!” she hastily got up and walked out of the room.

“Makoto!” Futaba called after her.

Ann looked desperate when she asked “Now what? Akechi wants an answer until tomorrow. How are we supposed to make a decision this big until then?!”

“We’re screwed! Who knows what these people will do to us!” Morgana whined.

Ren got up “Everyone calm down!” he called out, himself feeling the stress rise inside of him as he looked into everyones tense faces. “We’ll figure this out… somehow...” he tried to exude confidence before taking a deep breath. He knew that everyone was looking to him for what to do but right now he couldn’t think of anything but Makoto storming off. “You stay calm. I’ll go and talk to Makoto.” he didn’t wait for a reply and hurried out the room.

The remaining Thieves stood and stared in the living room.

“Do we… really have to split up?” Futaba asked, tears in her eyes.

“I… don’t know.” Ann was already sobbing too when she walked up to Futaba and took her into a hug.

“Things are starting to escalate...” Yusuke said.

“And it’s all because of that incident at my fathers industry...” Harus voice quivered.

“That’s not true.” Sojiro said. “We heard that Makotos sister was on our trail ever since Kaneshiro. This is not the time to think about who is responsible. What’s most important is that we come up with a plan on how to proceed.”

“I don’t want us to split up!” Futaba cried.

Everything turned quit but the eventual sniffling from Ann and Futaba in the middle of the room.

“We might have to consider this.” Yusuke quietly said. “If everything that Akechi said is true, then disappearing sounds like our best bet.”

“So if we believe Akechi, we follow him to break into Makotos sisters house and then split up. And if we don’t and Akechi was right, Sae will find us and deliver us to the true culprits to do who-knows-what to us.” Ryuji summed up before walking in a small circle, pulling his hair.

“But we didn’t do anything wrong!” Morgana exclaimed.

Ryuji let out an unnerved grunt before saying “What the fuck?!” he slammed his fist on the nearby table. Noone had any objections.

Makoto was walking in circles in their room when Ren entered.

“Makoto...” he calmly said “please calm down.” he had never seen her this panicked before. He couldn’t tell if it was because of Akechis visit or because of the way her sister barged back into her life, threatening to take it all down. He hadn’t seen her cry since their time at the clinic, when she had thought that them getting shot was her fault. He took a deep breath and walked up to her to take her into his arms. Not long after, she started sobbing against his shoulder.

“Why?” Makoto sobbed “Why does it have to be her?”

“I don’t know.” Ren replied.

“I… don’t know her anymore. I haven’t seen her in years. How can I know what person she turned out to be?” Makoto cried. “And if I do say that she could be this monster that Akechi claims she has become and if she isn’t and we run into a trap because I didn’t believe in my own sister… What would that say about me?”

Ren carefully stroked her back “No matter what you say, you will never have to worry about what either of us think of you.”

“But what about what I will think of myself?”

Ren stroked her hair with his other hand, unable to give an answer.

“You still want to hear what I think about Akechis story, right?” Makoto eventually asked.

“Let’s think things through. Together.” he said. “There’s a lot to unpack and everyone is waiting for an answer downstairs and I can’t make this decision on my own either.” he sighed.

Makoto took a deep breath and wiped away her tears “Okay.”. She stepped out of his embrace and said “But I’m going to have to walk for this.”

Ren nodded “Very well.”

Makoto started walking in a circle. “So it’s safe to assume that Sae was put on our case by the time that we took down Kaneshiro. After that happened, we continued to lay low until we got the message from Medjed, which took us away from our territory for a while.”

Ren started circling her circle in the opposite direction. “Akechi knows about Sojiro and Futabas past with Medjed. Did they know about our issues with Medjed too, or was it because of their background-checks?”

“Even if they just checked their background, they must have made contact with Medjed for those are the only ones who used those names...” Makoto replied.

“Or the true culprit already knew about it?”

Makoto stopped and stared at him “No… if the true culprits only learned about us through the Kaneshiro-incident… could they really have known about Boss and Futaba already? If they hired Sae and Akechi to gather information, then they probably started from scratch.”

Ren stopped too “Hold on…” he started to chuckle about how obvious things got all of a sudden “It’s been in front of our eyes the entire time and we still failed to make the connection.”

Makoto gave him a raised eyebrow “I’m not following.”

“Think about it:” Ren said “The first time we ever had something to do with a mysterious corporation operating from the shadows was….?”

Makotos eyes went wide “Medjed.”

“Medjed started actively looking for Sojiro and Futaba after they had already stopped and forgotten about them for years. They admitted that they were forced to pick up the search again.”

“And you think it’s because of Sae and Akechi.” Makoto completed.

“Exactly. Medjed looking for Futaba was Saes first attempt of getting to us.”

Makoto shook her head in disbelief “Tir said that Medjed started looking for Futaba again because of a threat to their community. While I have to say that Sis can be intimidating… there had to be something backing them.” she stared at Ren “And who better than the ones who hired them.”

“Especially if they already had a grasp on Medjed from earlier incidents.” Ren added.

They said it at the same time “United Future.”

Ren chuckled “Holy shit… This is crazy...”

“This mysterious force in the shadows, that Kaneshiro stored and collected money for and that Okumura was affiliated with for reasons unknown… hired my sister to take us down?”

“It makes sense. Given all the bad press that occurred around us, we know that they have resources. United Future had enough power to blackmail Medjed and got away with killing Wakaba. When you can do something like that, how hard can it be to whip up some stupid newspapers and distribute them basically everywhere?”

Makoto nodded “It’s quite surprising that we weren’t able to draw the connection earlier, but it makes sense.”

“We were missing the last piece. Your sister.”

Makoto sighed as if she had forgotten about that for a moment. “Now we know that everything since Kaneshiro was connected. Knowing what United Future is capable of, we can only guess what they will do to us when Sae finds us.”

“You’re not even saying “If”..” Ren noticed.

Makoto shook her head “I don’t know if everything Akechi said about Sis is true, but if she is looking for us ever since Kaneshiro without even figuring out that I am a part of this, she must be furious by now.”

“And you definitely don’t want a furious Niijima on your enemy-team.” Ren said, recalling the events that led up to Makoto eventually joining them after taking them as prisoners first.

Makoto could only nod.

“Then I guess we know what we have to do.” Ren reached out and offered her his hand before they walked out together.

The living room was quiet, since everyone seemed to be busy with their own gloomy thoughts when Ren and Makoto reentered.

Futaba was the first to jump to her feet when she spotted the two. A glimmer of hope was shining in her eyes when she asked “So? Have you come up with a plan?!” she asked, desperation swinging through.

Ren took a deep breath. He knew that this wasn’t going to be easy to break to everyone. “We have. And we have come to the conclusion that we need to follow through on Akechis plan.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji jumped to his feet.

“But… how can we know that he’s telling the truth?” Yusuke asked. “What if all of this is some elaborate plan for something bigger?”

Makoto spoke up first “Akechi kept saying that we angered the wrong people and even before that, we have come to the same conclusion. We had to go into hiding because something was pitting the public against us.” she shook her head “But Ren and I realized that this might not have been the first attempt to draw us out by our unknown enemy.”

“What do you mean, Mako-chan?” Haru asked.

“Medjed.” Ren said. “The reason why Medjed contacted us back in summer was because Sae and Akechi started looking for Futaba and asked them for intel.”

“They were the reason why Medjed knew about the bank-heist.”

“No way...” Futaba gasped.

“I’d say that it’s likely that those two noticed the hacking involved. Medjed said it themselves: barely anyone who can hack isn’t a part of Medjed, so they were probably their first address.” Makoto said.

“But that’s not all.” Ren said when he looked into everyones shocked and surprised faces “Medjed said that they started looking for you again because they were being threatened. If we say that Sae and Akechi weren’t able to threaten the entirety of Medjed on their own, then it would make sense to assume that something bigger backed up their request. An organization that already had a grasp on Medjed.”

When everyone just stared at them, Makoto decided to skip the guessing part “We think that United Future has hired my sister and Akechi.”

“What?!” Futaba exclaimed “So the people who had my mom killed are after us now too?”

“If what Akechi said is true, then they are after us ever since we took out Kaneshiro.” Ren said.

“And that’s why you say that we have to go along with Akechis plan, right?” Ann asked, looking sad.

Makoto nodded “If all of our deductions are true, then we know that United Future is a force not to be trifled with. They killed Futabas mother, helped set up a yakuza-clan and supported Okumura threaten his competition. And we don’t even know if that’s all.” she sighed “And I am afraid that my sister should not be underestimated either. She is very driven and if she is really looking for us since spring, then she must be hungry for a win by now.”

“Hmm..” Yusuke pondered “You said that you think that your sister and Akechi went to Medjed to get information about us. And they have. They were able to locate LeBlanc2 and all of our identities. Why haven’t they handed them over to them?”

“Because Medjed stuck to our deal.” Futaba said, wide-eyed.

Ren nodded “Exactly.”

“Holy shit...” Ryuji muttered. “They could have ruined us two months ago.”

“But… why?” Ann asked “If United Future pushed them to pursue us… They are much bigger than we are. And they had to know that.”

Ren could only shrug “That I don’t know. My guess would be that we offered them a believable way out. It’s easy to say that they were unable to find Alibaba and be done with it.”

“So the entire story about wanting the Phantom Thieves to deliver Futaba to them was just something they made up to draw us out?”

“That would be my guess.” Ren said.

“So what’s next?” Morgana asked.

Makoto sighed “We will have to go along with Akechis proposition.”

“And then split up...” Haru said.

Ren nodded “I’m afraid that would be for the best to keep everyone safe. We already said it. If it’s really United Future that’s after us and if Sae Niijima really is as much of a genius as Makoto claims, then we need to disappear. Fast.”

“But.. this is all too quick...” Ann said.

“I’m not ready to say good-bye to all of you!” Futaba said.

“And where are we even supposed to go?” Mishima asked.

“I… don’t know.” Ren said. As he looked into all of the faces that he had seen every morning for up to 3 years now, he realized how he hadn’t even given that aspect a deeper thought. Ever since it became apparent, that each new member was in it to stay for the long haul, he hadn’t thought that one day they would each have to part ways like this. As he looked into the group, his family, he realized that he wasn’t ready to let go either. He wasn’t ready to not chuckle about something stupid with Ryuji every day or gossip with Ann. He wasn’t ready to not listen to Yusuke dropping at least one fun-fact about art a day or see Haru every morning at breakfast when she pushed a cup of tea towards him with that kind smile of hers. He wasn’t ready to say good-bye to Sojiro, the man who had taken him in when he had no place to go, or to Futaba, his sister. He wasn’t ready to say good-bye to anyone yet. But here they were. In their darkest hour so far and forced to split up. He squeezed his eyes shut “I… wish we could stay together too. But what’s most important now is that we stay safe. And the bigger the group we travel in, the more we’ll stand out. We can’t lay low forever.”

“Is there really no other way?” Morgana asked. “What if Akechi lied to us?”

Makoto sighed “There’s too much about his story that sounds plausible.”

“Don’t you think that you could get your sister to change her mind?” Ann asked the second-in-command. “Haru changed her fathers heart too!”

Makoto looked uncomfortable when she replied “I… don’t think that I can. While I don’t want to blindly trust Akechis description, I also have to admit that it’s not unlikely that Sis really became a person like this.”

Ryuji ground his teeth “So we just do whatever Akechi says and hope that he’s not lying?”

“I’m afraid we don’t have another choice.” Ren said. “I… wish I could think about another way but time is not on our side, it seems.”

They stared into nothingness together before Makoto shook her head “I’m…. so sorry that it’s my sister of all people, who is putting us in a situation like this.”

Ann shook her head “It’s not your fault, Makoto.”. She got up from the couch “We have to leave with Akechi right away tomorrow, right?”

“That’s what he said.” Yusuke said.

“Then this will most likely be our last night here.” Ann said as she looked around the living room, that had been all of their home for over half a year now.

“I wish that we could forget everything awaiting us and just enjoy the moment for one last time.” Haru said.

“I will miss this place.” Yusuke said. “It would be nice to have a bit more time to come to terms with this situation.”

Another round of silence fell. Ryuji and Ann were the first to walk upstairs. After that, one after the other left to either go on watch or be alone for a moment. In the end, Morgana was the only one remaining in the living room. The Phantom Thieves would disband after one last heist and everyone would have to go their own ways. But where was he supposed to go? Ever since he could remember again, he had always been with Ren. But it wasn’t just him, Ren, Sojiro and Futaba anymore. They had been their own small family, living at the original LeBlanc, but now Ren was with Makoto and five people would likely become suspicious rather easily. Would Sojiro take him in, even if Ren decided to not stay with the Sakuras any longer? The only reason why the boy ended up with a roof over his head was because Ren had found him and convinced Sojiro to let him stay in his room. But now Ren was most likely thinking about his own future with Makoto. But what would become of him? The kid shook his head to get rid of his thoughts.

Makoto had walked outside to take a breath. So her very own sister was after her, without even knowing. The more she thought about it, the more she recalled conversations with her sister that made Sae losing sight of what’s right and instead blindly wanting to win no matter what, even more realistic. _You left me to pursue your own justice. Is that really it, Sis?_ Makoto wondered to herself as she walked towards the car and Anat, still parked against the wall. She got angry, when she realized that Sae left under the pretense that she wanted to do things like their father, but in her own way, only to then end up as a private eye, hired by whoever. _Would you even care, if you knew that I was a part of the Phantom Thieves?_ she asked. Ann had a point with asking whether Makoto couldn’t just talk to Sae to make her see, that she was on the wrong side of the fight. She realized that she didn’t even want to talk to her. There was just so much that she didn’t understand about Saes change, that she had stopped keeping track. And she felt like she had become happier that way. But talking or just seeing her would just bring up those questions again, and she already knew that nothing would come from talking to her. The last time she had seen her sister was when she left in the middle of the night. It hadn’t been an emotional good-bye either. It felt more like her handing over her title to Makoto, as if she had been nothing but a co-worker that would now have to take over her work after she quit.

Makoto drew away the tarp to reveal Anat and the car. She traced a finger along the bikes silver outlines. If she hadn’t made such a mess out of Kaneshiros bank, maybe things would have gone different. She had thought that Ren getting hurt because of her recklessness had been enough of a wake-up-call for her to be careful in situations like these but here they were again, finding out that her actions had kicked loose a far bigger avalanche in the back, that they only realized crashing down on them now. And that avalanche was her very own sister. She shook her head over the ridiculous analogy. It felt like an eternity ago when she talked to Haru in the kitchen, the latter stressed because of her fathers involvement with the attempted bombing of Seiiki. Back then, she had thought that she could relate to always being connected by your family-name, but back then she had only thought about everyone complimenting her about her honorable father. Apparently she had a foe within her family too. And now they had to break into her base so they could buy themselves some time to disappear.

She flinched when she felt something warm wrap around her. She turned her head to notice that Ren had put his coat over her shoulders.

“Thanks.” she said with a weak smile.

“Everything okay out here?” he asked, one arm still around her shoulder.

Makoto nodded “I just needed some fresh air and time to think. It feels like everything is going twice as fast and I’m just standing in the middle, watching but in the end I’m too slow to act.”

Ren squeezed her arm “I know that one..”

“I can’t believe that it’s my sister, who forces us to quit as the Phantom Thieves and go into hiding.” she sighed.

“I guess that many of us will tell you that we can’t choose our relatives.” Ren replied.

“I know.” Makoto sighed and leaned against his shoulder.

Ren leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of her head “I’m not happy about having to trust some random stranger either. But I guess the situation requires it. At least he seems smart. But also fake...”

Makoto sighed “If he really is my sisters understudy, then he knows how to play people.”

“Then I hope that we’re not the ones being played.” Ren said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it wasn't a surprise that the mysterious stranger is Goro Akechi. But now Saes name drops again too and apparently she's the one out to give them trouble. Also: Ren and Makoto finally figure out who they are really up against. It's been a while since United Future has come up, did anyone of you still have them on their radar?;) 
> 
> The Thieves are under pressure and now they are forced to act on their last ever heist.


	66. The Future Never Thought About

The two blondes were laying on their bed, only covered by their warm blanket. They hadn’t talked much since they closed the door behind them and instead resorted to letting their bodies do the talking. As they were about to see their life crumbling apart once more, holding on to what they knew was there to last had felt like the right thing to do. Both had hoped that they would buy some time to figure out what to say but none of them had done much thinking when they had gladly given up the control to their instincts even if it was just for a moment.

When Ann laid on top of him later, she still hadn’t come up with the right words to summarize her feelings. Her gaze trailed off to her wrist and the ring that now hung from her wristband. This day had started out so beautifully. Now she would always have to remember the day that Ryuji sorta-proposed to her as the day that the Phantom Thieves had to decide on their disbandment. She took a deep breath and looked at Ryuji, who was sullenly staring at the ceiling. She silently reached for his hand and laced their fingers together.

“I can’t believe that this is really ending...” Ryuji eventually muttered as he squeezed her hand.

“Me neither...” Ann said. “I’ve gotten so used to everyone. I can’t imagine living without them.”

“It makes me so mad.” Ryuji said, but he sounded more defeated than angry “We were only helping people. We shouldn’t have to go into hiding for that!” he folded his hands behind his head.

“Hey...” Ann carefully started. “Where should we go?”

Ryuji reached forward and stroked her hair “I dunno… Somewhere far away, I guess.”

“Where noone knows us.” Ann added.

“Yeah.” he sighed “No more Skull and Panther.”

Ann nodded.

“The end of an era...” Ryuji said and looked down at her, her chin placed on his chest as she looked at him. “Maybe I should grow out my hair again too… Ya know, to not raise suspicions...”

Ann ran a hand through his blonde hair “That’s a shame.” she said with a small smile “But you were always kinds cute with dark hair too. I only did it to mess with you, I had no idea that you would actually keep doing it.”

Ryuji smirked “I dunno why I liked it so much. But it was a cool trademark for us, dontcha think?”

“Maybe.” Ann smiled. “But now we shouldn't stand out anymore. Maybe I should dye my hair next?”

Ryuji tousled her hair a bit before saying “I’d miss your blonde head.”

Ann smirked before shaking her head “I guess dying it wouldn’t change anything. I can’t change my eye-color.”

“Then we’ll go as far as we need to, until noone knows who we are anymore.”

“A completely new life...” Ann muttered. “Where do you think we should settle down?”

“Definitely not in a settlement.” Ryuji was muttered. “I’ve seen enough of those by now and all of them turned out shitty.”

Ann smiled “I guess we shouldn’t stay somewhere too big.” she traced her finger along his chest “Hmmm… it would be nice to find something small and secluded, right? Far away from everything. We’d have peace and quiet...”

“Hm… I like that..” Ryuji muttered. “Although it would be boring if there was absolutely nothing happening, right?”

Ann moved up so she was close to his ear “If we’re in the middle of nowhere, noone will see us fight shadows.” she whispered with a smirk on her face.

Ryuji grinned “Hell yeah.”. For a short moment he imagined a small cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere. For a short moment, it was a nice thought, but then the realization came back that they would be all alone again out there. There would be no evenings spent playing darts with everyone. No big breakfasts in the morning. No Phantom Thieves. Noone but them. On their own once more. “It feels like we’re losing our home again, doesn’t it?” he eventually asked, more thoughtful.

Ann placed her chin back on his chest to look at him. She chewed her lip before answering “It does feel like we have to start all over.”

“Topped off with losing all of our friends.” Ryuji muttered. “I’ll miss this. Just everything.”

Ann nodded “Me too.” she let out a long sigh “But you heard Ren and Makoto. It seems like we don’t have a choice. After this… the Phantom Thieves are done.”

Ryuji grimaced before saying “I dunno about you but after all this shit back home… It felt nice to be able to actually be appreciated by people. Not just the others, but by the folks that we helped. Sure, some people still knew us from before but noone has called us traitors in a while. There’s so many people that we didn’t get to help and now noone will. We couldn’t even keep on doing stuff just the two of us because now we have to disappear forever.”

Ann pondered for a moment before she said “Just because it can’t be us helping the people, it doesn’t mean that noone else will.”

Ryuji didn’t look convinced “They were more than happy to tell us all of their burdens. Noone cared so far. Why would they now?”

Ann could only shrug when she replied “I don’t know. But we cared. And we can’t be the only people in this country that did. Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean that nobody cares. So even if we aren’t Skull and Panther or the Phantom Thieves anymore… Maybe we’ve inspired someone to carry on the legacy.” she reached for his hand and tried to gave him a contempt smile “At least that’s what I’ll continue to believe in.”

Ryuji squeezed her hand “Guess I’ll keep trying to believe too then.”

Ann smiled as she moved closer to his ear again before she whispered “And I’ll keep calling you Skull. When noone hears.”

The hairs on Ryujis neck rose when her breath brushed his ear. He tilted his head and kissed her neck. “I love you, Panther.” he mumbled into her hair.

“I know we’ll be fine, as long as we’re together.” Ann whispered. “We’ve done it once. We can do it again.”

Morgana was sitting on his own in the living room for a bit longer, as he stared into the flames of the single lantern. Everyone had retreated to their rooms or other places around the house, probably to process everything that they had learned today. It felt like everyone had someone to go and talk to except for him. Ren and Makoto had gone somewhere, Ann and Ryuji had retreated to their room too. Futaba was with Sojiro for sure and Yusuke and Haru probably sat together as well. So the only one left from the core-Thieves was him. The more he thought about how alone he was, the more he started to panic about where to go after this was all said and done. Everyone had a significant other already. But where was he supposed to fit in? The kid reluctantly got back on his feet and started wandering around the house, looking for his team-mates.

He found Yusuke and Haru sitting in the backyard in the dark. Morgana squatted down in the corner near the open door to listen in and make out the faint shapes of their silhouettes. He knew that if anyone saw him, he would probably get a lecture about eavesdropping on people. But it hadn’t seemed like anyone cared about his feelings in this entire situation anyway, so he felt like rebelling.

Haru and Yusuke ending up in the backyard together had happened without anyone saying something. Somehow they just ended up in the same place, sitting in the plastic garden-chairs and looking into the dark.

“What will become of the chickens?” Haru eventually asked.

“Maybe we can arrange for Iwai to find a place for them in Seiiki.” Yusuke proposed.

“You’re right...” Haru nodded, absentmindedly “That would probably be for the best. Although I wish that I could just grab MiLady and put her into my bag to take her with me.”

“I wonder if she would enjoy that.”

“Probably not…” Haru sighed. “Do you have any idea on where to go when we have to split up?”

Yusuke shook his head “I don’t have an idea so far. I guess it’s common understanding that it should be far away from everywhere the Phantom Thieves have had an occurrence.”

Haru nodded “It’s kind of hard to think about moving somewhere you have no idea about.”

“Are you nervous?”

Haru folded her hands “It’s just that I’ve never been on my own before. I was at Okumura Industries for my entire life until I came to live with all of you. The thought about having to walk on my own in a few days...”

Yusuke nodded “I have to admit that traveling and being on my own was something that I was used to before I joined the others, but now, after being with all of you for so many years… I can’t imagine doing it again. Although I might be a bit more experienced than others in walking around aimlessly and staying wherever a kind person offers. It’s nothing that I particularly missed over the last years, but old habits never die.”

Haru slowly nodded as she stared off into the dark again. Thinking about being on her own wasn’t scaring her, really. She would have her axe with her, so she felt pretty sure that she wouldn’t have to worry about being robbed on the street. And yet still, the thought of being alone in the world for the first time in her life in just a few days made her uncomfortable.

“Would you like to travel together for a while?” Yusuke suddenly asked out of the blue. He figured that Ann and Ryuji and Makoto and Ren would stay together too, so they would be unable to call it unwise for them to travel together.

“Huh?” Haru asked, surprised. “You… would do that?”

Yusuke shrugged “I don’t see why not. We could acclimate to the new situation.”

“But what if we stand out too much? Ren said that we needed to split up to not raise attention..” Haru stammered. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to travel with Yusuke. He was one of her most favored companions after all, but they would stand out.

“Ryuji and Ann and Ren and Makoto surely will stay in pairs too.” Yusuke replied.

“Isn't that a little different? They are lovers after all...” Haru reluctantly said.

“Huh..” Yusuke said “Although I’m sure that Futaba and Boss will continue living together too, I wouldn’t mind posing as your husband, if that’s what it needs to make us traveling together look less suspicious.”

Harus eyes went wide and she was glad about the darkness hiding her suddenly burning cheeks. Yusuke was easy to be around. He had an equally calm nature as hers and he was easy to talk to. And most important of all: she was able to be herself in front of him, without him judging her. She figured that she would have a nice life with him. A small smile spread on her face when she whispered “I wouldn’t mind that either.”.

Yusuke chuckled lightly “I’m glad to hear it. I was afraid that I said something upsetting.”

Haru could only giggle back. Him offering to pose as her husband out of the blue might have brought forth different reactions from any other person. But she was glad that he had offered it to her. Because Haru had a feeling that even if they would only pose as a couple to the outside, there was still something more between them. A common understanding. Maybe it was love or maybe it wasn’t, but it definitely felt like more than just friendship. She cast a glance at Yusuke and had to smile. A few minutes ago, she had been sad and scared of the future. But now, she actually felt a little more at peace with what was to come.

Behind the door, Morgana listened to the two talking with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. So those two were pairing up together too? He hadn’t given going with Yusuke a thought. He had lived with him for a while now, most of it even in the same room, but Morgana hadn’t exactly felt like traveling just with Yusuke. Haru was nice though and if Yusuke hadn’t just jumped the gun on him, Morgana would have probably asked if he could come with her too. But now that was off the table and Morgana was still looking for a partner. He sighed and climbed back to his feet. What was that anyway? Yusuke offering to be Harus husband? Morgana remembered Ren saying once, that Yusuke didn’t seem like the person to “label” something. Wasn’t that a pretty big label? Did he actually like Haru and seized the opportunity to hint at it through this gesture? Morgana sighed internally. Grown-ups sure were complicated.

The kid was about to walk to the staircase when he overheard another conversation in the kitchen. He chewed his lip, fully aware that he should stop eavesdropping, before he pressed himself against the wall and strained his ears.

Futaba was sitting at the kitchen table while Sojiro was doing what he always liked to do when the two talked about serious things that Futaba didn’t like to hold eye-contact over: scrubbing pots.

“There’s just so many things that I have down in my cellar. How am I supposed to decide what to take and what not?” Futaba complained. “I don’t want to leave...” she pouted.

“None of us want to.” Sojiro replied. “But Ren is right. We have to stay safe and if disbanding brings that, then we should do it.”

“But Ren won’t come with us!” Futaba said.

Sojiro sighed and stopped scrubbing the pot as he dully stared at the wall “I know.”

Futabas voice was quiet when she asked “And what are we even going to do? Finding another tavern won’t really count as laying low, will it? Makotos sister only needs to be hungry and in the neighborhood and Tadaa: she’s found us.”

The old man nodded “I thought as much.” he absentmindedly started scrubbing again before he said “What about that country-house your mother always dreamed of?”

Futaba propped her head up on her hand and hummed “Hmm… I guess that could work. We wouldn’t even have to live in a settlement, so that would be super private...”

Sojiro smiled slightly “So Wakaba gets her dream after all...”

Futaba slowly nodded before sighing “But now it just seems so boring. What am I supposed to do there all day with just you around?”

“Hey!” Sojiro objected.

“You know what I mean. You’re worried about us growing apart again without Ren too! He was the one who helped me out of my shell and who helped you stop worrying about me so much!” Futaba replied.

The old man sighed “You’re right. I’ve gotten used to all the commotion going on here every day, even if it’s just the usual chatter for breakfast when we all sit together.”

Futaba looked sad when she said “I’ll miss that. I’ll miss everything about this place. And I’ll miss everyone.” she pulled up her knees and hugged them before saying “Do you really think that we will never be able to see them again after we split up?”

Sojiro could only shrug “We definitely can’t communicate on a regular basis anymore and if Makotos sister actually finds us, it’s for the best if we don’t know the location of the others.”

Futaba sighed “If I had more time, I would work on something so we could stay in contact...”

“If Sae Niijima is as smart as Makoto, then we probably shouldn’t risk anything.” Sojiro muttered.

Futaba got out of her chair and walked up to the old man “It’ll be just you and me from now on.” she said as she watched him scrub the already shining pot.

“You still have to help the others with stealing that evidence...” Sojiro said.

Futaba had a sad smile on her face when she asked “Would you have imagined that you would say something like that to me a few years ago?”

Sojiro shook his head “Certainly not.”

Futaba sighed “Me neither...”

Morgana sneaked past the door and towards the stairs. It was no surprise that Sojiro and Futaba would stick together. But Morgana had to admit that he was a bit sad to see that the core 4 of the group – Sojiro, Futaba, Ren and him – would have to go their own ways now. He would miss Futaba and Sojiro. Futaba, who felt a bit like his twin-sister, even though she was much closer to the others in age. And Boss, who had been a father to all of them and who had taken him in when he was nothing but a scrawny and weird kid. Would he find someone new, who would be ready to take him in? He had grown a lot and probably lost a lot of what Futaba had called the “cuteness-factor”.

He noticed Hifumi standing in the living room now. Upon closer inspection Morgana realized that she was staring at her Shogi board and toying with one of the pieces while absentmindedly staring into nothing.

“Hifumi?” Morgana carefully asked.

The girl flinched and was about to drop the piece in her hand before she skillfully caught it again. “Morgana! I’m sorry. I must have drifted off...” she said, flustered.

“That’s normal. Everyone is worried at the moment.”

Hifumi nodded. “I can’t imagine what all of you are feeling. I’ve been with you the shortest time and I already find myself struggling to leave all of this and everyone behind.”

“Do you have any idea where to go next?” Morgana asked. “Will you pick up where you left as the Shogi Princess?”

Hifumi looked at the piece in her hand “I’m no quite sure where to go yet. As for the Shogi Princess: When I came here, I thought that everything I could do was play Shogi but being with all of you and doing all these things… I figured that maybe I’m good at something else too. I never wanted to be a Shogi Princess. Back then, everyone told me that I had this outstanding talent and that I should make use of it. I got told the same thing over and over so many times, that I started to believe that I couldn’t do anything else.” she put the piece down before looking at Morgana “Shogi has given me a few other skills, that I would like to continue using. I was thinking about going to a bigger settlement and ask if they are in need of a strategist or something else tactical.”

Morgana smiled “It’s great that we were able to help you.”

Hifumi nodded “And I will never stop being thankful for that. All of you taking me in with open arms was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Morgana chuckled “And all that because Yusuke wanted to become a painter.”

Hifumi smiled a weak smile “Lucky for me, that Madarame took an interest in him too.”

Morgana smiled at the girl “Whichever settlement you will end up in, they sure won’t be caught by surprise by anything with you as their strategist.”

“Thanks..” Hifumi seemed surprised when she brushed back her bangs. She grabbed her Shogi board and sighed “I guess it’s time to pack this up now.”

“You won’t have to leave the house tomorrow.” Morgana said.

“I know.” Hifumi smiled a weak smile “But I think that my Shogi board won’t help with our last mission.”

Morgana continued his walk upstairs. It was nice to hear that the Phantom Thieves had managed to give Hifumi a new outlook on life. She would make a great tactician and she would probably enjoy having a bigger army at her disposal for once, instead of a gang of teenagers. She had a lot ahead of her but it felt good to hear, that she actually had a plan. Given that she was one of the less prominent members of the Thieves, she probably would have an easier start too. Since Akechi and Sae only seemed to know her as the Shogi Princess, maybe leaving that image behind to embrace her new one as a tactician would help her disappear from their radar too. Hifumi had ambition. Morgana started to wonder what he could contribute in a settlement. He felt that he was a decent hunter. He made a pretty good team with Shinya. He could also fight shadows. Along with the others. Was there anything he could do without the others? Or would he be able to find someone new who he could go hunting with? Would they be as cool as the people he had now? Or maybe he didn’t have to find himself a new group of friends. He hadn’t talked to all of them. Shinya surely had no idea where to go either. He had only told him today, that he wasn’t interested in meeting with his mother again. Maybe they could make a new name for themselves together. Two kids going hunting would make for a nice enough PR-gag. He found Mishima and Shinya sitting in their room, looking about as gloomy as everyone else.

“What’s up?” Morgana asked as he dropped down on his bed.

Mishima sighed “Nothing. We were just thinking out loud what to do after the Phantom Thieves disband.”

“Do you have an idea already?” Morgana asked.

Mishima shrugged “I dunno… I can’t just disappear off the earth without saying anything to Shiho… She probably already heard about the Phantom Thieves killing Okumura. So if she doesn’t hate me now, I want to ask if she would join me. And then we’d have to go far far away. And live in a cave or something. If any of the workers from Okumura Industries remembers me...” he shuddered. They might have not been too sad about Okumuras demise but with him also died a few of his staff who the workers viewed as one of them. He knew that going to Shihos settlement before going into hiding was a big risk but he couldn’t just disappear without telling her what was going on. He needed her to know his side of the story and he needed her to know that he had to go away and disappear at least for a while, if not for the rest of his life. He knew that it was a lot to ask, but he hoped that she would come with him. He didn’t want to be alone again.

Morgana nodded. Mishima had definitely shown a lot of face during their Okumura-mission. And since he had announced that he was one of the Phantom Thieves too, it was even more crucial for him to hide well. He was right, going to Shiho first was a huge risk. But Morgana guessed that their must have been a big reason for him to take such a risk. He would want to see his loved ones outside of the Phantom Thieves too, before he went away. But he had noone but them. There was noone he could go to. He looked up to Shinya, who was sitting on the top bunk. “What about you?”

Shinya only shrugged before saying “I guess I’m gonna go and see my mom...”

Morgana felt his stomach drop. Somehow, he had anticipated that at least Shinya had no idea where to go either. Something in him was hoping that at least he would want to travel together. “Oh...” was all he managed to say. “But… you said that you didn’t want to go back to her….?”

The boy on the top bunk stared off into the distance “I know… but maybe I should. Like… maybe we’ll get along better now. And where else am I supposed to go? If she takes me in, I might also get an alibi if someone comes looking.”

“But… what about going somewhere new?” Morgana asked.

Shinya only shrugged “Nah… I don’t think that that would work. You know how it goes. Everyone thinks we’re too young to do anything. I don’t want any settlement to take me in because they pity me...”

Morgana couldn’t even say anything against that. He knew that it was probably correct. Only this evening, he had wondered if someone would be ready to take him in again. He sighed and got up from his bed and walked towards the door again.

“Where are you going?” Mishima called after him.

“I’m gonna look for Ren...” Morgana said and quickly shut the door behind him. Even Shinya had a back-up to go to. Everyone had. Except for him. But he still hadn’t talked to Ren. Maybe he already had an idea for where they could lay low as a group of three. Yusuke was right, Ren and Makoto would surely stick together but that didn’t have to mean that there was no reason for him not to be able to come with them too, right? After all, it was Ren who had taken him in all those years ago. He wouldn’t just forget about him, right? He couldn’t! Morgana knocked on Rens and Makotos door but noone answered. He pressed an ear to the door but couldn’t hear any talking. The boy thought about going to Ryuji and Ann next but he knew that even though he and Ryuji kind of got along now, he still wouldn’t be able to go with them. Ann and Ryuji were just too tightly knit. They knew each other in and out and if Morgana went with them, he would never be on the same level as they were. Besides, and he wasn’t quite sure he understood, everyone kept saying that you shouldn’t get too close to Anns and Ryujis door, whatever that meant. He walked downstairs and into the front yard. As he stepped out onto the porch, he didn’t see them but he noticed that the tarp that they had used to cover the car and Anat had been removed. He only needed to take a few steps towards the darkness when he noticed Rens knees peeking out from the loading space. It didn’t seem like they were talking. Morgana decided to squat down near the house and kept listening.

Makoto and Ren were laying on the loading space of the car and stared into the night sky together. Makoto had thrown the jacket that Ren had initially draped around her over both of them to keep them a bit warmer as she laid in his arm, her head resting on his chest. Normally, the silence between them was a comfortable one. They each went with their own train of thought before they eventually shared them with each other. But today, something seemed off. Ren could feel that Makoto was worried. And who could blame her. Her own sister was out to destroy her - without knowing, but that didn't offer much comfort. He wondered whether she even had the time to think about what to do next. Although he hadn’t really either… Everything was happening so fast. They had just started the day with finally going out again after locking themselves up for a week and now here they were, 12 hours later, preparing themselves for their last mission before splitting up and going into hiding. He had to admit that he wouldn’t have been ready if he had known one week in advance. As he looked up into the sky with Makoto in his arm, he wondered where he was supposed to go. And would she even want to join him? Makotos relationship with her sister was complicated. She was the person that she looked up to and despised the most at the same moment. Would Makoto really agree to just running away and hiding from her own sister? What if they wanted to do something completely different after the Phantom Thieves disbanded? He hadn’t really come up with anything particular but what if his idea for laying low was not what she imagined? And was he supposed to act like them going together was a done deal already or should he ask? He suddenly found himself even more nervous than before kissing her for the first time.

“Have you thought about what to do after this is over?” Ren eventually asked after a long pause.

“I… tried to avoid it.” Makoto replied. “What about you?”

Ren gulped. Why was he so nervous? He already lived with Makoto. Why was he so scared of asking her to come with him? Because he was scared that she didn’t want to commit? Going into hiding together was a bit of a “Forever”-statement. Or at least one for a long term. “I don’t know yet. I thought about wandering around a bit, maybe find a small settlement that could use a helping hand...”

“I can see you contributing in a small settlement.” Makoto smiled. “I have a feeling that you would become mayor in no time.”. She looked up at him. Was he really just planning for himself? Was he not interested in moving on with her together? Did he need a clean break from all of the Thieves, now that they had to disband under these saddening circumstances? Was it because he didn’t want to be associated with her, now that they knew that the person after them was her own sister? She squeezed her eyes shut. She knew that it made sense. After all, the only reason why they had to split up was that they could lay low easier. But would they really have to split up too? She couldn’t believe that her sister not only ruined the valiant idea of the Phantom Thieves, but also her relationship.

“You think I’d be a politician?” Ren asked and tore her out of her thoughts.

Makoto smiled a sad smile when she thought about how she wouldn’t be able to see him walk this path when she nodded, almost fighting back tears “I think you’d be great. You’re a good diplomat. You care about all the people living under your roof and you make sure that everyone feels valued and heard.” she squeezed her eyes shut “So yeah. I think that any settlement will be lucky to have you.”

Ren wrapped his arm around her tighter when he noticed her tensing up. He took a deep breath “Hey… um…” he gulped once more before saying “if you really think that I can do all of this… Would you like to be my campaign manager?”

Makoto propped herself up on her hand and stared at him “You.. want me to come with you?”

Ren nodded, glad about the darkness hiding his red cheeks “Yes. I mean… only if you want to, of course, and if you didn’t have any plans on your own...”

Tears were welling in Makotos eyes when she nodded “I would love to stay with you.”

Ran sat up and took her into his arms “Thanks. I hope that you know that I want you around as more than my campaign manager though.”

Makoto smiled through the tears before replying “What else will be on my job-list?”

“Well, if I should actually become mayor of anything, you’d obviously be the First Lady. And my defense council. And my sheriff.” he smirked at her “And you’d have to agree to continue to be my girlfriend of course.”

She shifted her position so she was sitting in his lap “I agree to your conditions.” she whispered.

Ren smiled as he wrapped his arms around her “That’s all I wanted to hear.”. They were sitting in almost complete darkness and yet their lips still found each other without a problem.

“So you aren’t worried about traveling with me?” Makoto asked after a long silence.

Ren shook his head “I.. never worried about that. I just was nervous about asking you, for some reason.”

Makoto smiled “And I was scared about you not wanting me to go with you.”

Ren chuckled “Well, I guess that’s resolved now.” he shook his head “And I’d never want to go anywhere without you.”

She smiled with burning cheeks before she turned thoughtful “You’ve been with Boss and Futaba for so long… Won’t you miss them?”

Ren sighed “I will… I’ll miss them so much. But they have to stay together and if we join them, we’d be too large a group.” he leaned back on his hands “The entire thought of not seeing all of them, every day, is just effing sad, as Ryuji would put it. Especially since we won’t exactly be able to just go around and visit each other at will.”

Makoto looked at him “I know. When I joined you, I never thought that I would have such a close bond to all of them. But… they made me who I am today. It was all of you.”

The two continued to sit in silence as they took in the moment. Ren raised his head to look at the house. Due to their barricades, no light came through to the outside. “It’s funny. I never thought about us having to split up at one point. I just… imagined that we would continue to live like this, in LeBlanc2, forever. I know it’s stupid. At some point, everyone would have probably wanted to move out and get a place of their own, start their own families.. But I just never thought about it. After living here for so many months now.. I really came to like this place. At first, it was just a shelter for the night but we actually made it a home. Our home. The thought that we’re leaving it tomorrow only to then return and pack our stuff is just…”

Makoto just nodded.

Ren snorted when he said “It’s so ridiculous… I know we don’t have a choice and still it upsets me so much.”

She reached up and stroked his cheek “I think all of us feel the same.”

“I just… really wished that this didn’t have to end.” Ren sullenly said. “But I know it’s necessary. For everyones safety.”

“Making the safest decision will not always be the most popular.” Makoto said.

Ren reached for her hand “So this will be our new start.”

Makoto nodded “A new town. New people.”

“New names.”

“I.. guess that would be for the best.” Makoto had to agree. Still going around with the Niijima-name on her would probably not be for the best, if her sister of all people was after her.

“A new life.” Ren concluded while stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

Morgana cowered under a window, listening to everything. A new start. But they hadn’t talked about taking him with them. They seemed to make plans but only for themselves. Ren becoming a politician? Makoto being his sheriff? Did he have no place in their future either? Was Ren moving on without him too, like everyone else? He had listened to almost all of the Phantom Thieves now and all of them already had ideas or partnered up with other Thieves to move on together. Everyone but him. Not even Ren seemed to care what would become of him. Shinya was right, he couldn’t just walk around on his own. Noone took him serious and he wasn’t ready to fight just for himself. Shinya was able to go back to his mother, but Morgana had noone aside from the Phantom Thieves. He had noone waiting for him somewhere else, that he could go to and ask for shelter. He had no parents or other distant relatives, at least not that he knew of. He had thought that at least Ren would keep that in mind. He grimaced as he fought back the tears stinging in his eyes. He wouldn’t cry. Not over something like this. He wasn’t a child. Morgana quietly sneaked back into the house. He had sworn to stay by Rens side and support him. Did that mean nothing to him anymore?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Morgana, everyone is planning their futures without thinking of him and now he's starting to get scared of what will become of him on his own, now that even Ren seems to be moving on without him. This also calls for a backstory on how Morgana met Ren, wouldn't you agree? ;)
> 
> I said it from the very start, I wouldn't know how to pull HaruxYusuke off but I feel that this could be something that Yusuke does. ;) I enjoy this dynamic of both of them not needing to put any label on their friendship/more than friendship for now as long as they know how they feel. It's again something completely different to ShuMako and RyuAnn and that's interesting.
> 
> Let me know what you think ;)


	67. Morgana

3 years ago

„You can‘t just pull a sneak-attack like that on me!“ Futaba complained as they walked back into LeBlanc. “Sojirooo! Ren was mean to me!” she whined.

Ren rolled his eyes and sighed.

“What did he do now?” Sojiro sighed as he looked out from the kitchen.

“I told her to place the order today.” Ren explained.

“Yeah! But he did it like… a second before that lady returned to take it! I had no chance to level up or to grind enough EXP!” Futaba complained.

“Did you do it?” was the only thing Sojiro seemed interested in, much to Rens amusement.

“Well… yeah...” Futaba stammered before stomping her foot “But still! He didn’t play fair!”

Sojiros eyes found Rens and they exchanged a brief look that meant that Sojiro felt that he had done okay. “Well, it seems like everything went okay then, right?” he eventually asked.

Futaba grunted in annoyance before she stomped upstairs to hide in her room to pout.

“You’re really starting to give her a challenge.” Sojiro said when Ren slid onto a bar-chair.

“Just walking into the city doesn’t seem to be an issue for her anymore, so I thought I had to come up with something new.” Ren shrugged.

“Well, I’m glad that you take your time and yet still give her small challenges. Even though she will hate you for it.” Sojiro smirked.

Ren smirked “I think I can handle her anger by now...”

Sojiro looked out the window before eventually saying “I could use some mushrooms again for the next curry. Why don’t you take Futaba to the woods tomorrow. I’m sure she could use a break after seeing so many people today.”

Ren nodded. “Will do, Boss.”

Sojiro chuckled “Boss? Hmm… I could get used to that.”

Ren grinned “Guess I’ll keep calling you Sojiro then.”

The old man scoffed “Get outta here.”

The next day, Ren and Futaba sat at breakfast when Ren brought up todays plans.

“Sojiro said that we should go mushroom-picking today.”

Futaba was still pouting when she replied “Have fun then.”

“There will be no people in the woods.” Ren argued.

“As far as I know, that could just be another trap of yours.” she said with squinted eyes.

“Oh come on. You’re being overdramatic.” Ren sighed. “I did it once and you didn’t die from it. This is really just mushroom-picking for Sojiro.”

Futaba bristled “It might not be dangerous, but it still sounds hella boring.”

“I can’t say I disagree.”

Futaba smirked “See. So you can go and pick some mushrooms for Sojiro and I will dye my hair. Doesn’t that sound like a deal?”

Ren sighed “Fine. If you really want to leave me on my own...” he slowly turned to get up from his seat, waiting for her to react or say something, but it never came. He looked over his shoulder “You’re really sending me out there on my own?” he asked.

Futaba demonstratively pulled her hair “Can you see the roots?!”

Ren sighed and reached for his backpack and a cloth sack “See you in the evening then...”

Ren didn’t like taking walks on his own. Short walks through the town were okay of course, but wandering through a forest on your own tended to have a meditative effect on the mind and Ren hated getting caught up in his own thoughts too much. Nothing had been as bad as walking for days with all his belongings on his back to an unknown place and an unknown man, who he had hoped would take him in because his dead parents told him to go and ask. He had had so much time to think back then and he had already despised it after a few hours. Futaba coming out of her shell wasn’t just beneficial for her but also for him because the more he was able to occupy himself with something different than his own thoughts, he saw it as a win. But now, that he had been refused so harshly by Futaba, he found himself wandering through the forest on his own and it didn’t take long for the calm atmosphere of the woods to do its magic and send him thinking about his life and everything in it.

He groaned in annoyance before he forced himself to actively think about the mushrooms that he was looking for, trying to shout his thoughts in his head to drown out every other doubt that started to grow in him when he stopped mental-shouting about mushrooms. He spotted a cluster of mushrooms near a large tree. He didn’t think much about it when he walked up to it straight away and crouched down to rip them out.

He thought that he was imagining things when he felt something small hitting the back of his head. By the time a second hit landed, he decided to look up.

On a wide tree branch sat a kid who couldn’t have been much older than 10. Ren was about to give a lecture but he noticed that there was something odd about him. He didn’t look like a kid from a town but rather starved and lonely. Judging by the dirt on his face and clothes, he either had climbed through the forest a lot today, or he had been around here for a while now.

“Ow….” Ren eventually stated and rubbed the back of his head.

“You intruded. I had to defend myself.” the kid deadpanned.

“I was picking mushrooms and you hit me in the back of the head.” Ren replied with a raised eyebrow. He noticed the slingshot that was still in the kids hand.

The kid snorted before saying “You must be a really bad mushroom-picker. Those are poisonous.”

Ren dropped his harvest. Maybe he shouldn’t bring back any mushrooms to Sojiro. He didn’t want to kill anyone.

“I can help you pick the right ones, if you want to.” the kid shrugged.

“From up in your tree?” Ren asked.

“No.” the kid rolled his eyes “If we have an agreement, then I would climb down.”

“So… what would my part of the agreement be?”

The kid thought about his words for a moment before confidently saying “You know what? It’s okay. I’ll give you that lecture for free.”

“How generous.” Ren muttered as he watched the kid skid down the tree. As the boy was standing in front of him, his height reached Rens hip.

“What else have you found?” the kid didn’t wait for his answer and instead snatched the bag and looked into it. Ren hadn’t gathered a lot so far. The kid still deemed it right to completely empty the bag.

“Not all of those were bad... I think...” Ren stated.

“You’re under my tutelage now.” the kid stated “And I will not allow any risk of poisoning coming from this bag.”

“Lead the way then?” Ren reluctantly said.

The kid confidently started strolling through the woods. “Look at all of those mushrooms growing! And you decided to walk around and pick the bad ones! You would have died if I hadn’t shot you with my slingshot.”

“That’s a bit of an overstatement...” Ren uttered as he followed the boy, who stopped from time to time to inspect mushrooms and picking the prettiest ones to put them into his bag. “So are you just spending your days sitting in trees, waiting for unknowing mushroom-foragers?”

The boy seemed to hesitate for a little before he quickly shuffled to the next cluster of mushrooms “Maybe I should continue doing that, in case more of you start wandering around the forest… I could pass on my knowledge to so many people. And save so many lives.”

“Maybe I’m just the worst at picking mushrooms and you won’t find anyone worse than me?” Ren shrugged.

“Huh...” the boy pondered “Well, I guess I will find out soon enough. You should come back next week, so I can tell you if I’ve seen worse than you.”

“Pretty cocky for someone I can pick up and throw without much effort...” Ren muttered.

“Can’t do anything when you die from eating the wrong mushrooms.”

“Now since you’ve figured out that I’m a loser who can’t tell apart mushrooms, what keeps you from filling my bag full of poisonous ones? I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

The kid spun around on his heels and stared at Ren with honest shock “I would never do that!”

Ren shrugged “I hope you’re right...” he eventually said while silently hoping that at least Sojiro knew his stuff. “So are you hanging around in this part of the woods a lot?”

The boy suddenly sounded stressed and defensive when he hastily snapped “Yes. What about it?”

“Nothing, really. Just trying to make conversation...” Ren shrugged.

“Oh… Right...” the kid said while hurrying ahead again to pick his new finds.

Ren raised an eyebrow. There was something off about this kid. He was cocky but he also seemed insecure whenever Ren asked something about him. Judging from the clothes that hung from his slender and almost bony body, he did seem to spend a lot of time in the woods. If not all of it. Ren continued to watch the boy as he was wandering through the forest, sure-footed. By the time the sun started to set, Ren decided that it was time for him to go home again.

“Hey, this has been great and all but I think I have to go back home now.” he said.

The kid whirled around. He looked surprised and maybe even a bit sad at first but he was quick to mask it with an indifferent expression again “Oh. Okay.”. He handed him back his stuffed bag.

“Won’t your parents get worried if you stay out this long?” Ren decided to ask a risky question.

The kid froze before stammering “N-… No...” he took a stand and pushed out his chest before saying “I’m doing fine on my own.”

“So your parents aren’t around?”

The boy took a step back “I… I don’t know.”

Ren tried to hide his surprise about this answer. He squatted down in front of the boy, who seemed to avoid his gaze now. “Hey… What’s your name?”

The boy looked like Ren had slapped him. His mouth was moving but no sound came out before he eventually stammered again “I…. I… I don’t know...”

Ren saw how upset the kid was about the fact that he didn’t seem to remember his own name. Something was odd about all of this. He was sure that the boy wasn’t messing with him. Ren gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay. What would you want me to call you then?”

The kid gaped at him before visibly jogging his brain for an answer. “Morgana.” he eventually said.

Ren bit back a comment about how strange a name that was. “Okay Morgana.” he nodded. “And you don’t know where your parents are?”

Morgana avoided his gaze when he mumbled “I… don’t remember anything about them...”

Ren noticed that it was about to get dark. “Have you been staying in the woods on your own?”

The kid nodded, his eyes always cast on the ground.

Ren rose to his feet again and said “The nights are getting colder. Come on, you can’t stay here.”

“What?” the kid shrieked.

“You can come with me.” Ren repeated.

“You have your own place?” Morgana asked, wide-eyed.

“No, but I’m living with a man who has a tendency to take in orphans.” Ren shouldered his bag and motioned for Morgana to follow him. After a few steps, he heard the kid running to catch up.

“Fine. I’ll come with you. But not because I need to. I’d be fine on my own.” Morgana said, feigning pride.

“Sure.” Ren said. He had so many questions for the mysterious child from the woods but it seemed like the kid wasn’t quite sure about all of it either so he didn’t want to upset him by poking any further right away.

It was pitch-dark by the time they returned to LeBlanc.

“Here we are.” Ren said as he pointed to the tavern.

“You’re taking me to a tavern?” Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you hungry or not?”

“...Yes...” the boy eventually said.

A few tables were filled when Ren led Morgana inside. He showed the kid to a booth before walking into the kitchen.

“Where were you?!” was the first thing he heard from Futaba, who was almost shouting at him from a close distance. True to her words, her hair had turned orange from top to bottom again.

“Oh look at that. Were you worried about me?” Ren asked with a smirk and dropped the full bag of mushrooms.

“You were supposed to be back by sundown!” she objected.

“So I took a bit longer.” Ren shrugged as he walked up to the pot and reached for two plates to fill them up.

“I was worried about you!” Futaba pouted.

Ren sighed “I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

Futaba squinted her eyes “You told me that you hate walking on your own..”

“I wasn’t exactly alone.”

“Did someone fall in love with you again?” Futaba asked “While mushroom-picking?”

“Hey, that’s what you get when you don’t come with me...” Ren smirked before turning serious again “Seriously though, I met a kid in the woods.”

“Ren. Weird.” Futaba looked grossed out.

Ren groaned. “Come on. You can say Hi.”

Futaba looked weary but followed him outside nonetheless. Her eyes went wide when she saw the bony kid sitting in the booth.

Ren placed both of the plates in front of Morgana “Here you go.”

The boys eyes went wide upon the sight of rice and curry. He didn’t hesitate to grab the fork and started to dig in as Ren and a confused Futaba sat onto the bench on the other side of the table.

“He was out there all alone?” Futaba tugged at his sleeve and whispered.

Ren nodded before whispering back “He doesn’t seem to remember everything so take it easy on the questions for now.”

Futaba nodded and continued to watch the boy shovel in his curry.

Ren was surprised to see the boy cleaning all two plates. He had to smile when the kid slumped back in his seat and let out a sigh. Only then he seemed to realize the girl sitting at the table with them. He quickly sat up straight again and cleared his throat. “Hello. I’m Morgana.”

Futaba raised an eyebrow “Morgana?”. When Ren shot her a warning look, she grinned “Cool name. Sounds mysterious.”

The boy actually looked proud before he turned to Ren “Thank you for the meal. It was great.”

“You look like you haven’t eaten in a while.” Ren said.

“Certainly nothing like this.” Morgana said.

Futaba got up and collected the two plates before saying “I can feel Sojiros stare piercing us. I’ll get back to work.” with that she hurried back to the kitchen.

Ren showed Morgana the upstairs bathroom and gave him some time to get washed and changed. When he walked back downstairs, he was already greeted by Sojiro.

“Futaba told me that you found a kid?”

Ren nodded “I know that I should have asked you first but he has nowhere to go and he has some kind of amnesia. He doesn’t know anything about his parents and he doesn’t even remember his real name.”

Sojiro seemed annoyed by the fact that he couldn’t say No to a story like that.

“He’s staying in my room, so apart from two plates of curry that I gave him on the house, you won’t even make any losses.” Ren said.

Sojiro nodded. “Very well. But you’ll be looking after him.”

Ren nodded “I will.”

By the time Ren returned to his room, the boy was already curled up in a blanket in the cushioned two-seater that was standing beside Rens window. Ren had to smirk at the cat-like behavior as he went to bed himself to fall into a dreamless sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, he found Morgana gone from his sleeping spot. He got out of bed and trotted out into the hallway only to hear Futabas voice from downstairs

“So you don’t remember anything about your parents?!” she asked, disbelieving.

Ren cursed under his breath as he hurried down the stairs. Futaba had a very direct approach to things and he wasn’t sure whether Morgana would find it as amusing as he did. When he entered the tavern, still dressed in pajamas, he found them sitting at one of the tables, playing cards. To his surprise, Morgana didn’t look as petrified about the topic as he had yesterday.

He shook his head while playing a card “No. I don’t know why I can’t.”

“But you know how to play cards?” Futaba asked.

Morgana sighed “I told you that I haven’t forgotten everything!”

“So what have you forgotten?” Ren asked as he sat down beside Futaba.

“Hmm...” Morgana started to ponder “I don’t know how I ended up alone. I just… woke up somewhere in the street in the city. I don’t remember how I got there and I don’t remember my name.”

“But what if your parents are still somewhere out there, looking for you?” Futaba asked.

Morgana could only shrug “I don’t know… I stayed close to the place I woke up in for a few days but there were a lot of shadows roaming around, so I retreated to the forest.”

“How long have you been sleeping in the woods?” Ren asked.

“A few weeks now. I mostly sat in trees and hid.” Morgana explained.

“That’s horrible!” Futaba exclaimed as Sojiro walked in. “Sojiro! We have to take him in!”

Sojiro looked baffled by Futabas engagement in this situation. He walked over to their table and looked at the boy “You’d be fine with sharing a room with this guy here?”

Morgana seemed surprised but ended up nodding “Yes, sir.”

“And you’d be willing to help out down here in the tavern?” Sojiro asked.

The boy nodded.

Sojiro shrugged “Then I see no problem with you staying here.” he offered his hand “The name is Sojiro Sakura. But everyone calls me Boss.”

“Noone calls you Boss.” Futaba said with a raised eyebrow.

“He does.” Sojiro nodded to Ren.

“I don’t.” Ren replied when he caught Futabas confused look.

“You run your own tavern. Someone should call you Boss.” Morgana said, appreciative.

“I like you, kid.” Sojiro said with a grin.

“What a kiss-ass...” Futaba mumbled.

Morgana turned to Ren “So how do you know these two?”

“My parents told me to find Sojiro. I didn’t know that he had a troll living in his attic but here we are.”

“Oh, haha. What a Joker you are.” Futaba stuck out her tongue.

“Joker….” Morgana mumbled.

“That’s not my name...” Ren clarified.

“Huh..” Futaba hummed “It’s kinda fitting though. You are like the Joker in a deck of cards. I needed you on my hand to make a move.”

“This is really cheesy.” Ren said.

“And if you hadn’t found me and offered me a place to stay for the night, I would still be all alone in the woods.” Morgana exclaimed.

“You’re making me uncomfortable...” Ren sighed.

Futaba hugged him from the side “Aww.”. She huffed when she drew back “Now everyone has a cool alias but me!”

“I wouldn’t particularly consider Boss cool either..” Ren smirked.

“Hey.” Sojiro grumbled.

“I think it’s cool.” Morgana said with a wide smile.

“It’s not about you, Sojiro! Come on, give me a name too!” Futaba clapped her hands. “I want it to be mysterious but also fitting for me.”

“Trolls are mysterious...” Ren muttered before he was punched in the arm by her. “Ow, ow, okay. What about Oracle. You know stuff that very few people know. And it’s a mystery how you can navigate in a room as dark as yours...”

Futaba puffed her cheeks before eventually nodding “I like that. Oracle is pretty cool. So Morgana, Joker and Oracle.”

“And Boss.” Sojiro said.

“I will never call you Boss.” Futaba said with dropped eyebrows.

“I will.” Morgana was quick to point out.

Futaba sighed and shook her head. Ren just chuckled. Sojiro taking in Morgana went quicker than he thought. Maybe also because Futaba supported it too. And maybe the old man really had a weak heart for orphans. They sure started to pile up under the roof of LeBlanc.

Later that day, Ren and Morgana were cleaning the mushrooms that they had picked the day before when Morgana turned to him to say:

“I want to thank you for not looking the other way. You could have just left me behind and gone on with your life without ever thinking about me again, but you took it upon yourself to help me, a complete stranger. You truly are an admirable human being. I might not know every detail about my past but I will dedicate everything I know to support you.”

“Geez… How old are you again?” Ren nervously chuckled to hide how confused he was by the kids deep words.

Morgana shrugged “I don’t know. But you and I, we just formed a pact.” he extended his hand “I will fight by your side with everything I have for the rest of my life.”

Ren smiled as he shook his much smaller hand “There really is not that much to fight about in here, except for whether to call Sojiro Boss and who has to do dish-duty...” he smirked “And you kind of went against me in one of those already.”

Morgana grinned “Hey, we get to live under Sojiros roof for almost free. We should be grateful. And if being called Boss is all he wishes for, then we should fulfill that wish!”

“I really like that kid!” Sojiro called out from behind the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is how Morgana met Ren. I think I've said it once before, Morgana is one of the toughest characters to write for me, I don't really know why. Apart from that, he also needed a very different backstory that fits with this storys version of the metaverse. Since all of the backstory-chapters are written from Rens point of view, we still don't get much of an insight of what happened to Morgana before that, but he doesn't remember either so it sort of makes sense again. 
> 
> Also: Did you notice that Futaba and Ren are the only ones who don't call Sojiro Boss? So Morgana was the first to start calling him that. Also, Futaba hadn't gotten her codename back in her chapter and Ren was never established as Joker either, and since in the game, Morgana was the first to give him that name, I thought that it would be nice to put all of this into this chapter. 
> 
> It's a bit on the shorter side and it's a detour from the plot, but I felt that after Morgana starting to feel all alone in the last chapter, it's a good fit here. On Tuesday, the main-plot continues when the Thieves have to tell their decision to Akechi.


	68. One Last Time

_He was staggering through a dark tunnel. The ground and the walls were uneven and seemed to be structured and formed by something that looked like bones to him. Woven through those white gratings were red lines that pulsated with light. The pulsing seemed to move in the opposite direction that he was staggering in. He was confused and for some reason, the tunnel passed by much faster than his walking speed._

“ _Mor- ga- na!”_

They boy shot up in his bed, sweat dripping from his forehead. What was that dream? His heart was racing as he tried to make sense of it. That place felt surreal and yet somehow a bit familiar? Had he dreamed about this place before and didn’t remember anymore? He took a deep breath and tried to calm his pulse. When he looked down from the bunk-bed, he noticed how Mishima and Shinya were still fast asleep. He furrowed his brow. Easy for them to rest peacefully. They both had everything planned out already. Shinya would crawl back to his mother and even Mishima seemed to think about settling down with a girl. Morgana frowned. Must have been nice to have an alternative place to go. He at least had none. He noticed that Yusukes bed was empty already. That wasn’t new. The artist oftentimes woke up much earlier than the other guys. Maybe Yusuke was nervous too. Although what was there to be nervous about? He would travel with Haru after all, playing husband and wife.

Morgana climbed out of his bed and jumped down. He reached for his backpack and started packing a few of his clothes. He just threw in a bit of everything. He wondered if Seiiki would take him in. Maybe he could stay with Iwai and Kaoru. He shook his head. He didn’t want someone to take him in out of pity or because they thought they had to. He angrily closed his backpack. Why did none of the people that claimed to care about him ask about his plans?

When Hifumi woke up, Harus side of the bed was already empty, as it was every day. She stared at the ceiling. Something had been gnawing at her ever since Akechi had talked to Mishima and her at the bulletin board. He knew that she used to be the Shogi Princess. But only people who had visited the gallery could know about that. As far as she knew, Nakanohara had never openly advertised her games. The thought that he had likely sat in the audience of one of her games, observing her and actually seeing her as an inspiration sent shivers down her spine for some reason. That strange aura that surrounded Akechi that she had felt even without seeing his cold eyes was something that made her even more suspicious.

Hifumi slowly climbed to her feet and got dressed before she walked downstairs, leaving a still sleeping Futaba curled up in her blanket. When she entered the kitchen, she found Ren, Makoto, Haru, Sojiro and Yusuke sitting at the table. None of them looked happy. Hifumi could only imagine how much splitting ways must hurt those who have been walking and living together for years now. The strategist helped herself to a cup of tea from the pot before she sat down at the table with the rest.

“Akechi said that he would come by in the morning, am I correct?” Yusuke asked.

Ren nodded “That’s how I understood it too.”

“And what will happen then?” Sojiro asked.

“We’ll go along with his plan. The core-8 will go with Akechi. I would ask the rest of you to pack up as much as possible. Makoto and I have already packed some of our stuff and I hope the rest has already thought about it too.” Ren said “We will take the car with us but once we’re back, we will need to figure out who will take it for the journey.”

“Do you think it’s wise to keep it? If someone is able to draw the connection to the Thieves, it might be compromising.” Sojiro said before turning to Makoto “I know that you won’t like to hear it, but the same goes for Anat too.”

Makoto grimaced before reluctantly sighing “I get your point. I will try to think of something. Maybe a simple paint-job will do too. I hope.”

Ren nodded “We’ll have to ask Akechi but I don’t think that we will be gone for long, so you’ll have a few days time max.”

“It will be tough to leave so many things behind...” Yusuke sighed. “There is only so much you can store in a backpack.”

“We’ve lived in comparative luxury for a while now. It will be difficult to go back to the basics.” Haru agreed. “I will miss my vegetable-garden. I was so proud of it too...”

Yusuke looked at her and said “I am sure that you will be able to build up an equally impressive garden wherever we will go.”

Haru could only blush and smile.

Hifumi noticed that only the more reserved and better-versed Thieves were sitting at the table so there were no dropped jaws or other loud exclamations of surprise about Yusukes comment.

Sojiro sighed “So by the time you return, everyone picks up their bags and that will be it?”

Ren nodded.

The old man shook his head “I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t easy for me either. All of you have become like my children over the time.”

“You did run both a tavern and an orphanage at once...” Ren smirked.

“And now I’ll run none of that...” Sojiro said, honestly sad.

Noone knew what to reply to that. All of them were all too aware that they would have to build up very different lives as soon as they blurred the tracks in Saes file.

Not long after, the rest of the Thieves started to trickle into the kitchen and helped themselves to breakfast. While normally at least one of them was able to crack a joke, today noone felt like it as they all sullenly chewed and sipped on their breakfast.

They still flinched when Futabas gadget beeped and announced the arrival of their unwanted team-member.

This time, Ren decided to greet him on his own while the others cleared the breakfast-table for eventual strategy-talks.

“I see that you are already up.” Goro smiled that smile that only triggered a scowl in Ren, but he tried to push it down.

“It hasn’t been a long night.” Ren said as he opened the gate for him.

Akechi stopped right in front of him and asked “And have you come to a decision?”

“I let you in, didn’t I?” Ren asked.

Goro chuckled “I assume that I could take that as a good sign for our upcoming cooperation.”

“Call it what you want.” Ren sighed and led him inside and into the kitchen.

“How nice to see the entire gang gathered again.” Goro said in that nice tone that noone bought.

“My ass...” Ryuji muttered, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Makoto stepped forward and said “After a long evening of discussing, we have come to the conclusion that we want to take you up on your offer.”

Akechi nodded “Very well. I will assist you in erasing your tracks.”

Ren took his place beside Makoto and said “So where are we going?”

Akechi smiled “Ah, there it is. I’ve been excited to see the Phantom Thieves jumping into action.” he reached into his trench-coat “But I came prepared too.”. He spread out a blueprint of a large building on the empty table.

“A casino?” Futaba asked with a raised eyebrow as she leaned over the map.

Akechi nodded “Sae-san settled down in this abandoned casino.” he whipped out an elegant silver pen and used it to point to different areas of the building. “The casino-floor is filled with traps and safety measurements to alert of any incoming intruder.” he smiled “Lucky for you, you will be guided by one of the very people who set it up.”

“Ground floor is dangerous, got it. What next?” Ren asked impatiently.

“Sae-san has her private-quarters on the managers floor, which is on the second floor. All the evidence and case-files that we have gathered are located on the first floor.” he drew a circle around a small room before saying “Up here are my quarters and here-” he marked another room nearby with a big cross “-is the room that Sae-san and I work on the cases. This will be the place we need to go to to tamper with the evidence.”

“Question.” Ren stated “If you already know where everything is, why do you need our help to get into the place you live in to tamper with a case that you helped build?”

Akechi smiled “A smart question, just as I’d expect from the leader of the Phantom Thieves.” he flipped the pen in his hand while elaborating “The truth is that even though it pains me to see Sae-san forgetting everything she used to stand for, I will continue to work under her. Needless to say that Sae-san is not to be underestimated. Her keen perception is well-renowned and feared so I have to make sure that at no point I seem suspicious to her.”

Futaba made a gagging motion behind Rens back. Ryuji stifled a chuckle.

“I will brief you on everything you need to know on how to get to the room with the evidence, however I can not risk being caught in the house together with you, which is why I will go in on my own first and entangle Sae-san in a conversation to distract her from you entering.”

“So you want us to do the dirty work.” Yusuke said.

Akechi looked at the artist “It is your life and your freedom we are talking about here, isn’t it?”

“Don’t you think that my sister will draw a connection between you being gone for a few days and a break-in to mess with her case?” Makoto asked. “Besides, Sis has a very good memory. How can we be sure that if we dispose of the leads she has on us, she won’t just be able to recall them?”

“Damn… she can do that?” Ryuji muttered.

Akechi nodded “A good question indeed. While I can not say that Saes photographic memory has gotten weaker over the time, I do plan on using my longer disappearance as a ruse to lead her into a wrong direction. A little bit of persuasion and a believable lead in the completely different direction will hopefully manipulate her brain enough to overwrite eventual useful clues that you will hopefully clean by the time she will be able to look at the case.”

“But why not just steal the entire file?” Ann asked “Wouldn’t that send her back to the start entirely?”

“Believe me, you don’t want Sae-san starting from scratch. The case that we have built up right now is complicated. As you know, she still isn’t aware of all of your true identities. If she were to start from scratch, with the Phantom Thieves on everyones mind, don’t you think that she would be able to garner a lot more useful information than the one that she has acquired a few months ago, that flowed together with the gossip?”

Ren scratched his head “He might have a point. All kinds of rumors started around us after Kaneshiro. Most of those were completely made up. If a few of those infos also found their way into Saes case, then it might help more than it hurts us.”

“Again, this operation is not to erase everything Sae-san has on you but rather buy you some time to slip away.” Akechi said. “The more discreet you act in removing or planting evidence, the longer it will take for Sae-san to notice that something is amiss.”

Everyone nodded before Ren said “Okay. Walk us through the entrance.”

Akechi smiled this empty smile of his as he started to draw on the map “Like you, we’ve installed motion-sensors all throughout the casino-floor. There is a particular path between all the tables that you have to walk to avoid the sensors. But that’s not all.” he scratched some more crosses onto the map “There are additional tripwires installed close to the ground in these locations and here-” he marked some more locations in the walls “-here we have our defense-system.”

“Another one?” Futaba groaned.

Akechi chuckled “And the most dangerous one at that. With motion sensors on their own, these walls shoot darts should someone get too close – or rather – walk the right path.”

“And how do you get past that?” Ren asked.

“Sae-san and I hold remote-controls for the system, however, since I will have to get in on my own, you might have to take another approach.” Akechi said.

“And you two built this on your own?” Sojiro asked with a raised eyebrow.

Akechi looked proud when he said “Oh, it’s been nothing much really. Nothing that a bit of studying the right books didn’t help with.”

Futaba sneered and crossed her arms in front of her chest. His cocky attitude towards equipment that she would kill for to hold in her hands annoyed her.

“What will we have to do to get in?” Makoto steered the conversation back on topic.

Akechi pointed to a small control room in the west of the building. “This room holds the entire controls to our defense-system. Someone will have to get in there and manually turn off the system for you to slip through. I would do it for you but shut-down only holds for a minute, so it needs to be triggered right before you start walking through the maze.”

Ren nodded before he looked around the group “Will we need a hacker or is it user-friendly?”

Akechi chuckled “I believe that it’s very easily accessible. All you need to do is enter the right password and click the right button.”

Ren nodded and turned to Haru, Futaba and Yusuke “Oracle, you’ll go and handle that. Fox and Noir will come with you.” he looked at the rest “Skull, Morgana and Panther you’ll be our look-outs. Queen and I will go in and dispose of the evidence.”

Everyone nodded reluctantly.

“You said that there’s a password. Do you want to give it to us or should I crack it?” Futaba asked.

Akechi smirked “I doubt that even the great Oracle would be able to pull that off.”

Futaba glared at him “Try me, jerk!” she hissed before Sojiro pulled her to the back with a stern shake of the head.

The intruder smiled “I apologize. Of course I will provide you with the password.” he bent over and wrote a combination of letters and numbers onto the map.

“And how can we get into this control room?” Ann asked as she looked at the map. “Is there a window that we can climb?”

Akechi shook his head “I would refrain from it. Sae-san has installed cameras on all the three other sides of the house. You will have to make your way through the entrance-hall and the personnel-hallways. He dragged the end of his pen through a maze of hallways without marking the route.

“She even has cameras? What the EFF?” Futaba exclaimed.

“Language!!” Sojiro reprimanded. He shook his head while eyeing Ryuji. That boys language had started to rub off on her.

“I have to agree, what the eff...” Ren muttered before looking to Akechi “Is that one of the benefits you got from your influential contractor?”

“I don’t see how this is of importance for your mission, but I will tell you as much: We have been offered these safety measurements and we were unable to refuse.”

“Understandable. I also would have preferred to have high-tech equipment just given to us instead of salvaging houses for weeks so Oracle here can improvise stuff...” Ren said.

Akechi chuckled “One could think that being local heroes would give you some rewards at least.”

“I guess that’s what differentiates us from each other.” Ren replied.

“Yeah! And how many gift-baskets of bread have you gotten, huh?” Shinya challenged.

Akechi shook his head “I’m afraid that I don’t have a lot of experience with gift-baskets."

Makotos eyes were still on the map on the table “So that’s all? We just go in, do what we came to do and then leave again without my sister noticing?”

Akechi nodded “Or is there something else you’d like to do, Niijima-san?”

Makoto shook her head. She didn’t even want to see her sister. At least she thought so. After what she heard from Akechi, Sae sounded completely different even from her past controlling self. “It all just sounds too easy… We normally spend a lot more time on planning things.”

“I’m afraid that time still is not on your side so I’m afraid that you will have to trust me.” Akechi said. “I saw that you own a car. If it’s still working, I propose that we drive back to the casino to save time. As I said, the longer Sae-san gets to spend with the case and the evidence, the bigger the risk gets of her figuring out your location.”

Ren looked at the others “Right.” he took a deep breath. “You know what to do. Let’s get going.”

Everyone reluctantly nodded. Ren folded up the map and was about to follow Akechi into the hallway when Hifumi grabbed him by the arm.

“Joker, I-” she muttered.

“I’m sorry, we’re really short on time.” Ren cut her off and quickly went out the door where everyone was getting dressed and geared up. It became quite obvious that the days grew colder. While a few weeks ago, they had still wandered around in t-shirts and shorts, now everyone put on jackets and coats to keep warm along with sturdier shoes. Everyone had their weapons strapped to them, mostly covered by their jackets and backpacks. Futaba had also packed Prometheus in advance, even though now that they had a complete map in front of them, they probably wouldn’t need him.

“That does remind me: Now that I am a part of your operation, will I get a codename too?” Akechi casually asked with a smile on his face.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow at him as he tied his shoes “I dunno… You want one?”

“I have to admit that the codenames do add a lot to the mystery.” Akechi said. “I wonder what my codename would be.”

None of the Thieves really felt like looking for a codename for him. “Well… what do you think would fit you?” Ann lacklusterly asked.

“Oh, so it’s that easy.” Akechi sounded a bit disappointed. “Well, if it was up to me, I think I would prefer to be named after a bird...”

“Hm…. Like Eagle?” Shinya asked.

Akechi chuckled “Perhaps. Or maybe something a little bit smarter.” he sighed theatrically again “But now that I think about it, we probably won’t ever get in a situation where you will have to use my codename anyway.”

Futaba rolled her eyes.

Outside Makoto brought out the car of its hideout and drove up to the door. Everyone threw their luggage onto the loading space before the Thieves looked at each other.

“You know what to do.” Ren addressed Shinya, Sojiro, Mishima and Hifumi. “You heard the plan. We won’t be gone for long, so get everything ready. As soon as we return, we’ll have to leave.”

As Ren was talking, Akechi was constantly nodding in agreement.

Futaba looked sad when she said “I got a box ready in the cellar. Everything else will have to stay here...”

Sojiro nodded “We’ll get everything done until you’re back.”

Ren nodded “Good.”

“You take care of yourselves, you hear me?” Sojiro grumbled. Compared to his angry empty threats at the beginning of the year, he had changed a lot. Especially while also knowing that Futabas skill would be not just needed on the front-line but in the middle of the fray.

“Will do.” Ren nodded before saying “If we aren’t back within 3 days, I want you to leave this place and commence with the initial plan.”

“What?” Mishima squeaked “Why would you say something like that? Of.. of course you’ll come back. Haha. Right?”

Akechi smiled “Of course they will return. We should not think about the worst-case yet, don’t you think?”

“Easy for you to say...” Ryuji muttered from somewhere in the back.

Makoto nodded “There is no reason to believe that something will happen to us. However, if the unthinkable should happen, we want you to be prepared.”

Shinya nodded “Don’t worry about us.”

Makoto looked at Hifumi. It was normal for the girl to be quiet in the crowd but she seemed particularly worried now. She was about to say something when Akechi interrupted her:

“I’m sorry to break up this heartwarming good-bye but you will see each other again not long from now, so I must urge you once again to get going. Even by car, there is a bit of a trip ahead of us.”

Ren nodded and looked at the others “Take care. We’ll see you soon.”

In the back, Ryuji, Ann, Morgana and Futaba started climbing onto the loading space. Makoto opened the door to get behind the wheel.

Haru was about to turn around to get on the car too when Hifumi crushed her into a hug. While that alone came as somewhat of a surprise, the intensity with which the strategist hugged Haru could be described as nothing but baffling. Haru carefully returned her hug. She flinched in surprise when Hifumi quietly whispered into her ear:

“Look at his handwriting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the Thieves are on their way into unknown territory, guided by a very sketchy Akechi. But what did Hifumi see, that the others didn't?


	69. The Devil Is In The Calligraphy

Makoto didn‘t know how to feel when she steered the car towards the person that she had actually given up on ever seeing again. Akechi was sitting in the passenger seat, giving her instructions on where to drive but she couldn’t find herself concentrating on the road ahead. She was grateful, that at least she didn’t have to fear about people suddenly stepping in front of the car. With her head anywhere else but on driving, she would probably hit someone if there had been anything resembling traffic on the streets. Her eyes stared straight ahead. She had given up casting occasional glances at Akechi out of the corner of her eye. She just couldn’t read him. Everything he said sounded so completely different from the vibe he sent out. He said that he wanted to support them, yet something made her uneasy about him. Something in his eyes just didn’t seem completely honest. And to top that off, everything he said sounded precisely calculated. She shook her head when she noticed the connection. Akechi was who she used to be. It was possible that he meant well but every information he shared with them was carefully selected and he made sure to never lose control over a conversation. He shrouded himself in mystery and vague statements and it made him feel so incredibly superior to everyone. Makoto started to understand why the others were so resentful about their first meeting with her. She must have been so annoying back then, if she had been anything like Akechi. Was that her sisters influence? Had Sae molded Akechi into a replica of her? But on the other hand, why would she? She was the one who apparently hadn’t wanted to have Makoto around, so why look for a replacement?

She took a deep breath before asking “Akechi-kun, may I ask how you met my sister?”

Akechi smiled “Of course. I met Sae-san during one of my cases.”. When Makoto seemed confused, he chuckled “You couldn’t have known, of course, but I as well have made a name for myself as a detective. I was impressed by her sharp wits. Since then we have worked on a few cases together. The biggest one yet being that of the Phantom Thieves of course.”

Makoto was focused on the street ahead while she processed everything Akechi had just said. He talked about Sae in the highest way possible. Was he just a bootlicker or were he and her sister…? Her eyes went wide before she quickly fought those thoughts off. Akechi must have been around their age and her sister was older… But not that much older.. There must have been couples with a bigger age-gap….

“Is something the matter, Niijima-san?” he startled her with his icy voice that tried to sound warm.

“N- No… Please excuse me.” Makoto gathered her thoughts again. “I was just thinking about something else.” she shook her head “So how long have you been working with my sister?”

“It must be about one and a half year by now.” Akechi replied and sighed “How the time flies...”

Makoto chewed her lip before asking “And she showed you a picture of me?”

Akechi smiled. “It was more of an accident. Sae-san keeps business and private life strictly apart.”

“So she never talked about me...” Makoto said, unable to hide her disappointment.

“I’m afraid she never really felt the urge to share anything private. I did see it as a grand victory of mine, when I got her to talk about her feelings on certain topics but family-wise, if I hadn’t spotted that photo, I wouldn’t have been able to connect you to the Niijima-family, even though as I said, the resemblance between you two is enormous.”

“A lot of people used to say that.” Makoto remembered. As Sae rose in the ranks to become Kobayakawas right hand, people stopped making those comparisons. Sae became respected by the people and Makoto was the girl hiding in the great Saes shadow. Until Sae had deemed it right to just hand it all over to her and start her own thing.

“Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to bring back any sad memories.” Akechi offered sympathy.

Makoto shook her head “You didn’t. It just feels like ages have passed since the last time I saw her. What is she like nowadays?”

Akechi seemed surprised. After a bit of thinking he said “She is as determined as ever, but I’m afraid that her intentions haven’t been as pure lately.” he looked out the window “Due to her being so secretive about her past, I don’t know how she came to think that way but she seems to put a lot of emphasis into winning things. So much so, that she calculates her success even before she takes on cases. And she doesn’t shy away from turning the odds in her favor, even if she’s defending the wrong person.”

“So that is her justice?” Makoto muttered under her breath, remembering the last conversation she had had with her sister. Makoto had tried to tell herself, that Sae was stepping into their fathers footsteps but deep down she had always known that that wasn’t true. Sae was too damaged by their fathers deeds to blindly want to keep up his legacy. She resented his actions too much for that. But for her actually becoming a “lawbringer” - as Akechi had called it – that didn’t shy away from playing dirty if it meant being on the winning team... Makoto didn’t fail to notice the irony. While Sae was out to there making sure she kept winning by playing unfair, Makoto was running with the Phantom Thieves who constantly got tangled up in things much bigger than them and against people who didn’t play fair either. And that had already been the case before they even knew that everything had been connected all along. “So when Sis took on our case, did she calculate a quick win too?”

Akechi folded his hands when he said “I believe that Sae-san did underestimate the case. But you probably know how stubborn she can be and that she would never admit defeat.”

Makoto nodded.

“I think that there has been another factor that caused Sae-san to become this obsessed with the case.” Akechi added before he motioned her to make a turn to the right. “At first, we thought that Kaneshiro was taken out by a rivaling gang. But then all those rumors started to spread and even a newspaper started to write about the mysterious Phantom Thieves?” Akechi had to chuckle “To be honest, I think what irks her the most about this case is how the public seems to treat you as heroes.”

The brown-haired Niijima was confused “Sis was annoyed by our popularity?”

“In a way.” Akechi said. “She won’t like to admit it but I believe that she felt a bit threatened and maybe even jealous.” he dramatically looked out the window before saying “In the end, it’s also a question of what’s right and wrong. Were your actions really justified? Or is the public praising a bunch of assassins? Sae-san has tried to be a harbinger of justice for years now but she has never managed to capture a crowd quite like you did. At the peak of your popularity, she even felt a decline in jobs for her because people actually hoped that the Phantom Thieves would come and help them. Even though you weren’t even in the area. So to sum it up: Sae-san wants to bring down the Phantom Thieves for many reasons.”

Makoto gripped the steering wheel tighter when she asked “But… that doesn’t sound like her at all….”

Akechi sighed “Ever since I met her, Sae-san had always been driven. She said that she was acting just but the closer I watched her, the more I realized that her main goal was winning. And if I have learned anything from her, it’s that you don’t want to be her opponent. Whether the Phantom Thieves’ actions were morally correct or not is not easily determined but I believe that you had your reasons. And that is why I decided to warn you. I wish that Sae-san would still have it in her to put aside her pride and actually see that too.”

The second-in-command clenched her teeth. As if it wasn’t bad enough already, that it was her sister that was after them. But it also seemed that Sae had lost her moral compass along with their father. She took a deep breath. It was just one last mission and then Ren and her would start a new life somewhere else. Just one last mission. And her sister hopefully wouldn’t notice them entering.

“I don’t mean to get too close but may I ask why you and your sister parted ways?” Akechi asked out of the blue.

Makoto looked dead-ahead when she replied “I don’t know either. It wasn’t my choice.” she cast a look in the rearview-mirror to find her family sitting in the back. “But in the end, I’m grateful that she did. I don’t know who I would be today, if she hadn’t. I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Akechi smiled at her “I see. Well, family can be harsh at times.”

“A family doesn’t have to be bound by blood.”

“Huh...” Akechi seemed to process her words before saying “An interesting thought.”. He looked at the street in front of them when he casually asked “So if you ever were in the situation to choose between your sister and your friends… Which family would you choose? Can the bond of sisters really ever be completely replaced?”

Makoto realized that Akechi must have been unaware of her and Ren dating. Nevertheless, his question wasn’t as easy to answer as she had always thought it would be. She knew that she would never return to Sae. They had moved in different directions. And yet Makoto knew that if she would ever end up standing face-to-face with her sister, she wouldn’t be able to deny her that easily. All her life, she had done what Sae asked of her. She had studied what Sae had ordered, she had trained what Sae had deemed useful and necessary. She had followed every order and every instruction given by her older sister because she knew how scary Sae would get if she was refused. And Makoto had no doubt that she hadn’t lost that look. Even though Makoto felt pretty much like an adult by now, she still didn’t know how she would react if Sae would order her around again like she had done so many times.

“Oh well…” Akechi sighed “I’m sorry, I was just honestly curious. As someone without siblings, I always thought that there was this special connection between sisters. Maybe that’s not the case with everyone.”

Makoto furrowed her brow but ultimately had to admit that Akechi might be right. Maybe she had never been close to her sister at all, if all she remembered about her was being ordered around and intimidated by her. She tried to cover up a small shiver when she recalled how stern Saes eyes could be. She remembered Ann asking her, whether she just couldn’t talk to her sister. No… after everything that Akechi had told her now, she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to change her sisters heart. Too much had happened between them and yet still she knew that the person in control of the conversation would always be her sister. Makoto didn’t want to talk to her because she knew that she would be the one to give in to Saes demands. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves again. One last mission.

“ _Look at_ _his handwriting.”_ Hifumis words were still circling in Harus head as she sat in the back of the car with everyone else. Had she noticed anything before they left? Haru looked to Ren, who had pulled out the map that Akechi had brought. Beside him was Futaba, who immediately leaned over to study it with him. Ann and Ryuji sat with their back against the drivers cabin, their fingers laced together as they both looked at the scenery pass by. Noone was rather talkative today. The fluffy-haired girl tilted her head to Yusuke, who was sitting beside her. Their eyes met and for a short moment, they seemed to share the emotion of helplessness before Haru turned to her other side to look at Morgana, who absentmindedly adjusted his slingshot.

“Seriously, this place is huge...” Futaba muttered as she looked at the map.

“It does have the dimensions of the bank...” Ren agreed. He checked the window to the drivers cabin, but he was sure that Akechi wouldn’t be able to see them talking. Hearing them in the front was out of the question too, so they were able to have a conversation without his attention. He just hoped that Makoto was alright behind the wheel.

“You found the locations where you want us to stand guard yet?” Ryuji asked.

Ren furrowed his brow “I’m still trying to get a feeling for this place… Everything’s a bit twisted...”

“Oracle, do you know where we will have to go?” Yusuke asked.

Futaba nodded “I’m trying to memorize it right now.” she sighed “Would have been nice to have an outside operator...”

“Well, we kinda need the outside operator on the inside for this one...” Ren said.

“I know...” Futaba sighed. “Although I have to say, I’m kind of excited. From what I heard, they seem pretty well equipped. I wonder what kind of gear they’re using.”

“As long as you don’t forget turning off the lethal darts in the walls...” Ren sighed.

Ann toyed with the ring on the leather string as she nervously chewed her lip “I just can’t shake the feeling that all of this is happening too fast… It’s just been a little more than a week since the explosion at the factory and now we’re already on our way to the next mission.”

“The last one too...” Morgana said, avoiding eye-contact.

Ryuji sighed “Yeah… I still can’t believe that this will be the last thing we’ll do as the Phantom Thieves…”

“A stealthy invasion to steal evidence… An inelegant last mission...” Yusuke said.

“Which the public won’t even see. The last hurrah of the Phantom Thieves that the public will keep in their memories is a blown-up factory...” Ren said.

“We fell from grace pretty fast...” Futaba muttered “Two weeks ago, everyone was cheering us on, telling us to take down Okumura...”

“How the tables have turned...” Yusuke shook his head. “The hunters have become the hunted.”

“I wish we could tell all our friends that we have to go into hiding…” Ann chewed her lip “Who knows what rumors will spread once we’re gone. I don’t want any of our friends to think that something happened to us...”

Haru absentmindedly nodded along. Hifumis words were still buzzing around her head, not leaving her conscience. Why did Hifumi decide to tell her in particular? Or had she just been the closest in reach? She raised her head and looked at Ren “Akechi has written something on the map, right?”

Ren seemed confused but nodded “The password for the computer. Why do you ask?”

“May I see it?”

Ren shrugged and handed her the blueprint. Haru needed a moment to find the handwritten note on the blue paper. There was something hasty about the way it was written. Straight lines looked a bit like slashes across the paper but Haru couldn’t make a connection. It was a random combination of numbers and small letters after all.

“What’s wrong?” Ryuji asked when Haru continued to stare at the map in silence.

The fluffy-haired girl cast a nervous look at the drivers cabin. Would Akechi hear them talking?

Ren noticed Harus fearful glance. “It’s okay. They won’t hear us in the front.”. The way that Harus expression had changed sent the alarms in his head ringing.

Haru leaned forward and shielded her mouth from view before saying “I… think Hifumi has noticed something. Right before we left, she told me that we should look at his handwriting.”

Futaba raised an eyebrow and looked at the map that was now laying in the middle of the loading space. “What’s so special about it?”

Haru could only shrug “I don’t know either. I’m not sure whether she told me in particular or just because I was the nearest bystander… I tried to look at it, but I can’t really say that I have seen this handwriting before...”

“They are just incoherent digits and letters… Maybe it’s hard to decipher a handwriting based off of that...” Yusuke pondered.

“If anyone can do it, it would be Umbra...” Morgana said.

“Shit...” Ren cursed through gritted teeth. He balled his fist and slammed it against the railing in anger. “She wanted to tell me something right before we went outside and I cut her off...”.

“You think that was because of his handwriting too?!” Ruyji asked.

“I can’t think of another reason...” Ren replied, still angry with himself. What if it had been something crucial? He had been so stressed out by everything that he had ignored the one thing that Makoto had attested him: he heard everyone out. What would Hifumi have told him, if he had actually stopped and listened for a moment? He grimaced in anger. The one time he had cut someone off, it might have been vital information for what they were getting themselves into. Because none of them were completely sure about Akechis motives.

“But how would Umbra be able to deduce anything from his handwriting? We’ve never come across Akechi before...” Ann wondered.

“Akechi knows her as the Shogi Princess. Maybe she had a run-in with him at Madarames of some sort?” Yusuke offered.

“It’s a possibility… But if that was how she knew him, how should we be able to see anything by looking at his handwriting?” Haru asked.

“Whelp. Apparently we won’t get anywhere by looking at the password...” Futaba summed up. “Maybe someone has an epiphany if we have him write something else?”

“And how would we get him to do that?” Morgana asked.

Futaba smirked “Leave it to me.”. When everyone cast her a confused look, she winked at them.

It grew quiet again until Ryuji eventually asked “So have you guys figured out where to go yet?”

The mood dropped instantly as everyone slowly shook their heads.

“I guess we’re just going to start walking and see where the road takes us...” Ren said as he watched the large fields pass by.

“I suppose we’ll all end up doing that.” Haru said with a short glimpse over to Yusuke.

“At least you won’t be traveling alone...” Morgana muttered, his eyes somewhere else again.

“Huh?” Ann asked. “Not all of us are going together, Morgana.”

“Oh yeah?” the kids voice rose “You and Skull. Joker and Queen. Noir and Fox. Oracle and Boss.”

“Wait...” Ann seemed confused before her eyes landed on Haru and Yusuke. “You two are leaving together too?”

Haru didn’t know why she blushed. There was absolutely nothing insinuating about her and Yusuke traveling together. Especially since they didn’t know that-

“They are even planing on posing as husband and wife!” Morgana angrily called out.

Futaba and Ryuji gaped at Morgana and then at Yusuke.

Haru was too uncomfortable with all the looks on her to reply something. To her surprise, it was Yusuke who spoke up in an unfamiliar harsh voice “You had no right to listen in on our conversation, Morgana.”. He ignored everyones surprised stares as he continued “Yes. Noir and I have decided to set out together. I have proposed-”

“You proposed?!” Ann squealed as much as she dared to not draw attention on them from the drivers cabin.

Yusuke shot her an annoyed look “I proposed that we get used to the new situation together.” Anns face dropped in disappointment “We don’t know if we will keep moving on as a duo, but I personally hope that we will.”. He turned his head to Haru, who looked up at him with a warm smile. He felt that he would be happy to see this every day.

“Awww!” Ann was clutching Ryujis arm with a tear in her eye.

While the sudden revelation of Haru and Yusuke moving on together did indeed come as somewhat of a surprise, what sent Ren wondering even more was the sudden outlash from Morgana. The boy had never said anything mean to Haru and now he suddenly spilled a private conversation of hers out to everyone? He noticed how Morgana seemed to avoid eye-contact, especially with him. He suddenly felt that he knew what was going on. “Morgana, were you listening in on all of us last night?”

Morgana frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest “Maybe I have.”.

“Did you eavesdrop on me and Makoto too?” Ren clarified with a roll of the eyes.

The boy sneered “You two seemed to have already planned out your entire lives after our days as the Thieves. Mister Mayor.” he hissed “Must be nice to be able to plan your future like that...”

“Did you listen until the end?” Ren asked.

Morgana furrowed his brow “I’ve heard enough once you kept talking about your “New Life” with Queen.”

Ren looked to the others “Can you.. give us a moment?”

A collective sigh went through the round as everyone started to rearrange themselves up against the drivers cabin while Ren and Morgana moved to the back of the vehicle. When everyone had assumed their new seats, the five other Thieves started to cover their ears and hum something random. Ren turned to Morgana, who still had a pout on his face.

“You thought that I would leave you behind?”

Morgana still avoided eye-contact with him “You’re happy with Makoto now and everyone is leaving in duos. You’ve already made a pretty tight plan with her too.”

Ren leaned forward and placed a hand on the boys shoulder “But you haven’t listened until the end.” he repeated.

“ _A new life.” Ren concluded while stroking the back of her hand with his thumb._

_They looked at the stars together in silence for a while. The fact that their LeBlanc2-days would be over in just a few days weighed heavy on his heart. Knowing that Makoto would continue to be by his side gave him more comfort though. He just hoped that two teenagers and a kid wouldn’t cause too much suspicion wherever they were headed. “You’re aware that Morgana will be coming with us too, right?” he eventually asked._

_Makoto nodded with a small smile, that was almost swallowed by the darkness “I figured.”_

“ _I just… can’t really leave him with Sojiro, you know...” Ren tried to play tough while knowing fully well that he didn’t want to leave the kid behind either. Even if they hadn’t spent too much one-on-one-time together with the constant growth of their group, Morgana still would always be his original new family aside from the Sakuras. If Futaba was the sister he thought he never needed, Morgana was the brother that he had always wished for, when he had been younger. The fact that the boy didn’t remember his parents or everything from his past added up with that weird oath that he had given back then only one day after meeting him… Ren had known since then that he wouldn’t be able to just leave the kid to fend on his own._

_Lucky for him, Makoto was aware too “You don’t have to pretend. I understand.”_

Morgana gaped at Ren as he recapped the part of his conversation with Makoto that Morgana had missed out on yesterday. “You… didn’t forget about me?”

Ren gave him a small smirk “Of course I didn’t. You’re my family.” his smile dropped when he said “I’m sorry if I made you feel that I didn’t care.”

Morgana shook his head “It’s not that… I just thought now that you have Makoto… you’d only want to be with her and not have me tag along all the time. I just thought that you replaced me.”

“Weird way to put it, but okay...” Ren grinned “And just because we’ll be living together, doesn’t mean that you can’t do your own things, right?”

The boy managed a weak smile before nodding.

The leader placed a hand on the boys shoulder “Besides… I’m already losing Sojiro and Futaba. Can’t allow to let the last og member of the family slip away too, right?”

Morgana looked up at him with glassy eyes but he tried his best not to cry. He nodded “You’re right, Joker.”

Ren smirked before saying “But you have to promise me that you will never pose as my son or something. Makoto would die from embarrassment.”

Morgana chuckled “Maybe we can do it to prank her one time.”

Ren smirked “Maybe. But only if it’s a traveling merchant or something. And I will tell her that you moved me to do it.”

The boy grinned and extended his hand “Deal.”

Ren grinned back and took his smaller hand. He looked to the others, who were staring off into nothing, their ears covered while everyone was humming a different tune. He had to grin “Yup. This sums us up pretty good. Unified in chaos.”

Morgana chuckled “Maybe we should set them free...”

“Maybe…” Ren agreed before moving up to wave his hands in front of everyone to get them to stop.

Ann immediately sensed the different mood. She smiled at the two “Did you guys make up again?”

Morgana nodded before he turned to Haru and Yusuke “I’m sorry for eavesdropping on you and telling everyone…”

Haru smiled her usual warm smile when she said “It’s okay, Mona-chan.”

“It shall be forgiven.” Yusuke nodded along.

“Panther, why are you crying?” Futaba asked all of a sudden.

Ann could only shake her head “I don’t know… It’s just… I’ll miss all of this so much… Even something stupid as driving in the back of this truck for hours with all of you...”

Futaba hugged the blonde girl while Ryuji wrapped an arm around her shoulders from the other side.

“I think we all will...” Haru eventually said with a sad voice.

Their rest of the drive continued in silence. They drove into an abandoned city until Makoto eventually pulled up in front of a large building. The other Thieves jumped off the loading space and stretched their limbs with loud groans. Ren walked to Makoto as she slid down the drivers seat.

“How was the drive?” he quietly asked.

Makoto could only shrug “It was okay. How were things back there?”

“Okay, I guess.” Ren said before he took a step back when Akechi rounded the car to stand among them.

“Well. Here we are.” he stated before pointing behind him “One street farther is the casino that is Sae-sans home base.”. He grimaced as he looked up into the sky “I’d better be going right away. I assume that you’ve had enough time to go over our plan in the back.”

“No, wait!” Futaba exclaimed and hurried up to the tall detectives side. She fumbled around with the map “So you say the casino is one street farther down. If we take this street here on the right… from which side would we approach the casino?” she shoved the map into his face.

Akechi raised an eyebrow before pointing “You would approach from this side.”

“Could your mark that with your pen?” Futaba asked.

Akechi seemed confused but pulled his elegant pen out of the inside-pocket, took the map out of Futabas hands, put it up on the hood of the truck and scratched an arrow onto the paper.

“Hmm… and which direction is that… East? South?” Futaba wondered.

Akechi raised an eyebrow again “South.”

“Write it pleeeease.” Futaba sang.

Akechi sighed but wrote it down. He was about to turn away again when Futaba said

“Are… you sure it’s south? I could swear that it feels like it’s north...” she had a thoughtful face.

“I can assure you that it’s south.” Akechi said, his voice a little more tense as he was about to put his pen away. “I really should be on my way now. Time is of the very essence right now.”

“Wait!” Futaba called out again, setting everything up for the big finale. She knew that she had him where she wanted him to be. On the verge of bursting. His eyes were on fire when he turned around to look at her. She flashed him a quirky smile in the hope that he would think that she was a bit strange. “What was the name of the place again?”

Akechi seemed to push down his anger when he forced a smile on his face again “Is that really of importance?”

“Duh! How else are we supposed to find it?” Futaba asked.

“It’s a casino. You can’t miss it.” Akechi replied, a bit more annoyed now.

“Still. What if there’s two? We won’t know which one to take!” she walked over to the map on the hood again and patted a free space on it. “So if you would just... help us out and put it on there.”

Akechis face twitched when he all but ripped out the pencil from his pocket again and hastily scribbled something on the map. He had an unnerved expression on his face when he looked at Ren “I hope you are aware of the importance of this mission. For your own sake. Wait 5 minutes before you start moving. If everything works out, we won’t see each other again after this.” he didn’t wait for a response, turned on his heel and walked away.

“Byeeee!” Futaba waved after him before she snatched the map.

“Would you mind telling me what this was about?” Makoto asked Futaba.

“Apparently Umbra noticed something about Akechis handwriting.” Morgana said.

Ren smirked “So Oracle baited him...”

“Did I do good?” she asked.

Ren nodded “He looked pretty pissed in the end.”

Futaba tapped her side of the head “I thought that he was more likely to forget about trying to write pretty if he was annoyed and stressed.”

“Nice going, Oracle.” Ryuji grinned.

“Now let’s just hope that we can recognize something in this too...” Ren muttered.

Futaba held up the map for everyone to look.

“You can really see the anger in that last one...” Ann noticed.

“For real...” Ryuji had to agree.

“It’s certainly a style to remember...” Makoto said. “So Umbra said that she had seen it before?”

Ren nodded “That’s what we think. She told Noir that we should look at his handwriting...” he turned around “Right?”

Harus face had frozen as she stared at the blueprint in front of her. Her hand was clutching Yusukes wrist as she realized. Those jagged edges, the harsh writing… Hifumi had seen it before. And she had too.

“Noir…?” Morgana asked.

“I… I know it now...” Haru said. So Hifumi had told her because she had hoped that she would figure it out. As she looked at the jagged letters in front of her, it seemed like they were moving into the phrase that she had last seen them in:

_It will be done._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few of you smart, smart readers have already figured out where they had seen Akechis handwriting but now Haru realized it too. Now the question is how will they go on from here, now that they know that Akechi is not just involved with the one tasked to take them down, but also with United Future itself?
> 
> Since Futaba wasn't exactly able to have her time to shine by installing an App on Akechis phone, she now took over another important part: making Akechi angry enough to trip up. 
> 
> Also Morganas anxiety is laid to rest when it all turned out to be a misunderstanding. Ren would never forget that weird little kid with no past, as all of you had so correctly guessed ;)


	70. Change Of Plans

„Whoah, whoah, whoah….“ Ryuji tried to make sense of what Haru recapped to them. “So Akechi is a part of United Future?” he walked in a small circle as he clutched his head. “What the eff?! That doesn’t make any sense.”

Haru nodded “When Hifumi and I investigated my fathers office, we found correspondence with this exact handwriting. Father didn’t know who it belonged to but whoever it was must have passed on the information to the Crow.”

“We all had a feeling that something was off about him but now we know.” Yusuke said. “The question is what we are going to do about this particular piece of information?”

“And why would he even help us?” Ann asked.

“To deliver us to Sae.” Ren said.

“And we went along with it...” Ann sighed.

“So now we turn and run, right?” Futaba asked.

“No.” Ren shook his head as everyone stared at him.

“Whaddaya mean, No?” Ryuji voice rose “We know that he lured us into a trap! Why the hell would we still go in there?”

“We don’t know if what he told us about Saes evidence was a lie too.” Ren pointed out calmly.

“Saes evidence doesn’t mean shit anymore!” Ryuji yelled, ignoring Anns hand wrapped around his bicep to get him to calm down.

“I.. have to agree with Ryuji on this one. What if Sae was already in on this plan? Then they would know our faces anyway.” Haru pointed out.

“Look, we all know that this is a trap but we can’t run now. You already said it: Akechi knows not just all of our faces and identities, but also our location.” Ren pointed out. “Even if we turned around right now, grabbed our stuff and split up, it wouldn’t matter. All they’d need to do would be to hunt us down individually and the rest of us wouldn’t even realize until it’s too late. So I will go in there and take a look at the evidence that Sae has gathered. But I’ll be going in alone.”

“What?!” Makoto exclaimed beside him.

“But you’d be walking right into their trap!” Morgana exclaimed.

“I know.”

Makoto shook her head “And then what? How are we going to get you out of there?”. Her heart was already dropping when she noticed how Rens focus shifted to her.

“We’ll need to change Saes heart.” he said but it was solely directed at her.

“Wh-? No. No….” Makoto shook her head when she realized what his plan was. “You can’t ask this of me. I can’t do it.”

Ren turned his entire body towards her and for a moment it felt like it was just the two of them. “If anyone can do it, it’s you. I know you can.”

Makoto feverishly shook her head “I can’t…” tears started to pool in her eyes when she looked up at Ren “She seems too far gone…”

“Who told you? Akechi?” Ren asked. “I’d take everything he told us with a grain of salt.”

Makoto gripped his arm “Please Ren. Don’t do this. What if I fail? I… can’t carry that burden.”

Ren gripped her shoulders with both his hands and gave her a small smile “I think you already know that I have to. If we don’t get Sae to listen to us, she won’t stop hunting.”

The tears ran down Makotos cheeks as she looked into his gray eyes “But what if I can’t change her mind? I used to do everything she asked of me. I never was my own person until I met all of you. What if I can’t stand up to her once I see her again?”

Ren squeezed her shoulders “You’re nothing like who you used to be. You are so much stronger now. You took a stand against Kobayakawa. You single-handedly opposed the yakuza. You’ve done so much badass shit and all of it while being true to yourself. I’d say that your sister doesn’t know what’s about to hit her.”

“Please… I can’t do this on my own. I can’t be responsible for your life...” Makoto sobbed.

“Hey.” Ren gently muttered before he pulled her into a hug. “I know that if my life were in your hands, I’d be a lot safer than if I was in charge.” when he noticed that his joke had failed, he rubbed her arms “Makoto, I know that you can do it. Kaneshiro was destroying the lives of who knows how many. Medjed was about to endanger our family. And Okumura was enslaving his workers and threatening even more. Do you think that what we’ve been doing was wrong?”

Makoto shook her head.

“We followed our justice. Make Sae see hers.”

Makoto too a deep breath as she took a step back and wiped her tears away. “But what if I’m too late? What if I fail to convince her?”

Ren looked at her before he looked at the rest of the group, who had watched their conversation, too scared to say anything “Then I know that you’ll come up with some lunatic plan to save me.” he said with a small smirk.

Ryuji shook his head “This is insane. What if Akechi lied to us about the security too? What if you already die on your way in there?”

“If I was able to read anything that came from Akechi is that he’s full of himself. I’m pretty sure that he’ll want to savor the moment of capturing me. Having me die in the entrance like I was a lost trespasser surely won’t make him happy.” Ren said. “Besides, I’m sure that our tech-genius here will be able to guide me through.” he smirked “You still want to see what equipment they have, right?”

Futaba nodded, although her initial optimism seemed to be gone now.

Ren looked into the group. “We’ll stay in contact over the comms. I don’t know if they will check so if I’m not back within an hour, Makoto goes in.”

Everyone nodded.

“If another hour passes, I want you to spot out the perimeter. Even if both of us should get captured, don’t engage. Observe what happens and wait for them to make a move.” Ren said. When everyone nodded once more, he turned around towards the street. “As soon as I’m through the security-measures, Noir, Fox and Oracle, you come back here and wait with the others.” he took a deep breath “Alright. Then it’s go-time.” he looked at his family one last time “I hope I’ll see all of you again soon.”

Futaba shouldered her backpack holding Prometheus before getting ready to go with Haru and Yusuke. Ren was about to turn around when Ryuji crushed him into a hug. “You take care in there, alright man?” the blonde boy muttered “Don’t do anything I would do, got it?”

Ren clapped him on the back “Will do, brother.”

After Ryuji it was Anns turn to hug him, although hers was a lot less painful. “And don’t you dare play hero, okay? We need you back in one piece.”

“Sure.” Ren patted her back lightly.

“You better don’t do anything stupid, you hear me?” Morgana said, trying to play tough with a raised finger.

Ren spread his arms with a small smirk “Come on. You know you want to do it.”

Morgana groaned before he too went for a hug “Don’t leave us alone, okay? I can’t play Makotos brother.”

“I’ll do my best.” Ren patted the boys shoulder. When the kid stepped away, the only one left standing there, tears still pooling in her eyes, was Makoto. He walked up to her and took her hand. “I know you can do it.” he repeated.

Makoto took a deep breath and gave a short nod. She forced herself into tactic-mode when she asked “And what if I fail?”

He squeezed her hand “If Sae really is beyond your reach, then I want you to bargain for your freedom. It’s no use if both of us get captured by her and Akechi. The others will need you for coming up with a plan.”

To his surprise, Makoto didn’t object. He put his arms around her shoulders and placed a kiss on the top of her head “I love you.”

Makoto wrapped her arms around his waist and took a last deep breath, hoping that it wouldn’t be the last time she would spend in his arms. “I love you too.”

Letting go of her was hard but Ren knew that he had to do it. He squeezed her hand one last time before he turned around to walk away with Futaba, Haru and Yusuke.

Walking through a dead city always was an eery feeling. All around them rose skyscrapers and towers but every building was empty. Aside from a casino, apparently. But this time, it wasn’t just the flair of the empty city that gave the four Thieves a frightening feeling in their stomachs.

“I’m sorry, that I didn’t recognize his handwriting sooner...” Haru eventually said.

Ren shook his head “Even if we had known it earlier, we would have to do this anyway. If Sae doesn’t have a change of heart, we’re screwed. We need her on our side.”

“So now everything depends on whether Makotos sister can be convinced that we are not evil.” Yusuke said.

“Poor Makoto… she really doesn’t seem to want to talk to her.” Futaba said.

“She’s scared of losing control again. But I know that she can do it.” Ren said. He just had to believe. Believing was so much better than having to think about what might happen to him if their “plan” failed.

“I hope you’re right…” Futaba mumbled. “If Akechi wasn’t lying about their equipment, there won’t be much I could do tech-wise. With Kaneshiro, I was able to to access their cameras and all that stuff. If their equipment is better, I will have a hard time getting in there with Prometheus. They defs won’t use one password for all...”

Ren took a deep breath “I didn’t want to say it back there, but should there really be a situation where saving me seems impossible, I don’t want you to take any risks.”

“Joker...” Haru gasped.

“No way!” Futaba protested “I’ll get you out, and if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Oracle.” Ren was serious “You take that back.”

“No!”

“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t think of something but if the chances are slim of getting to me successfully, I don’t want you to take that chance and risk your own lifes.”

“Well, it won’t be for you to decide because you’ll be the one captured.” Futaba spat.

“Ryuji is right: You shouldn’t play hero.” Yusuke uttered. “If any one of us would be in your place, you would not order to walk away either, would you?”

“That’s something completely different.” Ren replied.

Haru shook her head “It’s not. We won’t leave without you, no matter your orders.”

Ren turned around to shoot the fluffy-haired girl a look “You too?”

Haru gave an apologetic shrug before saying “You didn’t leave me at my fathers place either.”

“That’s-” Ren started.

“No different.” Haru finished the sentence for him.

Ren snorted before he felt Futabas hand tugging at the sleeve of his jacket.

“We’re here.” the orange-haired girl said as she pointed to a casino. While nowadays the colorful lighting of the exterior didn’t work, judging from the rest of the building this shack used to be a noble place to be. “I’m getting really weird vibes from this place...” she mumbled.

“It’s not just you.” Ren said. As they still stood at a safe distance, he tried to distinguish if the front of the building was equipped with cameras too, that Akechi had failed to mention but he couldn’t find any. At each side of the building was a side-alley. “This is it. Ready for the last gig of the Phantom Thieves?”

“You don’t think that you can get away without a good-bye, right?” Futaba asked before slinging her arms around his arms and torso. To his surprise, her embrace felt more like Ryujis than the other, more pleasant ones. “You better make it out alive, got it?” she muttered with her face pressed into his jacket.

“You sound just like Boss.” Ren smirked, unable to move. He had to smile as he looked down at the carrot-orange top of her head “I’m proud of you, you know that?”

Futaba shook her head before pulling back to look up at him “Nuh-uh, not happening, I'm not engaging in this kind of talk. You’re not allowed to die. So stop getting sappy.” she ordered, distraught, before she let go of him entirely.

Ren smirked at her before he turned to Yusuke.

The slender artist extended his arm “We will await your return, Joker.” he nodded.

Ren nodded and grabbed his lower arm. When Yusuke did the same, they shook arms before Ren turned to Haru. “You want a hug too?”

Haru nodded before closing the distance between them. After being crushed by so many of the Thieves before, Harus embrace felt feather-light. “Please be careful in there. It’s already sad enough that we have to split up once this is over. I can’t bare to mourn another loss.”

Ren gulped. Hearing Haru say that actually hit harder than he had thought it would. He didn’t want to be the reason for anyones sadness. He suddenly realized that playing the brave one and sacrificing himself would cause just that though. But what else was he supposed to do, if Sae really was beyond saving? He couldn’t tell the others to wait for him forever, if there really was no way out. “I’ll try my best.” he replied and carefully stroked her back before releasing her again. He took another look at the casino and said “Let’s go then.”

Simply walking through the unlocked front door felt awkward, but Ren figured that everything about this mission was strange anyway. As they stepped into the fancy foyer, everything was dark. When Yusuke turned on his flashlight, they got a better look at the elegant entrance. The carpet-floor must have been red once but now it was just a strange shade of brown and grew. At the other end of the room were counters to change money. Throughout the lounge were elegant cushioned benches and another wall was a coat-check, by now empty of course.

Futaba ran a hand across the dusty velvet on one of the benches before making a face. She pulled out the map of her backpack and walked over to Yusuke to hold it under his light. “So right now we are here… Now behind this door beside the cashiers desk should be the gambling floor and over there...” she pointed to a smaller and less spectacular door near the coat-check “is our way to the control room.”

Ren nodded “Okay. You guys got your earpieces on?”

The other three nodded. Futaba handed him the map “I think all of us have memorized the way. You’ll need it more to traverse those traps and find the evidence room.”

“Thanks.” he looked at the fancy doors. “Here goes nothing then.” he muttered before walking through them.

He pulled his own flashlight out of his jacket when he entered a completely dark room. Apparently it wasn’t the norm for casinos to have daylight in them. The carpet on the floor was the same as in the foyer. Ahead of him were rows of slot-machines, roulette-tables and other tables for card-games. He figured that everything must have been rather bright, if all those slot-machines had been plugged and working. Ren looked at the map and determined his location. Every table and machine was precisely marked in the map. Akechi really seemed to want him to make it through. Ren lightly touched his ear-piece before whispering “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Joker.” Futaba responded. “We’re on our way to the control room but these hallways are confusing af. How’s it look in there?”

“Just like he marked.” Ren said as he bent down to look at the feet of the tables. It didn’t take long for him to spot the motion-sensors that Akechi had talked about in their briefing. “That’s some state-of-the-art tech here...” he muttered.

“Can you take some for me?” Futaba pouted in his ear.

“Better not. Who knows to what these things are connected to.” Ren replied as he stepped past the first row of tables following the marked route on the blueprint. He pointed the cone of light onto the floor and immediately spotted the first tripwire. As he bent down to inspect those too, he noticed that the ends of the wires were attached to small poles that had been rammed into the floor. At one of them hung a small plastic box, which Ren guessed to be the transponder that would give Sae and Akechi the signal that someone was there. Given how close the wire was to touching the ground, one could easily step on it without even realizing. Ren had to give it to them, they knew their security. He stepped over it and walked past another roulette-table. “How’s it looking guys? I’m almost at the first wall now.”

“Not that great...” Futaba replied before letting out a long sigh as they tried to navigate through the dark corridors.

“I think we’ve been past this door before...” Haru noted.

“Yeah… I think so too…” Futaba had to admit. “Who designed this building? Did they want their employees to get lost?”

“The darkness certainly doesn’t help either...” Yusuke stated.

“Well lucky for us that the whole aspect of our time running out and Akechi urging us to act fast was a lie. So take your time.” Ren said in their ears. “Let him stir for a bit.”

“Aren’t you scared at all?” Haru asked as she followed Futaba around another corner.

“I’m scared shitless.” Ren replied “That guy creeps me out and judging from the stories I heard about Sae, she won’t take me for a walk in the park either.”

“Joker...” Futaba muttered.

“Sorry… I chose this myself, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Ren replied. “I - _\-- bzz-- bzz_.”

“Joker?!” Yusuke asked, confused by the sudden static.

“-uys… _bzz._. hear me?” Jokers voice crackled in their ear as the other three walked on. “Are you there?” his voice got clearer again all of a sudden.

“We hear you now.” Haru said.

“What was that? The ear-piece was buzzing all of a sudden...” Ren said.

“Seems that there’s something around that jams the signal..” Futaba said. “On a better note, we found the control room.” she announced and pushed open the door. Inside was an old control-room, hung with TV-sets that must have offered views on each and every table back in the casino-days. Now the only thing that looked as if it was still working was a slim laptop that stood in the far corner of the room. Futaba walked up to it and moved the attached mouse to bring the system back to life. She used the bright light of the screen to read the password, that she had written on her palm for safety, and entered it into the system. “I’m in.” she eventually said.

“Good. What do you see?” Ren asked.

“Not much. This baby really only seems to be used for the security. If there’s any other tech in this place, it’s not even in the same network so I have no way of finding out.” she huffed “I’d compliment their smartness if I weren’t so annoyed with it...”. She made a few clicks on the laptop “I’m ready to do it, Joker. Akechi was right, you have exactly one minute to pass until it turns back on. After that, there’s a cooldown so I can’t help you if you don’t make it in time.”

“I can see the end of the room. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Ren said.

“One more thing: Back then when the connection broke, Fox, Noir and I have been a bit further into the building so it’s possible that we will lose contact once you start going in.” Futaba said.

Ren took a deep breath in their ears. “Okay. I got the map so I should be fine. As soon as you turn the security off, you get out of here and meet back with the others.”

“Understood.” Yusuke nodded.

“We’ll see each other again, you hear me?” Futaba asked.

“I hear you.” Ren said. “Do your thing, Oracle.”

Ren looked at the fancy tapestry in front of him. There really was no way to determine that this particular wall would be deadly for trespassers. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be deadly for him.

“Shutdown in 3… 2… 1… Now!” Futaba announced in his ear. “Good luck in there, Joker.”

Even though Ren thought that he had enough time, he still preferred to run. Since there was enough spare time while he waited for the others to find the control-room, he memorized the location of the tripwires so he was able to avoid them easily as he jogged through the lanes and rows of the roulette- and dice-tables. Was he running to his doom? With open arms even? The ear-piece in his ear started to crackle, giving him the guess that he was in the range of the signal-jammer that Futaba had already announced. He pulled the ear-piece out mid-run and dropped it into the pocket of his pants. He concentrated on his steps until he passed the last row of tables and found himself in front of an elegant double staircase that led up onto the first floor. Like everything else so far in this house, it was dark.

Ren took a deep breath and walked up the stairs. Would they already be waiting for him there? Surprising him with a gun to the face? Or would Akechi really orchestrate a break-in and make it seem like he had caught Ren mid-act? Everything about this was just so strange. Ren was aware that he was pretty assured of his own intellect so it was easy for him to see that Akechi was like him. The would-be detective enjoyed toying with his prey, dropping remarks here and there that he knew they probably wouldn’t get. But now Ren had an edge. He was almost hoping to get the chance to call Akechi out on working for United Future and corresponding with Okumura about where to send the Crow to work. Oh, he hoped that his surprised face would make up for all the fake-ass smiles and nightmare-inducing chuckles Saes right hand had given them over the last days.

The only thing greeting him upstairs was darkness. He wondered if they normally wandered the hallways in the dark or if there was a light-switch somewhere that they would only flip when no intruder was about to break in. He looked at the map to make out the location of Saes evidence-room, that Akechi had marked for them. For a short moment he was tempted to check out Akechis quarters too. That weirdo must have some interesting secrets but he figured that finding the evidence that Sae had on them was of more importance for now. And so he walked past the door that Akechi had described to them as his quarters and ended up in front of a door labeled “Conference Room”. He took another deep breath to prepare himself for what might await him in there before he carefully pushed the door open.

The only thing awaiting him in the evidence room was a small lantern placed on the big conference-table in the middle, giving off a both comforting and eery glow. Across the table layed documents over documents. While not as messy as Ohyas offices, Ren had to wonder if Sae Niijima actually didn’t organize her workplace. He would have to ask Makoto about this later. The thought of him maybe not even returning to her was pushed away for now.

He directed his flashlight over the table and across the walls. On the far end of the room, Sae had hung up a map of what seemed like their region. Ren bent over the table and looked at the different documents. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Sae did have a system. Given how much paper there was around, it must be tough to make it look organized too. He walked around the table to a stack of cardboard-folders. He carefully flipped one open to find a makeshift data-sheet for Futaba. He pulled it aside to open the next one to find Anns. While all of the sheets were missing photos or pictures of them, Anns file was filled with her real name, code-name, hair-color and eye-color. Although Anns features were probably one of the easiest to determine, it was still scary to see that someone was keeping such close tabs on them.

He shifted his gaze back to Futabas folder. While her real name was left blank, Sae and Akechi had been able to draw the connection that she was both Alibaba and Oracle. Even though her hair-color had been originally listed as black and her height was a few inches shorter too, handwritten adjustments had been made. Was her old hair-color and height information that they had gotten from Medjed before they set them out to hunt for them? Ren noticed that in the bottom-box of the sheet was a summary of other intel that Sae had gathered. Hierophant was listed as her trusted person. Her mothers code-name Sphinx popped up too.

Ren sifted through the other files. Ryujis file contained as much information as Anns had. Haru was well documented too as the daughter of Kunikasu Okumura. Ren figured that if United Future already had ties with Harus father long before she left, then maybe someone had seen her and had been able to give an account about what she looked like. But that would mean… Ren looked back at Ryujis file. Beside his life-story of losing his mother and becoming an outcast, another bullet point mentioned an account of someone who claimed to have seen a blonde youth at the Okumura wedding. Ren gulped. So the wedding that they crashed had been attended by United Future? He figured that everyone except Ann and Ryuji were lucky to have such unremarkable faces or they already would have had their profiles before everything had even begun.

Yusukes file contained nothing but his height and hair-color. Apparently his past was basic enough for the detectives to just wing it. Everything character-defining written about him where the words "orphan" and "artist".

Morganas was nothing but the description of a black-haired child with a slingshot.

The next folder Ren opened was talking about the girl going by the codename Queen, described to have chin-long brown hair. Her backstory was empty. Ren furrowed his brow before realizing that while Makoto did have a reputation in Jinbocho, noone outside of that particular bubble knew her… And Sae probably didn’t associate every chin-long brown-haired girl with her sister, who she probably still believed to follow her orders in Jinbocho.

Another folder contained two data-sheets, one describing Hermes and the other the Shogi Princess. Underneath Hifumis profile was mentioned the town that she had grown up in before eventually going to “study” under Madarame. Ren still wondered how Akechi and Sae seemed to be so hung up on her being the Shogi Princess. How did they even know that? Mishimas was another empty sheet except for hair-color and approximate height.

Ren hesitated a moment before he opened the last folder. He didn’t know what he had anticipated but he was somewhat relieved when he looked at an equally blank page as Makotos. How would they have been able to determine anything anyway? He was nothing but a peasants son turned orphan a few years ago. He shut all the folders again and stacked them in the same order, although he didn’t quite know what for, since he would be taken anyway.

He turned around and looked at Saes map on the wall.

Marked on it were all the Thief-related locations, biggest of all was a circle around what Ren guessed to be Kaneshiros bank. Much farther down was a mark on Okumuras factory. To his surprise, Ren also found a circle around Madarames gallery. Had they drawn the connection? It would make sense for them to know Hifumi as the Shogi Princess then.

Besides the huge mark on Kaneshiros old base, Ren noticed that New New Shinjuku was on their radar too. He wondered if Sae had sat at the bar of either Eiko or Lala, asking her questions that now doubt were lined with traps.

All over the map close to their base were small circles that were probably meant to represent smaller settlements. As Ren tried to think of the locations, he came to the conclusion that all of these probably were settlements that they had helped in some way. Seeing their success on a map, he had to admit that they had achieved a lot over the last half year, even if they didn’t count their big operations against Kaneshiro and Okumura. He thought about all the relieved and happy faces that would beam at them whenever they returned to report that the shadows have been taken care of. The spots near Okumura Industries alone were impressive given that they had been able to spread their name through their deeds within only two weeks. But those people probably were the reason why Sae and Akechi had all those clear profiles of them now. As he looked at the map and how concentrated their little “happenings” had been comparatively to the entire country, he figured that Akechi at least hadn’t full-on lied about Sae getting closer to them. Had she been in their area already? Or had it just been Akechi doing the investigating and questioning of people? Ren figured that it would have been awkward for Makoto to run into her sister who was hunting her without actually knowing it. He had to admit that their use of codenames, while being nothing but a gag to begin with, turned out to be pretty useful in the end.

Ryujis, Anns and Mishimas visit to Shiho hadn’t been undocumented either. Another red circle marked Skull and Panthers hometown.

Ren turned back to the table and walked to another stack of papers. Over all, it seemed like this place held two work-stations. He was standing at the second when he filed through a stack of papers that all held handwritten notes in Akechis try-hard-handwriting. It wasn’t as aggressive as it had been when he had angrily written down the name of the casino for Futaba, but it still managed to convey some kind of anger. Ren had to give it to him, he was thorough. He had made a protocol for every person he had questioned about the Thieves. Had they been the only people instantly suspicious of him? Who would want to answer questions from the slimiest guy in the world?

He continued to scan Akechis workplace but aside from more angrily written notes, he found nothing of interest.

Ren walked to the other end of the table, where he had spotted a stuffed folder. He flipped it open, only to find a letter in a handwriting that he hadn’t seen so far. The paper was elegant, there even were letters in gold in the headline, before someone had written with a fountain pen:

“ _Niijima-san!_

_While I am disappointed to see that even after the many months we have given you, you still haven’t been able to locate and arrest the Phantom Thieves, your inability has now forced us to take drastic measures. We have decided to put them under more pressure by starting a wide-spread campaign to pit the public against them._

_I hope that you will come to appreciate this strategy and will soon be able to capture the Phantom Thieves. Needless to say is that this is the last chance for you to prove your worth. The future that we are about to steer towards shall be paved with success. While your reputation has been preceding you, so far we have not been able to witness the investigative greatness that people attest you with._

_Sincerely,_

_M. S.”_

Ren was confused. So United Future had actually started that campaign without telling Sae in advance? He shut the folder again only to spot another fresh slip of paper that was laying beside it with Akechis handwriting on it. He leaned over to read it.

“ _We were able to obtain and eliminate the leader. The rest will be taken care of._

_~ G”_

Ren furrowed his brow. Was that a badly written or G or really rather a C?

He was about to take a closer look when his vision went black. His head hitting the desk was the last thing he felt on his way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adn here we are, Sae will need to have a change of heart and the only one capable of doing it is probably her little sister, who is more than afraid of having so much depending on her. 
> 
> Turns out that Sae really was close to finding out their location but now Ren has delivered himself to her. I suppose you can guess what comes next;) I've been really excited for the interrogation-scene for a while now and on saturday, it will finally be out!
> 
> Let me know what you think!:)


	71. At Sae Niijimas Mercy

Rens head was throbbing when he slowly came back to his senses. There was a sharp light piercing through his eyelids, making him fear opening his eyes. He decided to keep zhem closed while he tried to recollect his memories. Where was he? Saes and Akechis hideout. Right. That casino. He was in here alone. What had happened? He was investigating their evidence. And then everything went black. He felt like there was something important that he had noticed right before he passed out. Why had he passed out anyway? The question was quickly answered. He must have been whacked in the back of the head pretty hard. But why was his forehead throbbing too? Right, because he had hit a table with it. His meditative process was interrupted when a gush of water was thrown into his face. He spluttered before reluctantly opening his eyes, only to stare into a small lamp that was directly pointed at his face.

“I see you are awake.” that somehow both innocent and evil sounding voice came from somewhere on the other end of the lamp.

“Are you having fun?” Ren asked. As he tried to move his hands, he noticed that they were tied together behind the chair he was sitting on. He carefully tested his feet, only to find them tied to the chairs legs. He strained himself to sit up straight.

“A litte.” Akechis devilish smile was obvious even without seeing it.

“Can you at least turn the fucking lamp off so I can look you in the eye?” Ren asked.

Akechi answered by turning off the lamp.

“Thanks. Asshole.”

Akechi just chuckled “No need to be so indignant." He sighed "The leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves, trapped in our hands.” he paraded up and down the other end of the table. “What an unlucky turn of events, wouldn’t you say?”

“Nothing about this has to do with luck. I’d rather say it’s unlucky for you that you only got to capture me instead of all of us, which was what you probably intended.” Ren replied.

“I will admit that it came as a surprise to see that you have made some last-minute changes to our plan.” Akechi sighed.

“Well, there’s been some last-minute revelations too, so you know how it goes...” Ren causally replied. “Turns out you haven’t been entirely transparent concerning yourself. And since you can't seem to be trusted, we had to make some adaptations.”

“And so the heroic Joker stepped in to do it all to protect his team-mates. How sickeningly cute.” Akechis voice was close to dripping acid.

“I’d normally ask what had happened in your life to make you such a psycho but I’m not even sure if I want to know...” Ren said.

Before Akechi could reply something with that smug grin on his face, the door opened and a slender figure walked in. Her hair was long and silvery-gray and her pointed chin and sharp jaw took Rens breath away. He was looking at Makoto in the future. She strolled towards the table like a wildcat. Her clothing style was similar to her sisters. Tight pants. Fitted shirt topped off with a leather jacket. Ren caught himself gaping at Sae Niijima before he gathered his thoughts again.

“Why is his face wet? And what’s with the gash on his forehead?” she addressed Akechi as if Ren wasn’t even there.

“Apologies, Sae-san, but as I saw him stand over our evidence, I acted out of impulse.” Akechi replied.

“Whatever. You can leave.” Sae pulled up the chair on the other end of the table.

“As you wish.” Akechi bowed. Ren could only sneer after him as he left. Where was that slimy bastard when “Sae-san” was watching?

“Eyes over here!” Sae snapped her fingers to get his attention while she flipped open her case-file with the other hand. Goddamn was she similar to Makoto… “Let’s start with why and more important how you got into our evidence room.”

Ren wasn’t sure what to say. She wouldn’t believe him, if he threw Akechi under the bus now. No, he somehow needed to gain a bit of her trust first. “Let’s say that you have your sources of information and we have ours.”

“And by We you mean…?”

“The Phantom Thieves.”

Sae filed through her data-sheets. Her head flicked up a few times to look at his face before checking with her notes on unidentified team-members. “Joker.” she stated eventually.

“Pleasure to meet you, Sae Niijima.” Ren replied.

Sae leaned back in her chair, folded her arms in front of her chest and crossed her legs. “You have been eluding me for months and now you suddenly show up in my territory?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. To be fair though, we didn’t know that you were looking for us, sooo...” Ren replied.

Sae just glared at him and Ren forced himself to not shrink in his seat. That glare must be running in the family but by now he knew that Makoto did it with love behind her eyes. Behind Saes eyes, he saw nothing but anger. He took a deep breath. If he told her their side of the story, then maybe Makoto would have an easier time convincing her to switch sides.

Sae slammed her hand on the table “Or was it because I was to be your next victim after eliminating Kaneshiro and Okumura?“

So much for a calm conversation. Ren took a deep breath “We never intended to kill anybody.”. It was a lie. He had known before going in, that he would have to take Kaneshiro out of the equation for good. But maybe he could bring that up at a later point. “You were closing in us. We wanted to buy some time by messing with your evidence so we could slip away.”

“That’s ridiculous. Do you really think that I wouldn’t have noticed and that I don’t keep back-ups?” she loathed.

“Now that you say it, I realize that we should have guessed.” Ren replied. Just another red flag that they should have noticed. Akechi had been damn smart by bringing the factor of them needing to act fast to the table. “We’ve been forced to make some rushed decisions, so I agree if this whole plan seems a little half-baked.”

“Junya Kaneshiro and Kunikasu Okumura. Both of them valued contractors of my client without ever being directly in contact with each other. How were you able to make the connection? And why kill both of them along with blowing up their strongholds?” Sae asked. “Especially since one of your very own is his estranged daughter. Did she want him dead?”

Ren realized how from the view of United Future, it did seem that they were out to get them by blowing everything up that belonged to them. They had left the bank and the factory behind in flames. Those cases weren’t good examples to prove that they were peaceful and level-headed. They sounded like terrorists. “Believe it or not but we didn’t know that they were.”

Sae glared at him “You try to tell me that you stumbled upon them on accident? Are you taking me for a fool?”

“I’m not. I swear.” Ren replied, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady. “I know better. Look, you seem to have a complete different picture and I know that there’s a lot of false rumors being spread around us, probably most of them by the very people who hired you. Why don’t we just compare our stories, so we’re on the same page? You can continue to believe I’m lying after that, but at least her me out. If you really are an investigator, that’s part of the job, isn’t it?”

Sae looked irritated. She probably wasn’t used to someone suggesting what she should do next. Maybe his experience with cooperating with Makoto Niijima could be an advantage.

“Very well.” Sae slightly leaned forward to check her file. “Your attack on Kaneshiros bank wasn’t the first outing of the Phantom Thieves, was it?” she asked “Not long before that, an master artist, Ichiriyusai Madarame, was forced to close his lounge/gallery due to the intervention of a group of teenagers who have assembled a mob of people.”

“That’s a nice way to put it. But yeah. That happened shortly before we decided to call ourselves the Phantom Thieves. But that wasn’t exactly our first gig either.”

Sae raised an eyebrow at him “I’m listening.”

“Does the name Kamoshida ring a bell?” Ren asked.

“The local hero?”

“That’s the laurels he’s been resting on. When we intervened against him, he had bullied and threatened dozens of young adults into becoming either his sex slaves or his personal army and punching bags.”

Saes face was expressionless but he figured that he had her attention.

“Hermes… he was one of those punching bags. He escaped and found us. And that’s where all of this started. It was a lucky coincidence. We had just been on the look-out for our new base after those last rows of explosions. We were just a group of armed teenagers and he stumbled into our hide-out on accident.”

“And still you decided to help.” Sae concluded.

“We were reluctant at first, but it turned out that two of our own each had their bone to pick with Kamoshida. When it turned out that their friend was one of his favorite play-things, it was a done deal.” Ren explained.

“According to what I’ve been able to come up with, your group has no shared past together except for two individuals. Am I correct in assuming that the two people you are talking about are Takamaki and Sakamoto, better known as Panther and Skull?”

Ren nodded. He needed to play with open cards. If they failed to change Saes mind, everything was about to go to shit anyway. “Kamoshida was nothing but a sleaze-bag who preyed on insecure teenagers. Before I met them, he had tried to harass Ann and broke Ryuijs leg when he had called him out on preying on minors.”

“I see.” Sae nodded and took notes. “So what did you do to Kamoshida?”

“We tried to pull off a ruse but Ann got captured in the process. Kamoshida was about to rape her but she was able to break free. They fought and in the process Ann rammed a switchblade through his hand to secure him. Aside from that, we didn’t harm him.” Ren decided to be transparent. Sae needed to see that they weren’t mindless killers, as it might came off as, if she only started to look at Okumura and Kaneshiro.

“So you spared him?” Sae asked.

“We never intended to kill him. We just wanted to stop him from ever harming someone again.” Ren said. “We apprehended him and freed all of his prisoners. We left the decision on what to do with him to them. A few of them decided to stay at Kamoshidas place and start a new settlement. Kamoshida – and later Madarame – should still be in their jail in the cellar of the castle.”

Sae raised an eyebrow “You sent him to prison?”

“Sort of. It wasn’t our idea. His former prisoners came up with it on their own.” Ren raised his shoulders “Isn’t that how people like him would have been handled back when there was a system?”

Saes face darkened. Bringing up the justice system must have been too much of a reminder of her justice-fighter-father. “And Hermes stayed with your group since then?”

Ren nodded. “Him and two others joined us that day. And that was it. We returned to base to build up our new home after we’ve lost the old one.”

“So next was Madarame.” Sae continued.

“Again, we didn’t plan on doing anything after Kamoshida. None of us really felt like we should continue doing this as a hobby, especially since Ann almost got raped and Ryuji, Hermes and I got messed up real good in that perverts dungeon. We left it as a one-time thing and went on with our lives. Fox is an artist. One day, he got invited to this art-gallery of Madarame. We went there one night and found our old guardian, who we hadn’t seen since our old home was blown up. He was working at the bar there. Again, pure coincidence.”

“Someone testified that they have seen an older man drive off with you after everything was done. Was that him?” Sae asked.

“Yes. But he’ll come up again later.” Ren said “He signaled us that something wasn’t right about this place and that he couldn’t just leave because he needed to protect someone. In the meantime, Fox was upstairs, making arrangements to study under Madarame without knowing any of this.”

“So one of you wanted to become his student? Was that also what the Shogi Princess was?”

“I don’t know what rank the Shogi Princess had but she was living under the same roof. After Fox left, we didn’t know what to think. After hearing our guardian talk about this place, we couldn’t just let our friend go to stay with Madarame without being completely sure that nothing was wrong with it. So we asked questions in the neighboring villages and we investigated a bit. In the end we found out, that Madarame had weaseled his way into getting everything he needed for free by claiming that he was this humble old man, when in fact he collected gold and other riches without anyone knowing. He had the Shogi Princess rig games on which people could make bets on so he would make even more. But worst of all: he used the kids that the took in as his students to take their works as his own and whenever a student got upset by getting their works stolen and voiced their desire to leave, he would kill them and hide the bodies in the woods.”

“It sounds like a badly written horror-movie.” Sae said.

“Call it what you want but that’s how it happened. When we found out all of that, we decided that we needed to get our friend out before he ended up being Madarames next victim. So we organized a mob – peaceful of course – and went to confront Madarame. After some back and forth and touching speeches, he admitted to all of it.”

“And he was taken to the same place that Kamoshida was locked up in...” Sae concluded.

“Exactly. Again, this wasn’t our idea. Someone else had already heard of it, so they transported him there.”

“And your guardian and the Shogi Princess came with you.”

“She dropped the title. We call her Umbra.”

Sae scratched out Hifumis old name and wrote Umbra beside it. “And that was when you decided to become the Phantom Thieves.”

“It was more a gag than anything else. We didn’t plan on becoming vigilantes or heroes, or rather villains, as you probably see us. Just like the two times before that, we stumbled upon Kaneshiro by accident and it all started with a fortune teller who scammed us because she needed money for her blackmailers.”

Sae looked up from her notes. Ren had no way of telling what was going on behind her facade of stone. He decided to continue “We decided to investigate a bit and in the end it turned out that one of our friends and former victim of Kamoshida was close to getting sucked into Kaneshiros bar/prostitution-circle without realizing it.”

“Another friend in danger. So you decided to intervene again.” Sae concluded but she didn’t seem impressed.

“We went to the yakuza-town to spot out the situation. Everything would have gone differently if Makoto just hadn’t gotten herself taken…” he decided that it was now or never “.. but I guess you know how she gets...”

Saes face twitched in confusion. She seemed to hate not knowing things as much as Makoto did. It was almost funny how many traits they shared.

“She calls it the Niijima-genes...” Ren added to clear every possible doubt.

Sae almost jumped across the table as she grabbed the front of his shirt. “What have you done to my sister?” she seethed with bared teeth.

“Nothing that she didn’t consent to.” Ren replied. He cursed himself and his stupid loose tongue when Sae punched him in the face. He could feel his nose breaking under her iron-hard knuckles. She punched just like her sister. “Yeah… I deserved that…” he groaned.

Sae let go off his shirt but kept standing, her hands firmly planted on the table as she stared down on him. “How do you know my sister?” she slammed the table “Answer me!”

Ren inelegantly snorted out a glob of blood into his lap. He could already feel his nose swelling. But what had he really anticipated after a smug reply like that? “Do you really think that she would just wait and rot in Jinbocho forever with that asshole of a “principal”?" he asked. "She’s got so much more potential than that.”

“And joining a group of terrorists and becoming the leaders concubine is better?!” Sae was outraged.

“Wow. Ouch.” Ren stated and grimaced to flex the skin on his throbbing nose. “You’re not just giving me a lot less credit there, but her too. And for the record, she’s not just the leaders girlfriend-” he verbally underlined the girlfriend on purpose “-she’s also the second-in-command. And with us, she’s actually got something to say instead of just blindly following fat-necks orders.”

Saes anger partly gave way to shock as she processed his words “No… that can’t be…” she violently shook her head “So you are telling me that Kaneshiro took Makoto – my sister Makoto – hostage?”

Ren nodded “She was forced to stay with him for 2 weeks. That was the ultimatum to deliver the ransom, that Kaneshiro had put on her head.”

“But you didn’t pay him.” Sae concluded.

Ren snorted “We didn’t exactly have 4 million Yen laying around at home… While your contractor seems to be swimming in money, helping the small towns like we did doesn’t exactly pay in gold.” Ren grimaced but this time it was from remembering that time. How helpless he had felt without her. How he would have gone in without hesitation, probably getting shot down at the first opportunity if the others hadn’t brought him back to reality. How the bones in Kaneshiros face had given way to his fists. “We knew that we couldn’t meet Kaneshiros expectations. So we had to start to think about other options.”

Sae was close to lunging across the table again when she growled “If you set fire to the bank while my sister was in it, I-”

In a sudden flash of anger, that let him forget that his nose was broken and that he actually had to gain some sympathy-points with his sister-in-law, he leaned forward in his chair as much as his restraints allowed it and glared back at her “How fucked up do you think we are? I love your sister and if I didn’t give a damn about her I wouldn’t have a hole in my gut now to remind me of it.”

To his surprise, Sae actually seemed taken aback by his call-out for she retreated and seemed to calm down a little. She slowly sat back down in her chair and said “Tell me about that day.”

Ren nodded “The initial plan was to knock everyone out or capture them alive.” Ren knew that it was risky to lie, but if he admitted to killing Kaneshiro now, Saes view of them would only be reinforced. For the sake of his life, he decided that he had to try. He could tell her the truth some time later, if he ever got out of this window-less interrogation room. But now was not the time to play honorable. He couldn’t let the others down. He had to return to Makoto. “We knew that they outnumbered us by far, so we had to get into the bank without making too much of a scene.” he shuffled in his seat, itching to scratch his bloody nose. “Most of us went inside unarmed. We’ve made a new ally in a gunsmith and former advisor of Kaneshiro, who was able to equip us with enough weapons.”

“And that ally is…?” Sae rifled through her papers.

“None of us. We only shared the same goal because his son was another captive at the bank.”

Sae nodded. “Continue.”

“We got in while Oracle was sitting on the outside, accessing the security system. After we took out the guards in the lobby and the security-office, she triggered an emergency lockdown. The plan was to continue to wander through the bank unnoticed and take out all the guards before eventually finishing with Kaneshiro. That was the initial plan. What we didn’t know was that Kaneshiro had already locked himself in his vault, remotely shutting off the lockdown and leaving us trapped in the bank while more and more of his men started to pile up in front of the gate, shooting at us.”

“You lost control of the situation.” Sae concluded.

Ren nodded. “While the others were holding the entrance, I ran to rescue Makoto and our allies son. When I got to their holding-cell, I learned that Makoto had been taken to the vault with Kaneshiro.” Ren took a deep breath through his swollen nose. He decided to leave out the part with Kaneshiros trick over the speakers, making him believe that Makoto was dead. “We had no idea, that Kaneshiro was part of something bigger. We thought that running a yakuza-clan in the apocalypse was already pretty big. All he mentioned was that a certain Crow would not be happy about our attack. We had no idea what to do with that. And at first, we had other things to worry about.” he steadied his shaking hand and ignored the pain in his gut, that was now adding up to his throbbing headache and his bleeding nose. “Kaneshiro wasn’t ready to let Makoto leave when I opposed him in the vault. A fight broke loose and Makoto and I both got shot. She took a bullet in the shoulder and I in the gut. In the end, we had to kill everyone down in that vault to survive and get out.”

“And upstairs, things have switched to lethal combat too.” Sae assumed.

Ren nodded “We had no other choice. We were lucky to get out alive.”

“And before you left, you set the building on fire.”

“Makoto and I lit up the vault before we left.”

“You said that you took out most of the guards in the bank peacefully. Did you leave them inside the building?”

Ren gulped. That actually made it look a lot worse. He recounted in his head. There must have been about 5 guards, that they had tranqued or knocked out. His heart started racing when he thought about it. He squeezed his eyes shut before saying “Makoto and I were the last ones to leave and we were in pretty bad shape. Our friends only then saw that we’ve been shot and I was already starting to pass out, so we were rushed off, also because we were afraid that more of Kaneshiros men would come back from another maneuver someone else was pulling to get some firepower away from their base.”

Sae took notes before saying “Junya Kaneshiro was a close ally to my client. He was in charge of collecting and storing the old currency in his bank until the timing was right.”

“And for him collecting meant blackmailing people.” Ren said. “He offered people in hopeless situations money only to then ask it back with interest over interest and even when the debt was long settled, his goons would still wander around collecting sums that were in no relation to the initial credit.”

“Well you made sure that all of those payments were for naught.” Sae said. “When I went there to investigate the place, everything I found was a pile of ashes and mountains of rotting corpses in front of it from the massacre that you created.” she leaned back in her seat again and crossed her legs. “What happened after that? Who patched you up and how did you proceed from there?”

“We got patched up and nursed back to health by an expert, who I will not further name because she is of no importance. She doesn’t know who we are and she had no further affiliations with us.” Ren said. No need to drag Takemi into this. Especially since she really only patched them up and provided them with medicine. Her knowing that they were the Phantom Thieves didn’t change a thing for Saes case. “We’ve been roughed up pretty bad, so we needed some time to heal and rest. All of us decided to lay low for that time. We were worried that some of the remaining followers of Kaneshiro would come looking for us for revenge.” he snorted “Turns out that it wasn’t just them.”

“So you stayed in hiding for over two months?” Sae asked, disbelievingly.

Ren shook his head “We avoided the public for a while, yes. But inbetween doing Kaneshiro and Okumura, we had to put out another fire.”. He sighed “It was you and Akechi, who set Medjed on our trail, didn’t you?”

Saes eyes grew wide. “They found you?”

Ren nodded “Yup. And it was a hell of an effort to stop them from telling you.”

Sae turned angry again when she slammed her fist onto the table once more “That’s impossible. They would have had to tell us.”

“But instead they told you that they couldn’t find Alibaba, didn’t they?” Ren asked. “At least that’s what we settled on in the end...”

Sae glared at him.

Ren smirked at her “They pulled a pretty dirty trick to draw us out too. I never quite understand their whole plan but I can guess how it went down now: During your investigation, you realized that a hacker must have been involved. United Future/Akechi made contact with Medjed because who would know anything about hackers if not them, right? Medjed narrowed their search down to the only one they could think of, which was Alibaba. And Alibaba had been on their Wanted-list for a while. So you told them to find Alibaba so you could interrogate her about the rest of us and after that, Medjed would get to keep her so they could finally lock her up for the most ridiculous reason ever. But – and here’s the thing that probably saved our asses – you two only asked Medjed to locate Alibaba, not all of us.”

Saes face turned dark. She seemed pissed.

“If I’m correct in my assumption and you started investigating pretty early after the event, then the word about the Phantom Thieves hasn’t exactly exploded yet, so you felt that finding the hacker was the best way to go. When Medjed started looking, they figured out everything about all of us. Since you only asked for Alibaba though, they actually addressed the Phantom Thieves to deliver her to them.” he noticed Saes white knuckles as she clenched her fists. He couldn’t help it, even if she broke his nose a second time, he had to chuckle. “Holy shit. That’s some bad luck for you.” maybe he was starting to go insane, but he full-on laughed when he said “They had all of our names and even our location! And all they used it for is threatening us! What are the odds?!”

Sae flung a folder against the wall in anger. Ren struggled to stop laughing about the insanity of all of this.

“Oh come now, don’t be mad. We’ve actually had to dig up quite some dirt to achieve that. About your fancy client nonetheless.” Ren smirked, feeling cocky all of a sudden without exactly knowing why. He was still tied to a chair with a broken nose and at the mercy of Sae, who he should actually try and convince that they were likeable.

Sae slammed her hand onto the table once more before she hissed “I don’t care what stories you are going to dish up.” she took a deep breath and continued “Just tell me how you stumbled over Okumura. He was far out of your territory. What made you choose him as your next target.”

“After we got back from our Medjed-adventure, we decided that it was time to take up some smaller tasks again. We started helping all those little settlements deal with shadows and other issues. Hermes even set up a bulletin-board, where people could post requests. Somehow, the Phantom Thieves blew up and suddenly everyone seemed to be a fan and wanted something from us. Most were serious requests while some of them were outright crazy and over-the-top. We made sure to respond to all of them.”

“After Medjed had told me that they failed to capture Alibaba, I started to ask around myself. Back then, everyone seemed to know you.”

“And that’s how you made the profiles, right?” Ren asked.

She nodded. “I’ve had a few descriptions of a short girl with orange hair and a computer. At some point, I just assumed that she was Alibaba.”

“You were right.”

Saes face twitched in anger once more. That series of unfortunate events with Medjed still didn’t seem to let her go. “Continue.” she growled.

“Again, we didn’t plan on doing something big. We just… lived on, helped a few people and thought that this would be it. But then the new set of explosions happened.”

Sae went through her notes again “You are talking about the series of attacks on various larger settlements that happened about a month ago?”

Ren nodded “We believed that a settlement near us was on that hit-list too but they found the bomb and managed to disable it in time. When we went there and took a look at it, we saw where the components had come from.”

“Okumura Industries.”

“Exactly. You already know that Haru Okumura is one of us, so I guess you can imagine how shaken she was. The only reason we went there was because she asked us to take her.”

“About a year ago, Haru Okumura ran away with a group of hired bodyguards on her wedding day.”

“I already saw your notes. The blonde guy in question was Skull.” Ren cut to the chase.

Sae wrote it down. Ren wasn’t sure, but he thought that he heard her grinding her teeth. “And now you took her back.”

Ren nodded “She wanted to ask whether her father had known what the components he had sold were used for. Adding up to that was that we heard allegations of Okumura mistreating his workers. So we drove there and did some investigating in the town nearby before we went on to the factory to call out Okumura. What was bad for us, was that Okumura remembered us too and since we already stood in his home, he wanted to keep us with him to put us to work in his factory. Haru offered to stay with her father and to do everything he asked of her if he let us go and he agreed.”

“So you had another of your team-mates trapped and again you decided to intervene.”

“Haru had given herself up to free us. There was no ransom to be paid or anything. She thought that she would have to live with her father now and marry who he told her to marry, just like he had done before. But I see the similarity too. Aside from our friend being trapped in there, we still wanted to check out those rumors about Okumura eliminating the competition and treating his workers like slaves.” Ren said. “We got kicked out of the compound and since everyone knew our faces, it would have been impossible for us to get in. So we had to get someone on the inside to work undercover. Okumura treated his workers horribly. There wasn’t enough food and sometimes people would die from exhaustion or because they got beaten to death by the guards. Except for three days a month, they were forced to work every day, no matter if they were injured or not.”

Sae flipped through her file “The activity of the Phantom Thieves exploded over the last two weeks before the fire at Okumura Industries. Before that, you were nothing but a myth in that region. Even after you visited in person, they still didn’t know that you were the Phantom Thieves.”

“We never introduced ourselves as them. I think most of the people wouldn’t have believed us. At one point, we just didn’t want to tell them because we didn’t want our age to harm our cause.” Ren replied. “So we let them believe that we were just their spokespeople.”

“Wherever I went, there was a newspaper called the “Phantom Resistance”. Were you the one publishing it?”

“We had assistance of a reporter. She conducted interviews with the people passing through and spread stories about what happened inside of the factory. We thought that we needed to show people, so they would want to change something. But for them to want to stand up for themselves, we needed to help them with the shadows threatening their homes. So we did that. And spread the word.”

“Then who instigated the rebellion on the inside?” Sae asked.

“Hermes did.” Ren smirked. “He posed as a worker and got to know the people. While he was working there, there were two shifts of workers who went home for the weekend and that’s where they heard about our deeds and where they saw our message. They took that back to work and told others. After an old man was beaten to death by the guards, everyone decided that it was enough and decided to go through with the plan.” Ren shifted in his seat. Everything in his body started to hurt from the uncomfortable position he was in. “Again, we didn’t plan on killing anyone. The plan was to cause a peaceful walkout. The guards were to be taken out but not killed.”

Saes face turned angrier again “You said the same about Kaneshiro and yet both of those stunts went by with hundreds dead.”

“We don’t know how that happened! With no word did we ever mention that the factory should go up in flames!” Ren argued. “I know it sounds crazy and like I’m grasping for straws, but I think that someone is trying to pinwhat happened at Okumura Industries on us!”

Sae forcefully got up from her chair and glared down at him “I don’t have to believe anything you say. All those stories that you dished up, they sound like cheap fiction. My client has lost two associates and you seem to be more than well-versed in evading investigations and murdering people.”

“I can’t deny that we have taken some lives at Kaneshiros bank but doesn’t it matter at all under which circumstances we had to take them?” Ren replied. “If you don’t care, then why did you hear me out on my “crazy” story?”

“Because I wanted to hear your pathetic excuses. Don’t believe for a second that I was going to change my mind and actually switch sides.”

Ren flinched. This wasn’t going well. “Your client… United Future… I don’t know what they are up to, but they were the reason for the whole Shadow Infestation!”

Sae snorted with distaste “United Future is set to restore and rebuild our old world!”

“Because they destroyed it in the first place!” Ren yelled. “Sae, you have to listen to me!”

Sae gathered her files and took one last disgusted look at him “I don’t have to do anything you say.” she walked out the door and slammed it shut behind her, leaving Ren in complete silence and almost darkness.

Panic started to rise in him as he started thrashing in his chair but apparently Akechi knew how to do knots. He let out an annoyed groan. This couldn’t be the end. He couldn’t lose like this. He wasn’t used to not being able to charm people with his words or get them to believe him. He pulled at his restraints to no avail.

It felt like hours of thrashing and pulling to no avail had passed when the door opened once more. Ren stopped and looked at Akechi with dropped eyelids “Oh. It’s you again.”

“Were you hoping for your little friends to save you?” Akechis mean face was back.

“Nah. I know that they’re following our plan.” Ren shrugged before he said “You probably didn’t want us to realize that you worked for United Future before this whole thing, right?”

To Rens disappointment, Akechi was able to keep his surprise in check. “I will admit that that was something that I haven’t planned on sharing with you.”

“Too bad for you, that some of us have seen your very aggressive handwriting before.” Ren said.

That actually seemed to intrigue the detective. The corner of his mouth twitched when he asked “Is that so?”

“You were in contact with Okumura, right?” Ren grinned and enjoyed the moment. “Acting as the middle-man between the henchman of United Future and Okumura himself, right? Telling him who to attack next?”

This time it was Akechis turn to smile again when he said with the most evil smirk up-to-date yet “Oh, so you haven’t figured everything out yet.”

Ren squeezed his eyes shut when a surge of pain went through his head, combined with a surge of memories.

“ _A bird…. But maybe something smarter...”_

“ _G…. or…. C?”_

It made so much sense. His eyes flew open again “You’re the Crow.”

“Congratulations.” Akechi said and leaned against the table. “It’s too bad that it won’t help you anymore.”

“Really cocky of you to just hint at it before we were on our way...” Ren said through gritted teeth “A bird. But maybe something smarter...” he imitated the detectives sweet and evil voice. How did he never wonder about this pointless conversation? “Does “Sae-san” know too?”

Akechi shook his head and sighed theatrically “No. I got her the job, but she doesn’t know about my affiliation.”

“And the entire story about you believing in us was just made up so we would come with you, right?”

“Your little trip of self-justice couldn’t be of less importance to me.” Akechi spat. “What broke your neck in the end was the people that you upset with it.”

“It’s not like we knew in advance...” Ren replied “Not that it would have changed anything. Whoever you’re working for has built himself a real network of assholes.”

Akechi chuckled “And you haven’t even met all of them. But you won’t get to.”

Ren forced to maintain eye-contact with Akechi when he asked “So you won’t deliver me to your client?”

Akechi smirked “I’m afraid that a different fate will come upon you.” he reached inside his coat and pulled out a gun. “My philosophy has always been that loose ends should be tied up for good.”. He pulled back the hammer on his revolver with a scary smirk.

Suddenly Ren was able to connect the dots. “It was you. You blew up the factory because Okumura would have been a loose end if he actually came around and wanted to be better.”

“Okumura knew too much.” Akechi stated, still pointing the gun at Ren. “He would have been a threat, if he started talking about our plans. So I had to dispose of him. But noone would have believed that the heiress would shoot her own father.”

“And so you blew up the entire factory because that would make it look like it was the Phantom Thieves and the resistance that they had started.” Ren summed up.

“Precisely.” Akechi smirked “I have to say, I haven’t felt like talking to someone eye-to-eye in a while.”

“If you untie me, I can give you an eye for an eye.” Ren replied.

Goro chuckled “I wouldn’t count on that. We both seem like we constantly get underestimated. And you forget that I’m the one holding the gun.”

“It’s kinda hard to forget that...” Ren said and nodded at the barrel pointed at his face.

“No matter how intriguing I find you as a person, people like you and your friends will always stand in the way of United Futures vision.”

“What are United Futures grand plans anyway?” Ren asked with an eye-roll. “Did you find some new creatures to release into our world?”

Akechi chuckled “I’m impressed. Here I was, thinking that you were just some idiots trying to play heroes.”

“Thanks… I guess...” Ren replied.

“That makes it even more necessary to dispose of you and your friends. Although if I had to make a guess, I’d say that chopping off the Hydras head will already do the job to send everyone running around like beheaded chickens.”

“You’re giving them a lot less credit than they deserve.” Ren replied. “They don’t need me.”

“Oh, but they would blindly seek revenge for your death, wouldn’t they?” Akechi smirked “The ever so impulsive Skull… And I guess losing her boyfriend would cause even the most level-headed Queen to forget her good manners...” he sighed theatrically “Not to mention what it would do to all the others. The man who had taken you in when you had nowhere to go and his adoptive-daughter? Panther, who would lose both her boyfriend and best friend… The Okumura Heiress, who you convinced that leaving her noble life was for the best… The artist that you’ve helped finding his purpose. And we haven’t even started to talk about the two kids…” his eyes narrowed while his mouth was still smiling “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them would lose their will to live, especially since all of you are so repulsively relying on each other for everything. And for those trying to act strong, well, I found you once.”

Ren grimaced. He hadn’t told them to not seek revenge in case anything happened to him. He had been so sure that he would just be transported to United Future and be a captive that he hadn’t thought about the possibility that he died in here. It was unnecessary to wonder whether Ryuji would really go on a revenge-spree. Ren had no doubt that he would. Back after Kaneshiro, things had been different. But if Ren got murdered while being a hostage, Ryuji would without a doubt come to tear the place apart. He had no idea if Akechi was a good shot but he analyzed things and Ryuji was a hothead. And if Ryuji died, it would destroy Ann. Tears started to run from Rens eyes when he imagined Futaba, Morgana and Haru crying. But most of all, it hurt to think of Makoto. He had walked into this place knowing that he would be captured but he had never thought about dying here. But now here he was, staring into the barrel of Akechis revolver.

He smiled that toenail-curling smile when he said “It almost pains my heart. Maybe, if we hadn’t been on opposing sides… I could imagine us actually getting along. But I’m afraid that this is where your justice ends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the little delay in the upload, but here it is. The interrogation and Akechis true reveal, although all of you seemed to have already known without me saying it ;)
> 
> Sae and Ren weren't exactly off to a good start, so now everything depends on the younger Niijima. And Akechi wants to kill Ren but this time there is no Metaverse to protect him...


	72. A Shift In The Scales

“It‘s been an hour...“ Morgana stated. They had sat by the car in complete silence. Twenty minutes after Ren had left, Haru, Futaba and Yusuke returned to wait with the others. Noone had dared to speak during that time.

“What now?” Ann asked as she nervously fidgeted with the leather string around her wrist.

“Now Queen goes in. Right?” Ryuji asked. The two blondes had been sitting shoulder to shoulder in the loading space.

Makoto nodded.

“So shall we go and disable the security-systems again?” Yusuke asked.

Makoto shook her head “No. Let her know that I’m coming.”

Morgana climbed to his feet “But… you’d have to go through the front anyway...”

“And it’s completely dark in there. What if they shoot first and ask questions later?” Haru asked.

“Or if there is other safety-measures that Akechi hadn’t informed us about.” Yusuke brought up.

“Hmm...” Futaba pondered “I think I’ve seen a side-entrance marked on the maps… That’s gotta be why there’s cameras there.”

“Ya think they’re open?” Ryuji leaned over the railing.

“Only one way to find out.” Futaba shrugged. “Inari, how are your landscapes?”

Yusuke raised an eyebrow “I haven’t practiced them in a while.”

“Eh, it’ll have to do.” she waved off.

“What’s your plan?” Ann asked, suspicious.

“Something fitting for a break-in into a casino.” the hacker snickered. “But I propose that we move the car a bit closer.”

Makoto carefully drove the car up to the crossing that led to the casinos street and parked around the corner. Futaba walked everyone to the beginning of one of the side-alleys to peek around.

“Bingo. There’s your way in. If I remember the map correctly, then this should lead you to a staircase that will bring you all the way up.” she explained while one after the other took a peek.

“But if those cameras have motions-sensors, then they would alarm them straight away..” Ann objected.

Futaba pulled out her binoculars and looked down the alley. “Nope. No motion sensors on the cameras. They must trust that noone comes through that door.” she turned around to Yusuke “So Inaris job will be to draw the empty side-alley, so we get enough time to crack the lock without anyone seeing on the feed.”

“But… I don’t have my color-palette with me...” Yusuke stammered.

“I’m pretty sure that those are black and white.” Futaba replied.

Yusuke sighed and pulled out his sketch-book. He took a few looks at the side-alley before he started sketching with his pencil “It’s a challenge because I don’t see the angle that I have to paint.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s you.” Futaba stated to everyones surprise.

“The camera is a bit higher up though… How do you intend to place it?” Haru asked.

Ryuji and Ann exchanged a look before the blonde boy smirked “We got this. Leave it to us.”

Morgana looked at Makoto, who was nervously toying with a strand of hair. “Are you ready, Queen?”

She squeezed her eyes shut before nodding her head.

Haru walked up to her and put her arms around her shoulders “If I was able to do it, then you can do it too, Mako-chan.” she whispered into her ear. “All of us are stronger than we think.”

Makoto took a deep breath and nodded once more. She didn't want to think about what would happen if it turned out that she wasn't as strong as everyone believed her to be.

“I am finished.” Yusuke said before ripping the page out of his notebook. “It’s not my proudest work but I believe that it will do.”

Ann took the drawing from him before she looked to the others “Who will open the door?”

Futaba patted Morganas head “I think it’s time for our master lockpick.” she grinned.

Ryuji nodded “Okay. Panther and I will go ahead and cover the camera. Queen and Morgana come in after we give the signal.”

Everyone nodded. The two blondes drew their hoods over their heads to hide their hair before approaching the camera with downcast faces. As they stood beneath the camera and out of its reach, the two gave a performance of their trick-stunt. As Ann stood on top of Ryujis outstretched arm, she attached Yusukes drawing to the camera lens with a piece of chewed gum before Ryuji dropped and caught her in his arms. He gave a thumbs-up to the others before he let Ann down again.

“Show-offs...” Morgana muttered as he and Makoto approached the door. He only had to bend down a little to inspect the lock. “It’s a tough one but I can do it.” he reached into his pocket to pull out a small pouch with his tools. “It’ll only take a few minutes.” he said before he went to work, his tongue sticking out of his concentrated face as he felt inside the cylinder with his tools to align all the pins in the right place. A wide grin spread on his lips when a satisfying _Click_ rang out as he turned the lock. The door swung open with a loud screech.

Ann looked at Makoto “Go get him back, Queen.” she said with a smile.

Makoto nodded “Don’t forget about the plan.” she said before she hurried inside.

As Makoto walked upstairs, she didn’t even know where to start. Should she go to her sisters private quarters? No, Sae had always hated that, even when they still lived under the same roof. If she recalled the map correctly, then the evidence room had to be on the other side of the building. She carefully leaned against the door to the first floor, only to find it blocked. Another safety-precaution, no doubt. She waved her flashlight around the staircase to find an alternative route. She sighed when she spotted the air-vent. After moving a crate underneath the lid, she carefully lifted the grating open and pulled herself inside while she held her flashlight with her teeth. She thought that all of this should better not be for naught as she pulled herself through the vent on her stomach.

The first exit she found led to a hallway. She carefully pushed open the grating before sticking her head out to check for someone close by. When the air was clear, she carefully gripped the edge and slowly started to slide out. What was planned to be elegant ended up in her plunging towards the floor face-first. After gathering herself again, she quickly moved behind a pedestal that had an empty flower-pot on it to shield herself from view. She was glad that noone had seen that. The thought of her - unwanted - reunion with her sister being her plummeting down from the ceiling like an amateur would have been too embarrassing for her to handle. She waited for a few moments but when she heard absolutely nothing, she decided to leave her cover.

Makoto slowly walked along the hallway and occasionally put her ear to a door to listen for any action going on in one of the rooms. By the time she reached the center-staircase, that Ren must have climbed just slight over an hour ago, and still hadn’t come across anything, she decided to go to the place that she remembered as the evidence room.

As she got closer she noticed that the door was open and a faint light came from the inside. She almost had a hand on the door when she heard paper rustling. Makoto took a deep breath before slowly pushing the door open to silently slip inside.

Her sister was standing at a huge conference-table with her back towards the door and therefore didn't notice her enterin. Makoto had to stifle a gasp. Judging from her backside, nothing had changed. Sae was thin but she had always exuded a certain power that noone dared to challenge. Her clothing style was still similar to hers, or was it rather that Makotos style was still like Saes? After all, the older Niijima had been the first to dress like this. Her younger sister had only followed in her footsteps, like she had done so many other times in her life. Something about Makoto watching Sae work from the shadows reminded her of their time in Jinbocho, when the younger Niijima-girl would follow her older sibling around, watching and admiring her power and strength. The young Makoto had had no idea what true strength was. It certainly wasn’t what her and Saes job had been under Kobayakawa. Strength was making tough decisions for yourself. Strength was following through on what you stand for. Strength was Ren, who had been ready to sacrifice himself so that his family could flee. But she wouldn’t let that happen. She had promised that she would do anything to get to spend more time with him. And if that meant facing her past in the shape of her sister, so she would do it.

And yet still, as she watched Sae Niijima leaning over the table, completely invested in her documents, all she could do was whisper “Sis...”

The older Niijima whirled around. Her features were cold but they changed when she processed who was standing in front of her. “Makoto..?” she gasped, disbelieving and maybe even a bit relieved.

Makoto shut the door and nodded before she took a few steps towards her.

“You… You really are a part of them...” Sae looked shocked.

Makoto nodded “I am.” She took a deep breath before saying “You have to let him go, Sis.”

“No you need to get away from this mans bad influence. I don’t know how he roped you in but I have sworn to deliver him and the rest of his group to my client.”

“Then you will have to deliver me too. I’m their second-in-command.” Makoto replied.

“No.” Sae walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder “You are not to blame for this, Makoto. You were played by Joker and you didn’t know better. I will keep you out of my investigation and you’ll stay with me from now on. You’ll be safe again.”

Makoto took a step back “I wasn’t played by him. He and the others opened my eyes to what’s really important.” she argued.

Sae turned more serious “You don’t know what you are talking about. These people are killers and terrorists.”

“WE are not!” Makoto replied “Everything that went down at Kaneshiros bank was because I made a reckless mistake and was taken hostage! The others never intended to turn it into a blood-bath but we had to fight for our lives. Kaneshiro wasn’t a good man. He blackmailed innocent people and he ran a slave-business.” she looked into Saes cold eyes “How can you say that WE were in the wrong for stopping someone like that?”

Her sister actually seemed surprised about her speaking up. Now that she thought about it, it must have been the first time in her entire life, that she voiced her disagreement. “If you keep insisting that you are a part of them, I can’t protect you. I’m here because I was hired to find the people responsible for the massacres at Kaneshiros bank and Okumuras factory. If you are one of them, then you are my enemy. I’m not here to determine who was right and who was wrong. I was hired to find the people who did it.”

“How can you say that?!” Makoto asked, devastated “How can you be our fathers daughter and say that you don’t care about what’s right and what’s wrong? Have you learned nothing from him?!”

Sae got angry when she snarled back at her “The only thing that our father taught me was that it shouldn’t be worth fighting for justice when there’s no way of winning. What good will doing the right thing do you, if someone locks you up for it or even kills you?”

“I will still know that what I did was right.” Makoto said.

“You’re just like him.” Sae spat. “An idealist to the end. Did I not tell you to stop being naive?”

“Maybe being like him isn’t so bad, compared to being like you.” Makoto fired back with shaking knees. “You couldn’t get over the fact that father left us alone so you demonized everything he stood for without ever thinking about what he might have been right about!”

“Why should I idolize a man who would leave behind his daughters to help some strangers only to DIE in the process?!” Sae was close to screaming. Her eyes were ablaze.

“Maybe not everything he did was right but ever since I joined the Phantom Thieves… I was able to help people who weren’t able to help themselves. And it felt good. I understand how father must have felt now. Have you ever done something that seemed so small to you but it meant the world for someone else?” Makoto tried to bargain.

Sae glared at her “I have prepared everything in Jinbocho for you! Your life was made because of me and you decided to run off with some punks? I’ve done everything for you!”

Makoto balled her fists “You have done NOTHING for me but constantly berate and intimidate me! Everything You made me into another You before you grew tired of everything and decided to ditch me!” she didn’t know why she was crying but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “You have never even considered that anything I said could be worth thinking about! You made me believe that all I should do was follow orders and nod along to everything I was told without ever questioning if what I did was right! You don’t get to say that I threw away my life because I went with them. My real life only began the day that I walked away with the Phantom Thieves.”

Sae seemed too perplexed to say anything.

But Makoto wasn’t done “I’m not the same girl that you left behind in Jinbocho. I fought dozens of shadows. I had to kill someone to save my own life and the lives of the people I care about. You don’t know who I am but I promise you that you will. If you sell us out to United Future without even listening to what we have to say, I will never stop fighting you.”

“Are you threatening me, Makoto?” Sae glared.

“I’m asking you to listen to me, Sis. And to really think about what you think is right.” Makoto said. “I promise that I will tell the truth.”

Sae continued to glare at her younger sister before eventually nodding “Alright. I’m willing to listen to your objections.” she leaned against the conference-table. “Joker said that your two cases before Kaneshiro went over peaceful. Is that true?”

Makoto nodded “The Phantom Thieves were never out to kill. Kaneshiros bank was the first time that a plan failed and we found ourselves fighting for our lives.”.

“What really happened at Okumuras factory?” Sae asked without giving away anything about how she felt. 

“We still don’t know. I have no explanation as to why the entire compound blew up but we believe that we have been set up to make the public believe that we killed Okumura along with all his personnel and guards.”

Sae cast a sideways glance to her documents before saying “If you are referring to the many newspapers, I can confirm that they were issued by my client to flush you out.”

“Do you know that United Future was the reason for the Shadow Infestation?”

Saes eyes went wide “That’s… exactly what Joker said too...”

“Because it’s true. We don’t know what happened but Alibabas mother was close to finding everything out before United Future had her murdered. The only reason why Medjed agreed to help you was because they are afraid of United Futures wrath. They seem to be holding infinite power!”

“Goro was the one to propose to involve Medjed...” Sae muttered.

“Did you know that Akechi works for United Future?” Makoto asked.

Sae raised an eyebrow “I know that he has contacts there but he’s a detective...”

Makoto shook her head “He’s not. Okumura was working with a hired henchman from United Future to get rid of the competition. And the middle-man between Okumura and the so-called Crow was Akechi. I believe that he’s just acting as a detective to hide his real connection to them.”

Sae looked confused “That’s… impossible… we were working together on this case since spring...”

“Has Akechi been gone for days in a row?”

“Yes… but that’s when he went to conduct interviews...” Sae suddenly stammered as she didn’t seem too sure of herself.

“Then you can’t know for sure that that was all he did.” Makoto replied.

“But… Goro…”

“Sis, Goro was the one who led us here. He found our hide-out and pressured us into this break-in. He pretended that it needed to happen so we could buy ourselves some time to slip away. From you. He laid out this trap to capture us.”

“That’s insane. Why would he go behind my back to lead you here anyway?” Sae asked.

“I don’t know. But don’t you think that it’s suspicious?” Makoto stared into her sisters eyes “Sis, please. You have to see that there is more happening in the background and that the Phantom Thieves are just a small cog in a machinery that’s been too big to grasp so far. United Future can’t be trusted and Goro Akechi can’t be either. Please. If you don’t want to call it justice then at least think of it as an incomplete case." as she looked into her sisters cold eyes that didn't give away a thing of what happened inside of Saes brain, she started to cry again. If that didn't do the trick, then nothing would. She was close to sobbing when she whispered with a hitched breath "Please! I beg you to open your eyes. The Phantom Thieves aren’t the problem. Sis... Please... You can't hand him over to them.. I beg you.”

Sae crossed her arms in front of her chest and asked “You claim that Goro Akechi, someone I’ve been working with for over a year, is lying to me without me noticing it?”

“I do.”

“Then get out of here.”

Ren was staring down Akechis revolver. He had always thought that he would go out with a cocky smile and a snide remark but now he couldn’t stop his eyes from tearing and he felt less than cool. Akechis psycho-smirk didn’t exactly help his mood either.

He flinched when he heard a Bang. When he realized that he was still breathing, he dared to open his eyes and realized that someone had ripped open the door. He didn’t exactly know how to feel when he saw Sae, illuminated from behind like an angel with a briefcase in hand. At least it had gotten Akechi to nervously tuck away his gun again.

“Sae-san.” Akechi politely said but Ren could tell that it was lined with nervousness “Is something wrong?”

“I’ve already made contact with our client. I’ll be delivering our prisoner right now.”

“Oh! Well, that was fast.” Akechi fought hard to push down his disappointment. “Then I shall come with you.”

“No, it’s okay. I need you to sort the evidence-room.” Sae replied.

“Sae-san, he is a dangerous criminal. I can’t let you go alone with him.” Akechi tried to argue like a gentleman.

“Goro, I am more than capable of transporting a tied-up teenager.” Sae shut him down. If Ren hadn’t been the tied-up teenager in question, he probably would have laughed at the burn. Sae bent down and untied his legs from the chair before grabbing him under his arm to pull him to his feet. “I will see you in a few days.” with that she marched Ren out into the hallway and downstairs but instead of going through the casino-floor, she walked him through a back door where a delivery-van was waiting. Sae slid open the back door and pushed Ren into the cargo-space before she climbed into the drivers cabin. Ren saw nothing but darkness when the car started moving, bringing him to an unknown destination.

Makoto was nervously pacing up and down beside the car as they stood and waited at the coordinates that Sae had told her to wait in before she left the casino again. It was dark and the only lights were those of their car, casting two cones into the otherwise dark and deserted city. Everyone else was on the verge of bursting too, especially since even Makoto herself didn’t know what would happen next.

“I… hear a car approaching!” Morgana called out all of a sudden.

As everyone strained their ears, they did indeed hear the engine-sounds of an approaching car.

Ryuji reached for his shotgun as everyone stared into the direction that the sound came from. He raised his weapon when a black delivery-van rolled up to them, blinding them with it's headlights.

When Makoto recognized her sister sitting behind the steering-wheel, she motioned Ryuji to put his gun away. Her legs went weak again when she saw her sister sliding out of the drivers seat and walk around the car to look at her and the rest of the Thieves. “So you decided to trust me.” she eventually said.

“I hope you did the same.” Makoto replied as she tried her best to hold her stoic gaze.

Sae walked to the car and slid the door open.

When Makoto saw Ren carefully staggering out of the car, her breath hitched. His forehead was bloody and the strands of hair that hung into his eyes were covered with dried blood. There were two streams of dried blood running from his nose and his clothes had specs of dark-red on them. It brought tears to her eyes to see him like this but what made her cry even more was when their eyes met across the distance and she thought that she saw a small spark of relieve. Behind his back, Sae was untying his hands. They started walking towards each other at the same time and met in the middle. She didn’t care that her sister was watching when she cupped his bloody face with her hands before moving in to kiss him.

Ren was a bit surprised about Makotos reaction. Open love-confessions didn’t seem like something that she would do in front of her sister but now that she made the first step, he felt that he didn’t need to be scared of getting his arms broken by Sae Niijima as he wrapped them around Makotos waist. When they parted lips to look at each other, he noticed that she was crying.

She carefully raised her hand to brush his hair out of his face and flinched when she looked at the laceration on his forhead.

“Yeah… Apparently Akechi was really looking forward to whacking me and I hit my head on a table on my way down...”

“And what happened to your nose?” she asked.

“Let’s say that I deserved that one...” Ren waved off.

Makoto decided to ignore that for now and went for another kiss.

“You did it.” Ren muttered against her lips. “I’m so proud of you.”

Makoto shook her head “I feel like the evidence spoke for itself in the end...”

Ren shook his head “But it was you who made her see it.”

When Makoto stepped back, Ryuji was the first one to welcome him back with a playful shove and a grin on his face “Glad to have you back in one piece, man.”

Ren managed a weak smirk “They tried. Guess I have a tough face.”

Next up was Morgana, who already had a grin on his face before he said “Looking not so cool, Joker.”

“Get outta here.” Ren smirked before flicking the boys forehead. “How long have you been sitting on this one?”

“Really long… even before Kaneshiro...”

“And you didn’t say it back there?”

“I… I would have, if you hadn’t been unconscious..” Morgana shot back. Both of them chuckled before Morgana eventually flung his arms around Rens waist. “I’m glad you’re back, Joker.” he mumbled. “We were worried.”

Ren patted the kids head. “It’s all good now.”

The next one clinging to him was Futaba before everyone settled down again. An uncomfortable silence spread as the Phantom Thieves stared at Sae Niijima, who seemed to watch them while leaning against her car. But she wasn’t just watching, she was analyzing. Even those who didn't know her could already tell that.

Makoto figured that since Sae was her sister, she needed to be the bridge between the Phantom Thieves and her. “Guys… This is my sister.”

To say that the Thieves were welcoming would have been an overstatement. Ryuji leaned against the truck and crossed his arms in front of his chest with a look of disapproval. The rest of the Thieves didn’t seem enthusiastic either.

Ann eventually looked to Ren again “So what’s next?”

To everyones irritation, it was Sae who spoke up instead “We don’t have much time. By telling Akechi that I would be delivering Joker to my client, I might have been able to buy a few days. If Akechi decides to mobilize his own contacts and realizes that I lied, we might have less.”

Ren looked at the others “By releasing me, Sae might have moved onto United Futures hit-list too. We’re in the same boat now.”

“And how do we know, that she’s really on our side?” Ryuji asked. “Now that all of us are together again, she could just easily sell us out.”

Sae shook her head “If your assumptions were correct and Akechi really is tighter connected to United Future than he wanted me to believe, then he will see my actions as betrayal and report it to them. I lied to him and took your leader away. How would I possibly get out of this lie?”

Futaba shrugged “I dunno… You’re smart…”

Makoto shook her head “We’re Niijimas. We might be smart but we’re bad at lying.”

The others still didn’t seem completely on board with the plan but seemed to trust Makotos analysis.

“Akechi is definitely up to his neck in United Future-business. He wasn’t just the one corresponding with the Crow, he IS the Crow.” Ren said.

“HIM?” Ryuji asked, wide-eyed. "For real?!"

“I knew that something was wrong with him!” Futaba exclaimed.

“He certainly exuded and aura of insanity.” Yusuke recalled.

“That sums it up pretty well.” Ren said. “He was about to shoot me but lucky for me, Sae showed up in the right moment. I was pretty sure that I would die.” he said it lightly but when he looked at the group, noone took it that way. Everyone stared at him in shock, most of all Makoto. He took a step towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He took a deep breath before saying “He’s also the one responsible for the death of Harus father. Akechi said that he had to be silenced because he knew too much. United Future was scared of him spilling their secrets after his change of heart. And to make it seem like it was our fault, he caused that explosion in the factory.”

Haru gasped. Beside her, Yusuke put his hand on her shoulder.

“That bastard...” Ryuji growled.

“I’m so sorry, Haru...” Ann reached out and touched her arm.

Haru took a shaky breath before saying “At least now we know for sure, that there was nothing that we could have done. Hermes will finally be able to fully rest, knowing that he did nothing wrong.”

Sae cleared her throat “I’m sorry for interrupting your reunion but we are sitting ducks if we keep standing around and chatting here.”.

Ren noticed how Ann shot daggers out of her eyes. If she noticed too, Sae made a pretty good job of not letting it get to her. “Right.” he said to deescalate a little. “Let’s go back to LeBlanc2 and regroup with the others. We can think of our next steps then.”

Everyone nodded and started to climb into the truck.

“There’s room in my van too, if you would like to split up.” Sae offered but it didn't really sound welcoming.

“We’re good.” Ann replied with a chill in her voice as she squeezed inbetween Futaba and Ryuji.

“I’ll ride with you, Sis.” Makoto said.

Ann threw a suspicious look over her shoulder as Haru started the car and started driving. She looked at Ren “Are we really trusting her? She’s been hunting us for half a year now and just like that she’s on our side?”

“And what’s with Makoto riding with her now?” Morgana asked.

“She better not be influenced by Her again and fall back into old habits...” Yusuke said.

“Guys… calm down. I know that Sae being on our side feels strange but if it weren’t for her, I would be dead now.” Ren said. “And I wouldn’t interpret too much into Makoto riding with her now. She’s her sister and there must have been some serious talking involved between them because I for sure did not help a lot with proving our cause to her...” Ren recalled how angry Sae had been when she stormed out of the interrogation. “I’m not saying that we’re treating her as one of our own yet, but at least don’t be mean to her.”

“Are you trying to suck up to your sister-in-law?” Futaba asked with a smirk.

“I think I have a lot to make up for, given that the first thing I did after telling her that her sister is one of us, was implying that I was sleeping with her...”

Ryuji and Futaba snorted with laughter while Ann and Morgana did a facepalm.

“So… the Crow that both Kaneshiro and Okumura knew… it was Akechi?” Ann asked after the others laughter had died down.

Ren nodded. “I don’t really understand, why he kept his affiliation with United Future a secret from Sae. If he had to keep at least both Okumura and Kaneshiro in check, he must have been traveling around a lot. Maybe he built up this disguise as a detective in case people started asking questions? He said that he helped Sae to get the job. Maybe he referred her so he could keep an eye on her investigations?”

“In the end, it seems like he had been able to figure out more from her clues than she had...” Yusuke said.

“But if Sae really is on our side now, then we still have crazy-Akechi on our tail.” Futaba said. “And by what you just told us, I’m not sure who I should fear more...”

“We definitely can’t underestimate Akechi. He’s insane but he’s also smart and that’s a damn annoying combination...” Ren said. “Even if we change our plan, we will still have to give up LeBlanc2.”

“Damn… I was hoping that we’d at least get to keep that...” Ryuji sighed.

“I hate changes….” Futaba huffed.

“I know…” Ren said. “I’m not happy either. But we’ll think about everything once we’re complete again.”. He threw a look over his shoulder to see the vans headlights following them. Would Sae staying with them really work? Even without adding that she was hunting for them for half a year now, she seemed to have already rubbed a few of them the wrong way with her rather direct and cold remarks. He shook his head. The most important thing was, that he was free and that all of them were together again. So far they've always found a solution together. This would be no different. At least that’s what he hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooof, Makoto had a lot of bottled-up feelings that she needed to throw at Sae but in the end it seems like it worked. Now with Sae moving from their biggest opponent to being their ally, we will see how that turns out. Not everyone seems super excited about their newest recruit. 
> 
> One person left to run from but the other one is still Akechi who could find out about Saes lie any minute. Once again, the Phantom Thieves won't have much time to act. This time for real.


	73. So Many Toes To Step On

Driving up to LeBlanc2 normally always sparked a happy feeling in the Phantom Thieves. But now, as they realized that this might be the last time that they drove this way, everything got a lot more depressing. As the two cars pulled up in front of the house in the morning light, the remaining 4 Phantom Thieves were already waiting for them, confusion on their faces as they stared at the second car following the pick-up truck.

Ren had almost forgotten how messed up his face must have looked but the aghast faces of Hifumi, Mishima and Shinya reminded him again. For some reason, Sojiro seemed unfazed by it.

Makoto and Sae walked up to the truck as the others climbed out. The younger Niijima felt the stares of everyone on both her and her sister as they probably tried to make sense of all their similarities.

Sojiro was the first to let out a chuckle “It’s two Niijimas….” he muttered before he looked to Ren “Seems like you’ve done something right, kid. Although it looks like you upset someone on the way.”

“You missed out on a lot. Makoto was able to get Niijima-san on our side but turns out that Akechi is a much bigger threat now.”

“A-.. Akechi?” Mishima squeaked “But wasn’t HE the one on our side?”

“That’s what he pretended to be so we would follow him directly to Saes hideout.” Ren explained. “What he hasn’t told us is, that he’s the Crow himself. United Futures man to do the dirty work.”

“Hermes, my fathers death wasn’t your fault.” Haru said. “Akechi murdered him after I left and set the whole factory on fire to make it seem like it was our fault.”

Mishimas lower lip trembled but he fought the tears for once. He didn’t want to immediately get the image of the wimp in front of the elder Niijima. She looked scary enough already.

“So our suspicions were correct?” Hifumi concluded. “The bad press was issued by Akechi too?”

“United Future made that happen.” Makoto said.

“So now that everything went different than first anticipated… What does that mean for the initial plan?” Hifumi asked.

Ren looked around and was about to start talking when Sae took over. “Now that we know that Akechi is our real enemy, all I could do was pretend that I was taking him to United Future.”

Ren quickly took over when he could feel the icy chill radiating from the Phantom Thieves. “Right. As soon as he finds out that that wasn’t the case, he’ll probably be pretty pissed.” he sighed as he looked at the house “Since he knows this place, we can’t stay here. And since we don’t know when he’ll find out that he was tricked, we need to act fast.”

“We packed as much as we could but there’s still a few things left.” Shinya reported.

“Are we really going along with splitting up?” Ann asked.

Ren shook his head “I know that that was the original plan but I don’t think that this would be for the best… If Akechi and who knows how many other men he has at his disposal start tearing through every town and settlement, we’d have no chance and even less so if we split up in pairs.”

“But finding a new place to stay with over 10 people could get complicated too...” Sojiro pondered.

Makoto looked to her sister “Sis, have you ever been to New New Shinjuku?”

Sae nodded “I’ve been there to question a few people, since this seems to be the origin of the original Phantom Thieves-myth.”

“But is there anyone that you “officially” connected as an ally of ours?” Makoto asked.

Sae shook her head “No. Everyone told a different story but they all seemed rather endorsing of the Phantom Thieves in a way.”

Ren smirked when he realized what Makotos plan was. “I see….”

“What?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“Going off the grid on our own again will be tricky and moving to a new town too suspicious.” Ren explained.

Makoto nodded. Their minds were working as one once more “So I propose that we seek asylum in New New Shinjuku. The entire town is secure and we have enough allies in there to keep a possible investigation away from us.”

Ren smirked at her “You ready to live with Princess again?”

Makoto crossed her arms in front of her chest with a smug grin “Are you? The last time she was pretty interested in your body-features.”

Ann leaned over to Haru to ask with raised eyebrow “What is happening?”

Haru giggled behind a raised hand “I don’t know. But I think it’s making her sister uncomfortable.”

“Go on then, I say.” Ann grinned.

Ren couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face when he looked at the others “We now have the benefit of two cars so I’d say all of us can go over our belongings one last time and see if there’s anything that’s too good to leave behind. Let’s leave this place a mess, so Akechi thinks that we had to leave in a hurry.”

“Yay!” Futaba cheered before running off to what Ren guessed to be the cellar.

Everyone else split up across the house in a more civilized manner before Makoto eventually led Sae inside. “So… this is where we lived...” she started.

Sae looked around the house before stating “It’s very run-down...”

“It was in dire need of repairs when we first came here. I think that we’ve done a good job with restoring it.” Makoto replied as she showed her the living room, where Morgana was packing up all the board- and card-games they had collected over the time. Makoto nodded when the kid threw an occasional glance over his shoulder to eye Sae. She decided that maybe she should break the ice between her sister and the other team-members. “Sis, this is Morgana.”

At the mention of his name, Morgana stood up and turned to face them.

Sae just nodded at the boy before saying “When I first heard that the Phantom Thieves had a kid with a slingshot traveling with them, I thought that peoples fantasy had run rampant. But now I see that you even have two children among you.”. It didn’t sound particularly mean and rather like a general observation, if the child-topic hadn’t been such a prickly subject for Morgana.

Makoto saw that Morgana was grumpy about her comment but apparently he didn’t dare to object to anything that Sae said. “Well, both of them are extraordinary and so much more than just kids!” she nervously replied, struggling to say the right things to appease Morgana. She reached for her sisters arm “Come on. I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

As they entered the kitchen, they found Sojiro packing stuff from the pantry into a crate along with a few pots and tools. “This is Boss. He was the one who took me and the rest of the core-8 in over the last years. He’s an amazing cook and he looked after all of us.”

“It must be hard to be surrounded by so many teenagers.” Sae probably tried to quip but maybe that wasn’t how it was received.

Sojiro tried to answer lightly but also failed when he replied “Well, someone’s gotta give all those kids a home when there’s no family around to do it.”

Makoto looked at Sae, scared that she might explode but instead her sister just looked like someone had slapped her. “Um… let’s go to the garden!” she nervously proposed before dragging her sister out of the kitchen again.

Outside in the chicken-coop sat Haru, looking gloomy as she patted MiLady.

Makoto was about to speak when Sae motioned her that she got this “Miss Okumura.”

Haru flinched at the formal address before she turned around to look at the two Niijimas. “Niijima-san.” she courteously replied.

“I am very sorry about your loss.” Sae bowed.

Haru nodded “Thank you. I appreciate it.”. She turned back to the chickens with a sad look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Haru?” Makoto asked and walked up to her.

“It’s just… Now that we have to leave, what are we going to do with the chickens?” Haru quietly asked. “We can’t just leave them here… They would starve to death. But if we set them free, they might get eaten by foxes or shadows. And we can’t give them to anyone else either...” she let out a deep sigh. “It’s already bad enough, that I have to give up my vegetable-garden...”

“Is now really the right time to think about the well-being of chickens?” Sae consciously walked up to Makoto. “We have a huge network that’s out for our lives. Don’t you think that that’s a little bit more important than your four chickens?”

Haru gasped and Makoto felt like sinking into the ground. This wasn’t going well at all. What was her sister thinking? How should they work together, if she managed to upset everyone with her rather harsh and direct demeanor?

“How… How can you say something like that?” Haru looked horrified.

Makoto was quick to place her hands on the kneeling Harus shoulder “I’ll-… I’ll think of something, okay? They won’t stay here.”

That seemed to calm Haru down a little. Makoto still didn’t miss the evil glare that the usually so kind-hearted fluffy-haired girl shot after the older Niijima. She quickly led Sae back inside. They were almost at the staircase when they came across Futaba, who held a box full of cables and other tech-equipment in her hands.

“Yo Makoto, look how much more stuff I found to bring. To think that I would have had to leave all of those treasures behind… Insane!”

“That’s great.” Makoto smiled “Sis, this is Oracle. Or Alibaba. Or Futaba.”

Sae nodded once more. “Medjed told me that you are young but I had someone completely different in mind….”

While Futaba would have normally had a witty remark to that, now she was just quiet and threw her a look. “Looks can be deceiving.” she gave Sae a demonstrative look up and down before shrugging “Well, maybe not for everyone.”

Makoto had to admit that this time she was more surprised by Futabas reaction than Saes. But then she remembered something different that she had to take care of “Futaba, could you set up another meeting with Gunner at the last meeting point in an hour?”

Futaba looked to Makoto and said “Will do. Anything I should tell him?”

“Just tell him that it’s urgent. I think it would be for the best, if we inform him about the situation so that he can take precautions too.” Makoto said.

“Okeydokey. I’ll crack at it after I put the box in the car.” Futaba replied before walking off.

Sae turned to Makoto “Aren’t you the second-in-command? Is she always talking to you like this?”

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“Addressing you with Yo, ...”

Makoto shook her head “Just because I’m second-in-command doesn’t mean that we treat each other differently. This is more like a family than a gang. There’s not really a hierarchy.”

“Well that sounds ineffective. But I guess that also made it possible for you and Joker to start a relationship.” Sae noted.

Makoto started to regret bringing her more and more. “Um… Let’s just go upstairs.”

The two Niijimas found the door to Ryujis and Anns room open. The two blondes were packing clothes in their already messy room.

“Aaaand these are Skull and Panther. Or Ryuji and Ann. But you probably knew that already...” Makoto nervously announced.

Ryuji and Ann both looked up from what they were doing. They made it pretty clear that they were not amused about Saes presence. The normally so fiery Ann and the electric Ryuji both seemed to emanate ice now.

Sae looked around the room before her eyes stopped on the single bed with the tousled sheets. “You two are in a relationship too.” she didn’t even pose it as a question.

Anns face immediately turned into a scowl when she replied “Yeah. What of it?”

Sae shrugged “Nothing. You must have spent your whole lives together. Judging from the profiles that I was able to put together on you, I wouldn’t have imagined that you would take it this serious though.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ryuji frowned.

Makoto gripped her sisters arm and wanted to drag her away but Sae Niijimas tongue was faster “You two are both known to be impulsive. Judging off of that, I would have taken both of you more for the type for a One-Night-Stand.”

Ann looked like she was about to jump at Saes throat. She angrily held up her wrist “Well this doesn’t exactly scream One-Night-Stand, does it?” she hissed, acid dripping in her voice.

While Makoto had been there during Anns purchase of the two leather strings, the silver ring that was now dangling from hers came as a surprise to her too. “Ann...” she gasped and pointed at the ring that must have been far too big for her slender finger “… Is that…?”.

Ann shifted her focus to Makoto before saying “I can tell you about it later.” she didn’t even cast another look at Sae when she flicked her thumb in her direction “Maybe when She’s not around though...”

Makoto quickly shoved Sae out the door again. “What was that?!” she whined in despair.

“I was simply pointing out what my investigations have let me to believe about them.” Sae replied. “Those two are two of the most prominent Phantom Thieves. Many a witness that I have talked to claimed to have seen them quarreling on the job.” she shook her head “And what about their hair? I thought that the Phantom Thieves are trying to stay undercover.”

Makoto shook her head before quickly pushing her into the next room, where Hifumi was going through the closet one last time. “And this is Umbra. Or Hifumi.”

Hifumi looked up from the closet and bowed “It’s an honor to meet you, Niijima-san.”

“You are the Shogi-player.” Sae recalled.

Hifumi nodded.

“Nowadays, she is our strategist.” Makoto explained.

“I see.” Sae nodded “I suppose your background with Shogi does give you the unique ability to look at a battle from a birds-eye-view.”

“I… would like to think so too.” Hifumi reluctantly agreed. “I’m just happy to be able to help out however I can.”

“I heard that your mother is still alive. What made you choose this life over reconnecting with your mother?”

Hifumi took a step back and stared at Sae with wide eyes “Oh… uhm… I’m sorry…. My mother and I have a difficult past...”

Makoto couldn’t believe that Sae actually managed to upset everyone with her pointed questions. The more she watched her sister, the more she wondered how much alike she used to be when she first joined them. After all, she used to be just a copy of Sae, who always needed to have the upper hand in conversation and felt like pointing out the flaws of others without caring whether it was true or not. Because if she had figured it out, why would it be different? She quickly walked Sae out the room again.

Yusuke was packing up his art-supplies in his room when Makoto introduced Sae “This is Fox. Or his real name, Yusuke.”

The lanky artist gave a polite nod before returning to stuffing his backpack with paintbrushes.

“The artist who went to study under Madarame.” Sae concluded.

Yusuke nodded.

“Can I ask about your time before you joined the Phantom Thieves?” Sae asked. “I was working on profiling everyones personal reason to join the group. I figured that everyone must have had some dramatic background but from what I hear, you grew up as a mere travelling artist. What drove you to join a group of vigilantes?”

Makoto gulped. Especially back at the Kaneshiro-case, he had been the one with the biggest doubts about the operation. How did Sae seem to be able to hit everyone in the exact spot where it hurt the most? Yusuke never would have voiced his objections but Makoto could see in his face that he thought Saes question rather rude.

“It is true, that I have been a traveling artist for my entire life. Back when I met Joker, Panther, Skull and Morgana, none of us knew that we would be doing this 2 years later.”

“But you went along, once it started.” Sae concluded.

Yusuke shot her a cold glare when he replied “Your sister was a part of our family for more than a year when she was taken hostage by Kaneshiro. Were we supposed to let her rot with that vile man?”

Sae shook her head “A very noble thought. It seems that a heroic spirit can be found in even the most peaceful looking people.”

Yusuke just looked irritated before he said “Joker said that the faster we leave the better. If you’ll excuse me, I will keep packing.”

“Of course.” Makoto nodded before she guided Sae out into the hallway, where they ran across Shinya. “And this is General, real name Shinya.” Makoto pointed.

Sae seemed to ponder over something before saying “You share a lot of similarities with Morgana. All this time I thought that there was only one young boy among you but now I see that maybe people have been talking about two different boys.”

“Oh, Shinya was mostly tasked with keeping the home-base safe.” Makoto explained. On missions outside, it was mostly Morgana with us.”

“Understandable. I’d say that bringing kids is already dangerous. Bringing two at that would just raise the risks.” Sae said.

Shinya furrowed his brow. “Hey. I’m not a risk.” he objected.

“How did you join the group?” Sae was already conducting another interview.

“They freed me from Kamoshida.” Shinya replied.

“And you just went with them?”

Shinya shrugged “Sure. I thought that what they were doing was cool and I wanted to stick around.”

“Don’t you have parents who worry about you?” Sae asked.

Shinya frowned “Why do you ask? From what I’ve heard you didn’t care for your sister over the last years either.”

That seemed to take Sae by surprise.

Shinya looked to Makoto “Oracle told me to tell you that Gunner is already on his way.”

Makoto nodded “Good. Can you tell Haru to get the chickens ready for transport?”

“Oh… okay.” Shinya nodded before hurrying downstairs again.

Makoto was about to walk to their room when she noticed Mishima sneaking to his. “Oh, Sis, you haven’t met Hermes yet. Mishima, this is my sis-” she didn’t get to finish her sentence for Mishima instantly fled and shut the door behind him. Judging that Mishima had just emerged from Anns and Ryujis room, she figured that they already had a story to tell about their encounter with Sae, probably causing Mishima to want to avoid his uncomfortable introduction at all costs. “Come on.” Makoto said to her sister “I’ll show you the room that I’ve been staying in.”

When she walked into Rens and her room, she saw him already standing by their closet, throwing clothes into a suitcase that they had found lying around the house. He had cleaned his face, so the only thing that still reminded of his imprisonment was his swollen nose and the caked blood on the laceration on his forehead, which was mostly covered by his now freshly washed hair.

“You were sharing a room too.” Sae noted as she looked at their bed and the various set of male and female black clothes.

Makoto decided to ignore the judgmental tone when she turned to Ren “I have set up a meeting with Iwai. I thought that we should inform him of the situation and also hand over the chickens to him, since we won’t be able to take them with us.”

Sae stared at her “You set up the meeting because of the chickens?”

Ren ignored Sae and looked at Makoto “Good idea. I’ll come along.”

Makoto nodded “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”. She led Sae out of their room and out of the house. She already had a suspicion that her sister would have a lot to say about her plan.

As soon as the door closed, Sae turned around and glared at her “You are endangering the entire operation to save four chickens?!” she asked, outraged.

Makotos knees were shaking when she nervously fidgeted with her fingers. This had always been the worst part. Sae towering over her, obvious disbelieve about something that Makoto had thought as a good idea. “He’s a close ally of ours and he’s done a lot to help us. He deserves to know what’s happening and that we are leaving. If Akechi starts asking around and targets people that are close to us, then we should warn them!”

“Your allies will realize soon enough when they’re being questioned.” Sae replied.

“Maybe that’s how you would have done things, but we’re different. We care about our allies.” Makoto tried to take a stand but she knew herself that if Sae had wanted to, she would tear her argument to shreds. “So yes. Ren and I will meet him and we will hand over the chickens. You stay here and at least try to not upset any more of my friends. Please.” she almost begged, desperately hoping that Ren would come soon, so that she could end the conversation this way.

Instead it was Haru, who walked out first, directly followed by Ren. In her hand, she held the crate that the chickens had come in half a year ago. The chickens were clucking in excitement and confusion and Haru was struggling with tears in her eyes when Ren took the crate from her hands. Haru looked at Makoto “Thank you, Mako-chan.” she said with a small smile. She bent down to poke her finger through the metal bars to scratch MiLady one last time “You be good, okay?” she told the animals with a trembling lip. When Ren and Makoto turned towards the gate, Haru quickly hurried inside, probably as to not spend any more time with Sae.

“This is a disaster...” Makoto sighed when the two were far enough away from the house.

“Everything is. You have to be a bit more precise.” Ren replied.

“My sister!” Makoto exclaimed.

“Ah. Did she tell you that she thought that you were my concubine?” Ren casually dropped.

Makoto stared at him “No...”

“Oh.”

Makoto sighed “I suppose it’s safe to say that she’s managed to step on everyones toes when I only wanted to introduce her.”

“There must be something in your Niijima-genes that makes it hard to want to meet you.” Ren said before turning his head to her with a smirk “Except for me. I was entranced from the first moment I saw you, stoically standing on those stairs in Jinbocho, looking like you owned the place.”

Makoto shook her head and sighed “She basically told Ann and Ryuji that they were to types to only mess around. You should have seen Anns face, she looked at her like-”

“Like she used to look at you?” Ren completed.

“I haven’t thought it possible but it was even worse.” Makoto said. “I… know that I used to think like Sis. But was I really this horrible? She rubbed absolutely everyone the wrong way!” she sighed. 

Ren shook his head “Well, you did introduce yourself by locking us up in your cellar. And now there’s a lot more people to upset. But I think what got her the first negative points was that she tried to assume the role of the leader. You know I’m not hot for the leader role but we all respect each other and even if your sister is on our side now, she’s not a part of our group. And her ignoring all of this and just taking the lead probably upset a few of them. Especially Ann.”

Makoto sighed “I don’t know what to do… My sister is probably an enemy of United Future too but what if she can’t be a part of us? She’s already tearing a rift through our group. But… she’s my sister too...” she shook her head.

“Hey...” Ren said. He would have liked to take her hand but he had to carry the crate of chickens. “Let’s just wait and see. In the end, it’s her decision. Although I have to say that we could use her intel on her work with United Future. Especially if we’re now officially hunted by them.”

Makoto sighed and nodded. She had feared that seeing her sister again would be a mixed bag but she hadn’t imagined everyone elses reaction as harsh as they ended up being.

When they arrived at the meeting point, Iwai was already waiting for them. When he looked at the crate in Rens hands, he raised an eyebrow.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much time.” Makoto said.

Ren nodded. “We’re in trouble and the location of our hideout has been compromised.”

“Dammit...” Iwai muttered. “What now?”

“It’s best if you don’t know where we go. There’s a possibility that people will come looking for us and our allies. You should make sure that the other townsfolk keep their mouth shut about you and us being tightly-knit. Whoever we’re up against, they’re no joke so you two should keep a low profile too.”

Iwai simply nodded.

Ren looked at the crate in his hands “We won’t be able to take these guys with us though…”

Iwai grimaced “Noir must be heartbroken.”

“She is.” Makoto nodded. “But I know that she’d feel a lot better if she knew that they move to a good home.”

The gunsmith nodded “I’ll see to it.” he took the crate from his hands.

“They make some great eggs.” Ren said before bending down to look at the excited chickens “Bye guys.”

“All of you be careful, okay?” Iwai said.

Makoto nodded “We will. You too.”

Iwai nodded and walked away towards Seiiki again. Makoto and Ren took a last deep breath before they turned around to walk back to LeBlanc2.

When they walked through the gates, they noticed that Saes delivery van was filled to the brim with stuff. Upon closer inspection, there even were a few mattresses in there. Ren was sure that one of them was Ryujis.

“Is everyone ready to go?” he asked with a heavy heart.

Everyone nodded but noone was particularly enthusiastic.

“Where will we even ditch the cars once we’re there?” Ryuji asked. “It’s not like we could park them in the back…”

“If I remember correctly, there could be a few garages. We’ll just have to go and see.” Ren replied.

“So this is really it...” Futaba muttered “We’re leaving LeBlanc2.”

Sojiro placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded.

The Phantom Thieves huddled up one last time in front of the house to look at what they had made their home over the last few months. There were so many memories in this place. Mostly good ones, but also dramatic ones. They had laughed and cried in these walls. They had been scared and they had been content.

Noone dared to talk as they just stood and stared. Only Makoto could feel her sister standing behind them, disbelieve in her aura. She knew that Sae wanted to tell them to get moving. When her sister cleared her throat, Makotos head spun around to shoot her a pleading look. To her surprise, Sae actually refrained from saying what must have been burning on her tongue.

After another minute of silence, everyone climbed into the white pick-up truck. Since Makoto would have to drive Anat, noone else wanted to ride shotgun with Sae, so the remaining 11 Thieves uncomfortably stacked themselves into the pick-up and slowly moved to the gate to build the head of the caravan.

Makoto was sitting on Anat and was about to put on her helmet when Sae walked up to her.

“How have you been able to stay undiscovered for so long, when everyone in this house is purely acting out of petty emotions?” Sae threw her hands in the air. “And that plan of yours to hide away in another settlement? How long until Akechi comes asking questions and one of those “loyal” people will spill some secrets?”

“It’s the only choice we have for now.” Makoto replied, her knees feeling shaky all of a sudden as she found herself struggling to justify their actions in front of Saes iron grimace once again.

“You have to stop clinging to each other. The less people you are, the easier it will be to disappear.” Sae said.

“Ren has a point too. If we split up, we will never hear from each other again. We wouldn’t even know if someone was discovered and killed by United Future!” Makoto replied.

“It won’t be your problem then.” Sae said.

Makoto looked at her with wide eyes “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe I used to think like you.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to return to this mindset.”

Makoto shook her head and replied, this time with a shaky voice “No. It’s not me who’s wrong. It’s you.”

Sae grabbed Makotos wrist “You are steering down the same path as our father, are you unable to see that? If you keep going like this, trusting your gut and thinking what you believe to be the best, it will only be a matter of time until one of you dies in the process.” she warned. “United Future is not some petty group of people. They have power! Power that a small group like the Phantom Thieves doesn’t have!”

Makoto pulled back her hand “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that you are nothing but a group of teenagers trying to play heroes. If you want to survive, then you should start listening to reason!” Sae angrily replied.

Makoto snapped her helmet shut. Having a barrier between her sister and her gave her a bit of courage when she said “For someone who keeps saying that we’re nothing but a group of naive teenagers, guided by our “petty” feelings, we surely achieved a lot. Wouldn’t you say so too, Sis?”. She didn’t wait for a response and started the engine. “Come on. You’ll need me to lead the way.”. Her hand was shaking on the throttle when she rolled the bike towards the gate. In the rearview she saw Saes angry face before she walked to her car. 

It was around midday, when the Thieves and their cargo arrived at New New Shinjuku. Ren steered the first car directly to the backside of what he hoped to be Eikos bar before he got out. There already was a guard marching towards them, looking suspicious.

“No parking here.” he growled.

“We’re kind of in a pickle and we’re seeking asylum. Could you maybe turn a blind eye for a minute, so I can go inside and make arrangements?” Ren asked.

The man raised an eyebrow at him “Are you armed?”

Ren shook his head.

The guard sighed and made a step to the side to let Ren enter. “I’m keeping an eye on you though..” he grumbled as he pointed to the rest of the Thieves.

At this time of the day, the street of New New Shinjuku was empty and also the bars. Ren was relieved, that the door to Eikos bar was unlocked. Downstairs, the bright lights were on. A girl was wiping tables while the runner of the establishment stood at the bar, polishing glasses.

He hopped onto one of the bar stools and waited until her attention shifted to him. “I’m sorry, we’re not op-” she stopped mid-sentence when she realized who was sitting in front of her. “Thank god you’re alive...” she gasped.

“So the rumors have reached you too, huh?”

“People are going crazy. First it started with how the Phantom Thieves killed Okumura and then everything became a witch-hunt….” Eiko replied.

“Too much has happened.” Ren had to agree. “And we’ve made some powerful enemies, which is why we had to give up LeBlanc2.”

Eiko put the glass down with wide eyes “No way.”

“That’s why we’re here. We’re seeking asylum.” Ren folded his hands on top of the bar “Would you take us in?”

“This is very dangerous.” Sae muttered as she leaned against the van, looking at the entirety of the Phantom Thieves sitting out in the open in a pick-up truck.

Everyones heads whipped around when they spotted movement from the side-alley, that Ren had disappeared into a while ago. Now returning was him and an almost unrecognizable girl who used to be called Princess.

Eiko patted the guard on the shoulder and said “It’s okay. They’ll be staying with me. Go get someone to park the vehicles _inside_. And would you be so kind and unpack that van and carry it all into my place?”

The man nodded before shuffling off to find his colleagues.

Eiko grinned at the others, who slowly started to climb out the car. “Aww, look at all of you! I wish we would have met again under better circumstances. But hey, we’re gonna have the best sleepovers ever!”. When three more men came to take their car-keys, Eiko motioned them to follow inside.

For some of them, it was the first time in New New Shinjuku so there were a few pairs of wide eyes as they followed Eiko through the still sleeping party-district. Eiko led them downstairs until they reached the large blue room. The black-haired girl grinned as she hopped onto the bar and presented her domain with jazz-hands. “Welcome to the Velvet Room!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sae is off to a rocky start with everyone when she decides to rather continue to conduct her interviews instead of actually trying to meet the real Thieves. And how will that affect Makoto? She was able to come through for Haru but slowly her sister starts to get in her head. 
> 
> Goodbye, LeBlanc2 :( I got oddly sentimental while writing this. Them having to abandon their homebase felt like a huge change that's like a transition from the "happy days" to the part where things start to go downhill and turn serious...
> 
> On a happier note: I hope you've missed hearing from Eiko because now she's back as the Thieves' landlord and I think we all know that some fun will come from that ;)
> 
> I hope you had some relaxing holidays!


	74. Escalation

Everyone but Ren and Makoto stood and stared at the bar completely held in blue and mahogany. For once it was Sojiro, who was the first to say something when he let out a sharp whistle through his teeth at the sight of a decent bar.

“You like it?” Eiko seemed incredibly proud.

“It’s certainly been a while since I’ve seen a bar this fine.” Sojiro admitted as he ran a hand over the polished dark wood.

“Well someone seems to already love this place...” Futaba smirked.

“Didn’t he use to love LeBlanc2 too?” Yusuke asked.

“And before that the original LeBlanc?” Morgana added.

“Boss certainly seems to have a love for buildings...” Hifumi muttered.

Makoto stood in the back-row beside her sister and wondered whether this conversation would only fire up her believes, that they were nothing but a group of silly teens. For now, Saes new bewilderment seemed to stem from the teenage girl sitting on the bar, wearing a short skirt with thigh-high stockings and a cropped top, who claimed to own this place. Makoto had to admit, that it must seem strange under any other circumstance than their own.

Ren turned around to look at the others “Eiko has agreed to take us in.”

Ryuji looked around the room and raised his eyebrow “Won’t you… have customers around here?”

Eiko rolled her eyes “Of course you’re not going to sleep down here! Although I guess you’d be great for attracting customers...” she quickly dismissed the idea when she noticed everyones raised eyebrows “Geez, I can’t wait to hear the story. You’ve lost all your humor.” she pointed to the ceiling “This place has multiple floors, so I’m sure we’ll get all of you accommodated in a place at least as warm as LeBlanc2.” she hopped off the bar again.

Futaba wiped away an imaginative tear before sighing “It’s far too early to talk about it...”

“Oh you won’t be so sad anymore when everyone get’s their own apartments!” Eiko announced before winking “Except for Ren and Makoto of course.”

“Wouldn’t it be unfair if Ren and Makoto got a room to share and Ryuji and Ann don’t?” Yusuke asked, oblivious to what he was about to unleash unlike the rest of the Thieves who stood and stared at Eiko in silence, waiting for her reaction.

It started with a faint whistle, that could have been mistaken for a teakettle until Eiko fully started squealing and pointing at Ann “I TOLD YOU! ITOLDYOUITOLDYOU!” she hopped up and down on the spot. “Did you tear each others clothes off, like I predicted?!”

While Ryuji only managed to look confused, Ann tried to avoid her gaze.

“They did...” Makoto uttered from the backrow.

Ann whirled around “Tattle much? I’ll never hear the end of this!” she whined.

“Oh you can totally get back at her by telling me about her and this guy over there. For some Makoto-reason, she’s super unwilling to share her stories...” Eiko replied.

Ren feigned offense “Are you perhaps embarrassed of me?”

Makoto looked at him with annoyance when she replied “I told you what she was asking about.”

“And my answer still says the same.” Ren replied with a knowing smirk.

There was a faint feeling of familiarity when the typical friendly bickering ensued. It was disrupted rather quick by a chilly clearing of the throat from the back row, reminding everyone again that Sae Niijima was standing with them and that she seemed rather unamused by their quirky catch-up with their old companion and friend.

“Oh...” Makoto stammered before turning to Eiko “Eiko, this is my sister.”

Eikos eyes went wide “You’re Sis?!” she looked her up and down “You do look like Makoto a lot. Are you a Phantom Thief now too?”

“No.” Ann replied.

As everyone grew silent again, Eiko threw a confused look into the round before saying “Well… Guess I’ll show you to where you’ll be staying… I’m sure we’ll get enough opportunities to catch up later. Follow me!” she announced before she led the way to what Makoto remembered as the staff-area. As they walked through a narrow hallway, Eiko opened the last door to reveal a staircase “This is the only staircase and down here is the only access-point. Safety feature No.1!” she winked before walking upstairs. After climbing two floors, she made a brief stop “This is where me and the other girls are living and up heeeeeere...” she continued climbing another flight of stairs before continuing “Should be enough room for all of you!”

To the left and the right were several doors leading to apartments of different sizes.

“You can go wild up here. Noone’s been here in a while, so it’s all yours.” Eiko said. “Our guys will move all of the stuff you brought down into the bar. You’ll have to distribute and carry everything from there though.”

Ren nodded “We’ll take a look around and come back down then.” he looked at her “Seriously… Thanks.”

She grinned and made a dismissive gesture “Pfsh, don’t sweat it. It’s kinda cool that it’s my turn to take you in now. My roof, my rules though.” she winked before leaving.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryuji wondered.

“It’s always been hard to understand her...” Yusuke uttered.

Ren looked down the hallway before addressing everyone “Well… this is home now...”

“All of us having their own apartments, living next door to each other… This is sitcom-material.” Futaba noted.

“We should take a look at every apartment and then settle on assignments together.” Makoto said. In the corner of her eye, she saw how Sae gave her an approving nod. Her knees turned to jelly again. Had she been too bossy just now, if Sae approved of her behavior? She felt like she didn’t know herself anymore.

After assessing their living quarters deciding on who got to live where was easy. Sojiro moved into a singles apartment with a bedroom and a small living area. A second of apartment of equal proportions was given to Sae. Ren and Makoto as well as Ryuji and Ann each moved into a studio-apartment that overlooked the still inactive street that would come to life by night. Yusuke and Mishima went to share a two-bedroom apartment while Hifumi moved into the smallest apartment at the end of the hallway. The third apartment overlooking the street was the largest of them all with a large living area with an open kitchen. Accessible from the living room were three bedrooms of different sizes, one of them an obvious childrens bedroom, that Shinya and Morgana immediately called for themselves. The two boys didn’t mind sharing a room with each other anyway, leaving the other two bedrooms for the taking for Futaba and Haru.

With the new quarters assigned, everyone started to move their belongings from downstairs. As Haru dragged her suitcase and backpack into what she supposed to be the master bedroom, she couldn’t help but feel reminded of her times at Okumura Industries, where she used to live in her own room too. While it had been nice to have a place to hide away from her father, right now, all she felt was alone. She walked over to the bed and pushed a hand into the mattress. It was much nicer than her previous one in LeBlanc2. She turned around and carefully sat down before letting her gaze wander through what would be all of their new home. As they had walked through all of the apartments, it had become clear that the large living room and the kitchen of this apartment would become their joined space. Haru was a bit glad to know that everyone still intended on spending time together instead of of on their own in everyones respective apartments.

Adjacent to her bedroom was both a walk-in closet and a master bathroom. Haru looked at her suitcase. She was pretty sure that she wouldn’t even be able to fill a third of the closet-space. The entire interior of the apartment was modern with clear lines. Judging by how all of the apartment was decorated that way, Haru figured that the previous owners must have spend a lot of time with their interior design. And while she enjoyed living in a place where furniture wasn’t makeshift and actually matched, she would still miss the slightly chaotic and rustic style that they had given LeBlanc2. She was sure that none of the chairs in the kitchen area would have their individual creaking sound, like the ones in LeBlanc2 had had. And what this place sorely missed were her chickens. She sighed. At least she knew that Iwai would look for a good place for them.

She was ripped out of her thoughts by a soft knock on the door before Futaba stuck her head in.

“Hello Futaba-chan.” Haru smiled. “Come in.”

Futaba stepped inside and took a look around.

“How do you like your new room?” Haru asked.

Futaba rocked back and forth on her heels while shrugging “I dunno… It’s nice I guess.”

“It’s been a while since you had a room to yourself, isn’t it?”

To Harus surprise, Futaba didn’t seem too overjoyous of the fact when she replied “Yup.” She didn’t make eye-contact with Haru though.

Haru knew the girl well enough by now. She had to smile when she asked “Futaba-chan… Don’t you want to have your own room either?”

Futaba seemed confused when she asked “Wait… Why do you say “either”?”

Haru shrugged “Well… I’ve kind of gotten used to the company.”. She kept the part where she liked having someone in the room with her so she wouldn’t feel too alone with her thoughts unspoken for now.

She could hear the orange-haired girl taking a relieved breath before she said “Whew, I thought I was the only one.”

Haru giggled and shook her head.

“Sooo...” Futaba started “Would it be cool with you, if we continued to be roomies?”

Haru nodded “Of course.”

Futaba smiled “I’ll go get my stuff then!” she announced before dashing off.

When Haru walked out into the living room, she noticed that Sojiro was already standing in the kitchen and putting in the kitchens inventory, that they had taken with them from LeBlanc2. Helping him was Hifumi, who seemed to be done with settling in too. In the hallway, they could hear the others carrying around stuff.

“Have you settled in alright in here?” Sojiro asked with a smile.

Haru nodded “It’s all a bit new but I suppose we will make this place feel like a home in no time too.”

“Considering that we’re living over a bar kinda feels familiar.” Futaba threw in as she hopped onto the counter and watched Sojiro stack cans.

“Are you happy about your new room, Futaba?” Sojiro smirked.

Futaba shrugged “It will be an okay lab and workshop. I’ll be rooming with Haru though.”

Sojiro couldn’t hide his surprise before he let out a chuckle “Won’t you look at that. Character development, was it?”

The orange-haired girl sighed “You’re really making me regret teaching you that term.”

“Yo. What’s for dinner?” Ryuji grinned when he and Ann walked in. He leaned against the kitchen island “After all the shit that’s happened, I’m getting hammered tonight so I need something to line my stomach.”

“Well that won’t end well...” Morgana cackled.

Makoto walked in with a raised eyebrow “Ryuji, I hope I don’t need to remind you that we are here to lay low. From what I’ve seen, you do the exact opposite when under the influence.”

“Buuuurn!” Shinya called out from his room.

Ann had to nod too when she added “Yeah… we definitely can’t have you shouting out that you’re a Phantom Thief now...”

“I did that?” Ryuji asked.

“Loud and clear.” Ren smirked when entered.

Futaba grinned “I’ll allow it but only under one condition! You have to take Inari drinking too.”

Just at the same moment, Yusuke and Mishima walked in. “Why would you ask for something this primitive?” Yusuke asked.

“I want to hang with Haiku-Inari!” Futaba exclaimed, much to Ryujis and Yusukes confusion. When the artist cast a puzzled look at Ren, the leader only shrugged.

“I have to admit that it was pretty fun.” Ren grinned.

“You were spitting Haikus like a machine!” Futaba threw her arms in the air with a grin.

“Well, drinking alone is no fun, so why not...” Ryuji shrugged.

Makoto looked at Ann “You can’t be okay with this, right?”

Ann sighed “Honestly, I’m even thinking about joining. Forgetting about everything around us acutally sounds nice for once.”. When she noticed the extended fist, she reluctantly fist-bumped Ryuji.

“That felt wrong somehow...” the blonde guy sighed.

“Well, as tempting as becoming an alcoholic can sound, I’d say that we could probably use every cell of our brain to figure out how to proceed.” Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“What’s there to think about?” Ryuji asked “We’ll stay here and hope that noone finds us.”

“That’s probably how it will end but before we retreat to doing nothing and going on each others nerves, we have to jog our brains on how Akechi could possibly approach hunting us.”

Futaba grimaced “I hate how that guy played us...”

“He caught us in a moment of despair but we know his true colors now.” Ren said. “I’m pretty sure he’s a sore loser, so if he’s been acting cocky before he probably won’t stop at anything now if there’s a slim chance to get closer to us.”

A chilly atmosphere suddenly spread. The source of it was Sae Niijima, who was leaning in the door-frame, analyzing them again.

While Ren had to admit that he didn’t enjoy the feeling of Sae watching and probably judging everything he said, he decided to continue. “I also promised Eiko that we fill her in on everything, so I’d say we get down there before she opens up the place. I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time up here in the future, so we should take every chance we get to get out...” he said as he shooed everyone into the hallway and down the stairs.

Down in the bar the tables had been polished and set for the evening. When Eiko saw the Thieves approaching she nodded to the other girls, which must have been the sign for them to give them some space for they retreated to the staff-room immediately. Eiko walked out from behind the bar and pointed to the largest table. After everyone sat down, she placed a tray of shots on the table before sitting down too “I’ve already told all of the girls to keep their mouth shut about you living upstairs. Our guards don’t talk anyway. All of the bar-owners come together for a morning-meeting every day so I’ll bring it up there tomorrow too.”

“The more people who know about this, the higher the risk that someone breaks protocol.” Sae pointed out.

“I can’t keep this a secret from them. The Phantom Thieves were responsible for their freedom, so they won’t sell you out.” Eiko replied.

Sae didn’t seem convinced but retreated to listening and judging again.

“But now that all of this is settled… What happened?” Eiko asked.

“Long story short: We poked a hornets nest when we went after Kaneshiro. Since then, everything we’ve done has actually been connected without us realizing it.”

“And Okumura?”

Mishima shook his head “We’ve prepared everything for a peaceful walk-out. We never wanted to kill anyone.”

“Father had connections to the true culprit too but he was about to change his ways. The Crow murdered him and set up those explosions so it looked like it was the Phantom Thieves’ fault.” Haru said.

Eiko shook her head “Damn… Sorry about your dad, Haru...”

Haru just nodded.

“Sis was actually hired by our enemy to find us. Her partner tried to lure us into a trap but luckily we were able to deduct his true motives before things went wrong.” Makoto said.

“This sounds like a movie-plot...” Eiko said. “So now LeBlanc2 is lost for good, huh?”

Ren nodded “Akechi found us there, so it’s not safe to stay there anymore.”

“And now you think that this Akechi-guy will hunt you down?” Eiko completed.

“When he finds out that Sae lied to him and didn’t deliver me to his employers, he’ll be mad. And he seems like the crazy type, so I put nothing past him.” Ren said.

Eiko grimaced “He sounds scary. Any way you can tell me what he looks like, so I’m prepared?”

“Oh you’ll know. Just look for the one with the creepiest voice.” Futaba said.

The bartender raised an eyebrow at her “Do you have any idea, what kind of people come down here some times?”

“I would be happy to provide you with a sketch. It could be beneficial to show it around to the other bar-owners too.” Yusuke said.

Ren nodded “That’s a good idea. But we shouldn’t be too sure that Akechi will be the only one. We have no idea how many men he will be able to mobilize. But he’s definitely the one to be cautious of the most.”

Eiko nodded “So all you can do is wait and hide...”

Ren folded his hands on the table and looked into the round “What I’ve wanted to talk about was possible approaches Akechi might have based off Saes and his investigation. With us off the grid and LeBlanc2 empty, he might start looking for people he knows are close to us. Makoto and I have already told Iwai to brief Seiiki to not call him a close friend of ours in case someone came asking. He knows that they have to be careful.” he looked at the nodding faces before he continued “Akechi must have had an eye on us and our actions before the revolution at Okumura Industries. We can’t know for sure how closely he’s been watching us, but I will go over tomorrow and warn Ohya and Kayo to be careful. Lucky for us, she’s right across the street.” Ren squeezed his eyes shut when he tried to recall the map along with everyones profiles, that he had seen in Sae and Akechis office. “Yusuke, Makoto, Morgana, Shinya, Futaba, Sojiro, Mishima and me have the advantage that they haven’t found a lot about us. We also don’t have anyone left outside of this group, that Akechi could use to get to us, which is a bit sad but also to our advantage.” he turned around to look at Sae “I suppose you didn’t think of Hifumis mother as an ally of ours, so she should be safe too, right?”

Sae nodded.

Ren looked at Ann and Ryuji “Which leaves us with our most prominent Thieves.”

Sae crossed her arms in front of her chest when she explained “Your hometown is no mystery. It also wasn’t hard to find out that over the last months, you’ve been spotted there twice.”

Ryujis face twitched in anger “So what? It’s not like we still got our parents living there.”

Beside him, Ann turned pale “Shiho...” she whispered.

“What?!” Mishima squeaked.

Ren grimaced “If Akechi were to ask around town, would she come up?”

Ann clasped her hands over her mouth. Ryuji put a hand on her shoulder before saying “Probably. We’ve been in contact since our childhood and Ann and her were pretty tight...”

“Then we have to get her!” Mishima exclaimed.

Sae leaned forward and said with a stern face “If you go there now, with the same car that might already be associated with the Phantom Thieves and someone is already on the lookout for you, they would only need to follow you to find all of us.”

Anns face darkened when she stared at Sae “So you’re saying that we should just leave her? She doesn’t even know that United Future is looking for us!”

“It’s too risky for you to go. In your case it’s not even a question of If you are being discovered but when.” Sae sternly replied.

“Then I will go!” Mishima jumped to his feet.

Eiko shrugged “If you’re worried about the car, you can take mine...”

Sae rose to her feet and put her hands on the table as she intently stared at Ann, who showed no sign of backing down “If you leave now, you are risking all of our safety.”

Uncomfortable with the situation, Eiko slowly rose to her feet to disappear behind the bar again.

“But… what if Akechi captures her and questions her… or even tortures…? She wouldn’t even know anything!” Mishima whined.

Sae shook her head “It’s her or all of us.”

Ann stood up and her eyes were on fire. Morgana slid down in his chair as if he wanted to avoid any stray bullets. Most of the Phantom Thieves did. They already had an idea about what was to unfold in front of their eyes next.

“Don’t act like it’s us you care about, “Niijima-san”.” Ann seethed. “If we hadn't been able to dive under here, you wouldn’t have a place to hide either. You act all high-and-mighty and think that you’re so much better than us, yet you have no problem with riding our coat-tails if it means a safe haven. You only care for yourself, so at least admit that you’re worried about your safety.” she growled.

Sae held her glare when she replied “By freeing your leader I have made myself an enemy of United Future too. So please excuse me, if I state my objections to my fellow refugees ideas.”

“We are not “fellow”-anything. You just barged into our place and acted like you owned it.” Ann glared “I’d rather die trying to protect my friend who might come to harm because of the mess I made instead of saving my own skin.”

Sae looked into the group, who had watched the fight with wide eyes “Is that how all of you feel?”

Makoto could feel that Saes gaze lingered on her for a little bit longer than on the others. She recalled their conversation before leaving LeBlanc2. _It will only be a matter of time until one of you dies in the process. If you want to survive, then you should start listening to reason!_ If they split up now, there was no way of knowing what could happen to them. She didn’t want anyone to die, but most of all she wanted her family to survive. An electric silence filled the room when she opened her mouth “Sis…. has a point…”. 

She used to be unable to read emotions. Now that she saw how almost all of her friends averted their eyes in disappointment, she wished she could be ignorant again. Anns hurt in her eyes was quickly replaced with loathing when she focused on Makoto.

A nn bristled “So that’s how it is, huh? And I thought you’ve changed. Now that you got your sister back, you can show your true colors again.” 

While Ren couldn’t deny that Makoto had probably chosen the worst time to consider her sisters point, he also couldn’t just sit and watch the fury that was about to be unleashed on his girlfriend if he didn’t step in. Beside him, Makoto was frozen. “Ann…” he started.

Instead of exploding, Ann just shook her head “Screw you, Sae. And screw you too Makoto. We risked all of our lives to get you out of that stupid bank. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t even be in this messed up situation. Ren almost died for you.” her hands were shaking “But you just go ahead and hide.” she looked to Mishima “Come on, Mishima. Let’s go get Shiho.” 

Mishima was paler than usual but was surprisingly quick to climb back to his feet nonetheless.

“Ann, wait…!” Makoto managed to call after her after a few moments of shocked silence.

But Ann and Mishima were already on their way out when Eiko tossed her the car-keys “It’s in the garage to the right.”. Ann caught it with one hand and didn’t look back.

The two disappeared up the staircase. A few moments later, everyone heard a loud bang of the door.

Makoto felt like Ann had punched her in the throat. Everything that she had said was right. She had been influenced by her sister again and thrown out all the values that she had thought she had inherited by being with the Phantom Thieves. Ann had always been the wariest of her and apparently she had been right. Was Makoto deep down really just like her sister, with no chance of changing? Her hands were shaking under the table when Ren wrapped his hand around hers.

Everyone else looked around the room uncomfortably. Only Ryuji was glaring at Sae.

The older Niijima noticed  this “Won’t you go and stop her?”

Ryuji snorted “Are you effing kidding me?” he got to his feet and pointed at Sae “If you had done ANY of your research right, you would know that that ship has sailed. You thought you had us figured out but you don’t know shit. If she dies, I’m blaming you.” he turned around and strode out the door. Judging from the noise it made when he threw it shut behind him, Eiko was lucky to still have a door.

Sae looked around the table but everyone including Makoto was averting their gaze. Futaba was the first to get up and flee from the situation.

Ryuji found Ann and Mishima in the garage as they got into Eikos two-seat car. He had already known that he would be unable to come along. If both of them showed up, the risk would be bigger of someone seeing and recognizing them. Anns face was distorted with anger but underneath he knew that she was close to crying. When she saw Ryuji approaching, she seemed like she was about to crumble before she regained her composure  again .She had a defiant grimace on her face when she opened her mouth to speak but Ryuji was quick to interrupt her

“I’m not going to stop you.” Ryuji cleared the air. “But...” he reached into the pocket of his pants “… you should at least take this.” 

A small smile tugged at Anns lips when her stance relaxed a bit. She took the switchblade from his hand. “Thanks.” she said before she fell into his arms.

“Just promise me to be careful, okay?” he muttered as he held her tight for what he hoped wouldn’t be the last time. “I know you’re mad but you have to keep a clear head.”

Ann nodded against his chest “I promise.”.  She looked up at him “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ryuji replied before they shared a last kiss. He was reluctant to let go of her hand when she got into the car but eventually their fingers parted. As the car slowly rolled towards the exit, Ryuji walked alongside it.

Before he went to open the roll-gate, he leaned down to Mishimas window to say “You look out for her, you hear me? Don’t let her do anything she’s going to regret, okay?”

Mishima gulped and nodded. He had no idea how he should be able to do that, especially since angry Ann was scaring him beyond belief, but he also didn’t know how to tell Ryuji that. He probably knew best how his girlfriend could get.

Ryuji nodded before he went to open the roll-gate. The last glimpse he caught of Ann was her driving off towards unknown dangers.

When he got back into the Velvet Room, the only ones left at the large table were Ren and Makoto.

Makoto jumped to her feet upon the sight of the blonde “Ryuji, I...” she started.

“Don’t talk to me right now.” Ryuji raised his hand to stop her from continuing and kept walking towards the staircase.

After Ryuji had left the room again, Makoto let out a deep sigh.  Now Ryuji was angry at her too. And the others had left without looking at her earlier. She drew her hands back and buried her face in them. 

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder but he felt torn between Ryuji, who must be pacing in his room right now, and his girlfriend, who had just managed to let all of them down within half a sentence. He had to admit that he couldn’t even blame or call their reactions overreacted. Ann had already been on fire. And so far, they had never had to have a discussion about whether to save someone from potential harm. Until now.

“You should go and check on Ryuji.” Makoto said.

Ren raised an eyebrow “Are you sure?”

Makoto nodded “I’m sure he could use someone to talk to while waiting.” she rubbed her face before adding “I need some time to think about how to fix this.”

“Okay.” Ren leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before he got up and left.

After Makoto was sure that Ren had left she let out a long sigh. She had been sitting between two chairs ever since Sae joined them. The fact alone, that she was the one sitting down here, worrying about Ann and how everyone else had looked so incredibly hurt and let down by her words, and Sae was probably upstairs, not rethinking her actions one bit, spoke of how much she had changed. Because she did care about what her family thought of her. But apparently that counted for both her real family in the form of Sae Niijima, and her Thieves-family, which was everyone else who had averted their eyes from her now. She let out another sigh.

“You look like you could use a drink.”

Makoto had almost forgotten that Eiko was still there. For once, she actually had to agree. Maybe she could use a drink. She got up and walked over to sit on one of the bar-chairs.

Eiko slid a fancy glass across the counter and leaned forward on the bar “I don’t remember you guys being so out of sync...”

Makoto knocked back her drink before she replied “And it’s all my fault...”

“You definitely didn’t practice what all of you used to preach.” Eiko said. “So what changed?”

“I think it’s my sister...”

“You mean the one that abandoned you years ago?”

Makoto raised an eyebrow “I only have one sister.”

Eiko sighed “Not what I was going for.”

She sighed “Everyone hates me now...”

“Ann did pull out the knock-out argument by reciting how they all came to rescue you.” Eiko said.

“And she’s right.” Makoto had to agree. “And… I didn’t mean that she shouldn’t go get Shiho… But Sis got in my head and I thought about how she could die and how we only act out of impulse and...”

“All of us act out of impulse.” Eiko said. “You getting abducted happened because of it. Me getting entangled with Tsukasa happened because of it.”

“You’re only bringing up bad things now.”

Eiko puffed her cheeks before saying “Because I wasn’t finished. You and Ren kissing must have happened out of impulse too because I really hope that he wasn’t all cordial and asked for your approval. And in the end… if what I heard was correct, your sister acted on an impulse when she freed Ren or whatever happened...”

Makoto looked at her in surprise “You’re right...”

“Why do you seem so surprised?” Eiko asked. “The way I see it, you’re caught in the middle of your old self and your present self. Your sister was who you used to be. Analyzing. Judgy. Cold. But that’s not who you are anymore. And now it’s time to find out who you are. Do you want to go back to being on top of everything and in control like your sister? Or do you want to be compassionate and caring like the Phantom Thieves?”

Makoto shook her head “I don’t want to be like my sister again. When it was up to me to get her to change her mind about Ren, I didn’t even know if I would be able to do it. I used to look up to her and I was just like her in so many ways, because I thought that that was the only way for her to be proud of me. But she never was. Now that she’s with us again, I can’t help but want her to.. at least recognize me and the work I’m doing. But she would never do that, if I didn’t behave like her.” she sighed “I didn’t want to agree with her just now… I just thought about how Sis told me that if we don’t start to think things through, that it’s only a matter of time until one of us dies...”

Eiko bristled “Seriously, after your stunt at the bank I’m not even sure you guys can die. It’s seriously a miracle how all of you survived this.” When Makoto raised an eyebrow at her, she added “And when have the Phantom Thieves ever listened to reason?”

Makoto propped her chin up on her hand before sighing again “Just because we never seem to have done it, doesn’t mean that we should continue like this. But what do you think I should do?”

Eiko shrugged “I guess you gotta find out who you want to be. Not who you think you are or what you think you should be, but what you want. And then… make it happen, I guess.”

Makoto sighed once more as she slouched in her seat “You’re saying that I will have to talk to my sister, right? About how I feel.”

Eiko nodded “You haven’t done that? Then yeah. You definitely should.”

She winced “We’ve never been particularly open about our feelings...”

“Everything makes so much sense now...” Eiko noticed “No wonder you were such a train-wreck when we first met.”

“Hey...” Makoto objected, but it wasn’t a strong one. Now that she saw how emotionally distant her sister was compared to her, she finally could imagine how everyone must have felt with her. No wonder that Ann, the one who always put her friends well-being first, had been so irritated by her mentality. And now with Sae, the original Jinbocho-Queen, it must have amped up her rage even more. She shook her head “I just hope that Ann and Mishima don’t get hurt...” she said and suddenly started crying.

Eiko reached over the bar and placed her hands on hers. “Hey… I’m sure they’ll be fine. Ann is a savage but she’s also pretty swift, so I’m sure she knows how to stay undetected.”

Makoto wiped her eyes and nodded.

“See? Would the old Makoto have cried? Would your sister have cried?” she didn’t wait for a response “You care. But your sister kinda messes with your flow a bit.”

Makoto could only nod.

“So maybe it’s time for you to talk and set some things straight with her. This might not be your house anymore but you’re still the second-in-command of the Phantom Thieves. And if your sister doesn’t want to play by your books, that’s fine. But you’re not going to play by hers either.”

Makoto took a deep breath and looked at Eiko, unable to hide her surprise.

She rolled her eyes “What? I’m running my own business. Tough business-decisions are like.. my thing now. Do you have any idea how many people I throw out a night?”

The second-in-command had to laugh. Eiko having to give tough love and actually having to kick people out was something that she hadn’t thought of her. Especially since Eiko had admitted before that she didn’t want to be tough to stay likeable. Makoto suddenly realized that she was the same. At the casino, she had poured her heart out because it was her only chance to save Ren. But now that Sae was with them, she seemed to be too afraid to tell her that Saw was the one who needed to adapt to them. After everything she had thrown at her yesterday, they had never really talked about anything after that. She pushed herself up on her chair and pulled Eiko into a hug across the bar. The other girl seemed surprised at first before eventually returning it. “Maybe we’ve never been so different.” she muttered “Maybe we both just wanted to be liked.”

Eiko patted her back “Maybe. But we’ve already found plenty of people who like us for who we really are. I would never pretend to be a helpless damsel to get a guy to like me again. And you shouldn’t pretend that you’re a cold-hearted bitch to impress your sister either."

Makoto sighed “I’m not sure why, but I missed your harsh language.”

Eiko drew back from their embrace and grinned “Good. Now get your bony ass up there before my patrons show up and go talk to your sister tomorrow.”

Ren found Ryuji in his and Anns apartment, nervously pacing up and down. He seemed to be arguing with himself, for eventually his lips twitched as he was staring at the floor. When he saw Ren, he let out his anger when he growled “What the hell was Makoto thinking?! She knows how Ann gets when Shihos in danger!”

Ren could only nod. Sae telling Ann to leave Shiho behind had been a huge red flag already but Makoto seemingly agreeing with her must have burned Anns wires for good.

For a moment, Ryuji actually looked worried when he asked “You don’t agree with them too, do you?”

Ren shook his head “No. That’s why I wanted us to brainstorm together, before things took… well, this turn..”

Ryuji seemed relieved “Right…”. He sighed and dropped down on the bed. “All of this is so messed up...” he sighed.

Ren walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder “She’ll be fine. I know it.”

The blonde nodded “Yeah. I just hope she doesn’t do anything stupid...”

Ren couldn’t hide a smirk “It’s a bit of a drive there. I’m sure she’ll cool off and clear her head on the way. Mishima has a calming personality.”

Through his worry, Ryuji actually had to snort. “And once again, all I can do is sit and wait...” he muttered.

Ren sat down beside him. For someone always ready to jump into the fray, sitting and waiting was something particularly complicated for Ryuji. Even more so when the one in action was Ann.

Ryuji rubbed his face “I meant it, by the way…” he reluctantly muttered “If anything happens to her, I’m blaming Makoto and her sister. She wouldn’t have barged off like that, if the Niijimas hadn’t acted like… Niijimas.”

“I’m sure that there was a reason for Makoto to put it like she had.” Ren said, even though he had to admit that Makoto had started her sentence in the arguably worst way and at the worst time.

Ryuji shook his head “I thought that she was one of us…”

“She is.”

Ryuji shook his head “I don’t know anymore. The rest of us were talking on our drive here: Her sister was rude to everyone and she barely said anything in our defense.” he bristled “Everyone said that Sae was dealing pretty low blows. I sure second that...”

“Makoto was pretty let down by Saes behavior too.” Ren said. He realized that Ryuji was honestly hurt by the assumptions of a complete stranger, who claimed to have spent half a year profiling them all. Hearing from someone that based off of the general descriptions of him, he seemed like someone constantly messing around might have been ignored by most of the people but Ryuji actually cared about what people thought of him. Ren knew that his best friend wouldn’t lash out after a remark like that. But Ann would. For when someone insulted the people she cared about, she knew no restraints. “She told me what Sae said…” he couldn’t help but smirk when he added “Ann must have been furious.”

Ryuji actually had to smirk too when he said “Shoved that ring I gave her right into Niijimas face.”

“Hold up...” Ren said. Makoto had left out the part with the ring.

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck “Yeah… Sorry for not telling you.”

“Since when?”

“I gave it to her when we went out after that one week of hiding...” Ryuji sighed “Akechi kinda destroyed the moment though...”

Ren had to smile when he clapped him on the shoulder “Congrats, man.”

“Thanks.” Ryuji smiled before the corners of his mouth dropped again “Now I just hope that she comes back alive...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy... A lot happens in this one. What started with a friendly reunion with Eiko and the Thieves settling into their new home ends with a rift through the group when Makoto gets scared by her sisters dark premonition about their future. I had a wittier chapter-title in store but ended up going with the original idea. It just sums all of this up rather well..
> 
> But now that Eiko's back, Makoto at least has someone who can set her straight again. I didn't want it to be Ren on purpose, not just because he was needed for a friendship-moment with Ryuji, but also because Eiko seemed perfect because the group had changed so much compared to the last time she's been with them and also because she doesn't hesitate to speak her mind and doesn't care about being diplomatic. I just really enjoy the friendship-dynamic of these two and I'm glad to have it back :) 
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!


	75. Panther And Hermes Rescue A Damsel

Mishima stressed about a lot of things. Some of them might have been unnecessary to stress about but for once in his life, he felt that all the stress that he was feeling right now was justified. Not just was his girlfriend – or not girlfriend, but at least girl who seemed to like him so much that she would kiss him – in danger because of the Phantom Thieves but also was he riding in a car with Ann Takamaki, whose only driving experience came from driving down the road of LeBlanc2 two times in her life and who momentarily was equally worried about her best friend and therefore threw out all the advice and safety instructions that Makoto had given her in her very lacking driving education. Maybe she also chose to forget everything Makoto had told her as a matter of principle.

And while Mishima had to admit that it was at least a little bit reassuring that this time Anns anger wasn’t directed at him, he still found her incredibly scary. Normally, her turquoise eyes were filled with kindness and laughter but now they were cold as steel as they were glued to the road ahead. He recalled Ryujis last words to him, telling him to take care of her but to be honest, he had no idea how he was supposed to tell her No as long as she was in a state like this. In fact, he had no idea about what to do in general. Was he supposed to talk to her and get her to calm down? Or would she just be angry at him then? Lucky for him, Ann made the first move when she let out an annoyed sigh.

“Can you believe Makoto?!” she asked, her eyes fixed on the road as she gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. “How dare she take her sisters side on this? After everything we’ve done as the Phantom Thieves? Our whole thing was helping others! How can she forget about that so easily? Just because her sister is back? I thought she was over that?” she started rambling whatever thought went through her mind.

“Umm….” Mishima stammered, unsure if he should really point it out “What if she was to say something different? I mean… we never heard the end of the sentence…”

“She started it with “Sis is right.”. How much good could have come after that?” Ann spat. “Her sister has been stepping on all of our toes and she did nothing against it. Niijima-san should be the one trying to fit in, not dissing everyone and judging from the back-row.”

Mishima gulped. He felt like walking through a minefield when he said “Maybe… she just phrased it p-poorly...”

Ann sighed “I… appreciate you trying to look at it differently. Honestly, I wish I could too. But I just don’t know where her loyalty lies ever since her sister joined us. I’m just wondering if she’s ever really changed from who she was in Jinbocho?”

“Well… hasn’t she shown us proof of that a few times now?” Mishima carefully asked. “She… she seemed genuinely sorry about what happened at Kaneshiros bank. I… I don’t know how she used to be before but ever since I’ve been living with you, I’ve never had the feeling that she doesn’t care about us.”

Ann furrowed her brow as she processed what Mishima just said.

“Please don’t hate me...” Mishima squeaked.

“You’re right….” Ann said. “It’s unfair to say that Makoto hasn’t changed. She has. She… honestly seemed happy when I showed her the ring, even though her sister was standing right beside her...”

Mishima had no idea was she was talking about but decided to not ask for now.

“I just can’t believe that she would even say that she agrees with her sister, when she basically told us that we should leave Shiho out there on her own, waiting for Akechi to find her and do god-knows-what to her...” she sighed. “I had a bad feeling about her from the start. And so far, she has made no attempt of getting along with us.”

Mishima could only shrug “Maybe she really doesn’t want to be our friend...”

“Yeah. Maybe she doesn’t.” Ann said before sighing “Ugh, things are already complicated enough. The last thing we need is us fighting...”

Mishima already curled up in his seat when he carefully pointed out “And… don’t you think that you… might have... played a big part in that?” For a moment he feared that he had taken a step too far and that Anns wrath would hit him next. To his surprise, she just snorted.

“You’re a lot like Shiho.” she scoffed. “I see why you two get along.”

“Huh?” Mishima gaped.

Ann rolled her eyes “I know that I haven’t done anything to deescalate the situation. It’s not the first time that I’ve done something like this. Normally it was Shiho, who would make me see things. And now you did. You reminded me that Makoto wasn’t all distorted. Normally that’s a Shiho-thing.”

“Oh… I see…” Mishima stammered before he was slammed against the passenger-door when Ann took a corner with too much speed.

“Sorry...”

“It’s okay...” Mishima groaned as he adjusted himself in the seat again.

“So what will happen once Shiho lives with us?” Ann changed the topic “Will you ask her to stay in your room with you?”

Mishima gulped and clutched the handle on the door for stability. He hadn’t given that any thought. And what answer would Ann want to hear? Would she think that he was just horny if he said Yes? Or would she think that he didn’t care enough if he said No? “Um… I haven’t thought about it yet...” he stammered. But how would he address the issue anyway? And what would Shiho want to hear? He realized that maybe he could use the help of her best friend. “But… what would you think Shiho would want?” he carefully asked.

Ann could only shrug “I… don’t know. I don’t even know if she ever had a boyfriend..” she sighed. Another part of Shihos life that she had no clue about. “But I know that you won’t push her to anything, so I’d say that you will probably see what she wants.”

Mishima gaped at her for a moment. Ann telling him that she trusted him enough to not make any weird moves on her best friend came as a surprise, given how she had reacted about their kiss the first time. But that’s all it had been. One kiss. “Thanks. But… I don’t even know what we are… She… just kissed me. What if she doesn’t even want me to be her… anything serious?”

Ann shook her head “I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t have kissed you if she didn’t have feelings for you.” she turned her head to look at him and gave him a smile “Maybe you’ll finally get the chance to talk it out.”

Mishima reluctantly nodded “So I should just ask her?” he asked, a little panicked.

“Didn’t you say that you used to talk a lot during your time at Kamoshida?” Ann asked.

“I-… I mean yes, but...” Mishima studdered.

“Then it won’t be much different.” she replied before she switched on the cars headlights as everything around them got darker and darker.

By the time night had fallen, the two rolled up to the tree-line near Anns and Ryujis hometown. Ann parked the car a little off-road before the two got out.

“So what are we going to do?” Mishima asked. The sight of the illuminated settlement started to make him nervous.

Ann pulled up the hood of her windbreaker-jacket and pointed to the east-side of the settlement “Shihos house is over on that side. We should be able to climb the fence and proceed over the rooftops.”

“You want to go to her house?” he squeaked.

“Well, yeah. We can’t really chat her up in the market-place, can we?” Ann replied “Shiho should be home by now, so that’s the best place to meet her.”

Mishima gulped “Okay.”. He pulled up the hood of his parka too before the two set out to reach the fencing while avoiding the patrols headlights.

They walked along the fence for a while until Ann eventually stopped and pointed upward to a roof that was closer to the fences as the others “That house is our way up.” She placed herself with her back against the fence and looked at Mishima “I’ll boost you up and you climb the last few steps. When you reach the top, you transition to that roof and wait for me.” she ordered before bending her knees and interlocking her fingers, readying herself to boost him up.

Mishima reluctantly placed a foot in her hands before carefully pushing himself up. He was able to stifle a high-pitched yelp when Ann almost catapulted him upwards, gaining him a few more feet before he grabbed onto the grated-fence and clung for dear life. He couldn’t embarrass himself in front of Ann now. Mishima gritted his teeth as he pushed through the stinging pain in his finger-joints and started to climb upwards. By the time he reached the top of the fence, he was already out of breath and sweating profusely. Whatever muscles he had built up during their time at Okumura, they definitely weren’t those for climbing and after a week of lockdown they had been gone anyway. Not the best conditions to get your beloved to come with you… Clumsy like a fish out of water, Mishima managed to scramble from the fence onto the nearby roof without making too much noise. He just hoped that whoever lived in this house wasn’t home right now to notice the suspicious noises in front of their window and on their roof. He tried to stabilize his breathing as he sat on the rooftop, watching Ann who climbed the fence like she had never done anything else her entire life. After reaching the top of the fence, she placed both of her feet on the upper metal bar before standing up. With a single step, she managed to stop onto the roof beside him, instead of making a fool of herself, like he had done before. She squatted down close to him.

“Sorry about the tossing… I’m too used to working with Ryuji...” she muttered before looking across the rooftops “Come on. Let’s get going. But watch your step.”

Mishima nodded before he pushed himself to his feet. His hands and arms were still burning when he followed Ann, who elegantly hopped from roof to roof while making almost no sound at all.

After five houses, the blonde squatted down and waited for Mishima to catch up. She pointed to the house in front of them. “That’s Shihos. Her room is the window to the right.”

Mishima nodded “So what should we do?”

“I’ll climb over and check the window. If she’s here, then getting in won’t be a problem. If she’s not, then I’ll need to open it myself.”

“Won’t the neighbors see?” Mishima whispered, fear already starting to rise in his stomach.

“I hope not...” Ann replied before she leaned down to check the house that they were sitting on. After she sat up again, she shrugged “The windows are dark in this one at least...”

“Are you sure that I shouldn’t just… get down and knock?” Mishima asked.

“If someone sees that the Suzuis had mysterious guests in the evening, it could come up if someone starts asking questions.” Ann replied “The people here love rumors.”. She stood up and looked down at Mishima “You stay here and wait for my signal.”. She didn’t wait for his response and hopped onto Shihos house. She checked the surrounding houses one last time before she started to climb down onto the narrow ledge of the first floor, hugging the wall with her back.

Mishimas heart was in his throat when he watched Ann shimmy along the ledge towards the window. After she bent forward to check if Shiho was home, couldn’t help but sigh when he guessed that she wasn’t in there, for Ann went to work on the window, trying to get it open without making a sound. It felt like an eternity had passed when Ann finally managed to swing it open to slip inside. A moment later, a faint light went on inside and Ann returned to the window, making eye-contact with Mishima. His heart dropped once more when he realized that Ann wanted him to climb down to her.

“Wha-?” he squeaked, almost inaudible.

Ann furrowed her brow and motioned him to come over more energetically.

Mishima got back to his feet with shaking knees. After doing it for 4 times already, he didn’t feel that scared of jumping another roof anymore but as he looked down, he realized that now he needed climb down one story to get into Shihos window. He reluctantly sat down at the edge of the Suzuis roof before slowly flipping over to slide down the edge on his belly.

He was almost dangling off the edge completely when he suddenly lost his grip and started to slide down uncontrollably. He tried to keep quiet while desperately trying to get a hold again, but it was all to no avail and soon his hands ran out of something to grip. As he started to become airborne, bound to crash onto the street, he held his breath. He was so perplexed that he wasn’t even trying to turn around. He had no idea which side falling on would hurt the least. Mishima was already bracing himself for impact when suddenly something wrapped around his wrist. When he dared to open his eyes, he saw Ann grimacing as she held onto him, herself halfway dangling out Shihos window as she tried to pull him up. Mishima gaped at her.

“Stop staring and do something!” Ann hissed through gritted teeth as her nails dug into Mishimas skin.

“Oh.. right...” Mishima stammered and pulled his hand and placed it on the ledge beneath the window.

When he was able to stabilize himself, Ann took a deep breath before saying “Okay, I’ll try to pull you up on 3.”

Mishima nodded.

“1… 2….” Ann took another deep breath to prepare herself for the next big effort “Aaand-”

“Ann?!”

Mishima almost let go of the ledge when he heard Shihos voice from behind Ann. When he looked up at her, she looked equally shocked. Moments later, Shihos head appeared beside Anns, only to gape in surprise when she saw Mishima dangling from the ledge. She quickly reached down to grab his other arm and with combined efforts, the two girls pulled a confused Mishima inside. He felt like a wet bag of sand when he finally hit the floor of Shihos room.

Shiho quickly closed the door before she stared at the two intruders “What are you two doing here?!” she asked.

Ann helped Mishima to his feet before saying “We came here because you need to come with us. Something huge is after the Phantom Thieves and you’re the only connection to us that they might play and-”

“Ann!” Shiho interrupted her. “Calm down.”

Mishima took a deep breath after recovering from his fall and said “Ann is right. You… should come with us. We've found a safe place.”

“What… what are you talking about? Has this something to do with the rumors?” Shiho asked before covering her mouth “Is this because of Okumuras death?”

Mishima nodded “There’s a big corporation that we’ve upset a few times now and they try to pin Okumuras death on the Phantom Thieves. They’ve sent an investigator after us, that we’ve managed to elude but now we had to abandon our home and find a new place to hide.”

Ann took over from him “We’ve warned everyone close to us but we’re afraid that someone starts to look here, because they know where Ryuji and I come from. If they start asking around, it’s only a matter of time until your name comes up and who knows what they’ll do?”

“Guys… I can’t just leave.” Shiho replied “What about my parents?”

Ann shook her head “You can tell them what’s going on but maybe they shouldn’t tell everyone else.”

“But you don’t even know if I’m really in danger!” Shiho argued. “I can’t just leave everything behind here!”

“Shiho, your safety is on the line! The guy looking for us is no joke. He’s insane!” Anns voice rose.

Her best friend clamped a hand over her mouth “Be quiet. My parents are downstairs!”. When Ann calmed down again, she added “You sound like the mafia is after you...”

“If only it were just them...” Ann muttered. “This is bigger than any of us was able to imagine before. And we still don’t know exactly how big.”

Shiho raised her eyebrow. She seemed to be uncertain of how to react but she did look like she believed them.

Mishima gulped. “Shiho, the people after us belong to the same organization that caused the Shadow Infestation.”

The black-haired girls eyes went wide “Wh- What?”

Ann nodded “It’s true. We don’t know what their plan is now but over 50 years ago the same organization brought the shadows into our world.”

“But… what do they want from you?” Shiho asked.

“That mafia-leader and Okumura both were allies of United Future but we had no idea about that.” Ann explained. “Apparently they’ve been investigating ever since the incident at that bank but we only learned how everything was connected now.”

“And now it’s too late to go back.” Mishima said. “That investigator found our base, so we had to flee and seek asylum somewhere else. Since we’ve escaped, we think that he might be looking for people connected to us. And since you’re a friend of Ann and also Ryuji, he might consider it a good start to get to you.”

“But I could lie and tell them that I haven’t seen you in years.” Shiho argued.

Ann shook her head “Someone must have already informed them that I’ve been here two times over the last half year.”

Shiho seemed surprised “Why would anyone do that?”

Mishima shrugged “Maybe because they didn’t know that it was meant to be a secret.”

“Yeah, especially last time after the explosion, Ryuji and I were pretty present...” Ann said.

Shiho hugged herself before reluctantly saying “So you think that there’s a chance that I will be targeted by whoever is after you?”

Ann shook her head “I’m so sorry, Shiho… I never wanted to drag you into this...”

Shiho reached out and placed her hand on Anns arm “I know.”. She looked around her room before letting out a long sigh “I will come with you. But I’ll need to tell my parents.”

A huge weight dropped from Anns shoulders, but somehow she still had a heavy heart. She had never wanted to endanger Shiho, the only person apart from the Phantom Thieves that she still had a connection to. After freeing her from Kamoshida, she had thought that Shiho coming with them could give them the chance to spend more time together and would just… give her back her friend, that she had to leave behind when she had made that crucial decision after her parents death. Back then, she had thought that everything would be like a fun sleep-over but maybe Shiho had been right. Anns world wasn't her world. Now that Shiho would come back to New New Shinjuku with them, she wished that she could have given Shiho an option. But there was none. Because she would have never forgiven herself, if she hadn’t convinced Shiho to come with them and if Akechi would have done something to her. She squeezed her eyes shut to avoid crying. Why did everything around them have to escalate like this?

Mishima noticed how Ann faced the floor, her eyes squeezed shut and her lip trembling. He had to admit, that he would have never imagined that he, of all people, would actually bring any kind of danger to someones life and especially not to the girl that he liked. And Ann would have gone out of her way to protect Shiho, if they had known who they were up against but in the end, two visits that seemed so harmless coud end up being the thing to break someones neck.

They stood and waited in silence for Shihos return. When the door opened and the black-haired girl slipped inside, Mishima noticed that her eyes were puffy and red but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it. She passed by Ann to reach her wardrobe to pack some clothes into a backpack.

Ann stood and watched without knowing what to say to her best friend. She wished that she didn’t have to force her to leave. Shiho had always been adamant about staying in her hometown because she wanted to give back to their community and because she was close to her parents. “What did you tell them?” she carefully asked.

“I told them the truth. But the official story will be that we’ll be out visiting family for a while. They will leave tomorrow and dive under with some friends and family for a few weeks, just to be safe.” Shiho replied as she closed her backpack and put it on her back. She looked at Mishima and Ann “How do you want to leave?”

“It would be best if we get out the way we came.” Ann said. “Can you do it?”

Shiho nodded before saying “We can get to the roof via the hatch though….”

“Oh..” Ann replied “I… didn’t know there was one.”

“It would have been locked anyway.” Shiho replied with a small smile before motioning them to the hallway. As she was climbing the ladder to reach the hatch, Ann heard footsteps ascending from downstairs. Mishima gulped and quickly pressed himself against the wall around the corner. After almost breaking his neck while trying to break into their daughters room, he felt that it was the wrong time to meet her parents.

Ann on the other hand was directly in their line of sight as the two Suzuis walked upstairs.

“Takamaki.” Shihos mother greeted. She didn’t sound mad, which Ann took as a good sign.

“Hello.” Ann did an awkward bow.

“Shiho told us what happened...” her father said.

Ann nodded before saying “I’m… so sorry. I never meant to endanger her.”

Shihos mother nodded “We know. You’ve always been rather protective of her, ever since you two became friends.”

“Now that we know that she might become a target, we’ll be able to sleep better knowing that she’s safe with you.” her father added.

Ann had tears in her eyes when she replied “I’ll make sure that nothing happens to her. I promise.”. She flinched when Shiho placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile. She took a step back to give her a moment with her parents.

Shiho and her parents said good-bye with a hug before the girl turned to look at Mishima. He froze when she reached for his wrist and pulled him out of his cover. “Mom, Dad, I told you about Yuuki...”

The two seemed surprised at first but Shihos mother was the first to pull him into a hug, that he was too perplexed to reply. “Shiho told us that you were there for her during… Kamoshida…” she couldn’t say it without sniffling “Thank you for looking out for her.”

Mishima still looked baffled when her mother let go of him again. Before he could collect himself, her father patted him on the shoulder when he said “We didn’t know that you were working with Takamaki but it’s good to know that there’s someone else who will be there for her.”

Mishima only managed to nod with wide eyes.

Shiho reached for Mishimas hand before looking at her parents “I guess it’s time to go.”

Her parents nodded and waved after her as they climbed through the hatch onto the roof. “Take care.” was the last thing Shiho said before she closed that hatch after them. When she stood up, she had to take deep breath to collect herself before she nodded at Ann and Mishima “Let’s go.”

Their way back was even more stressful for Mishima, since now he was in danger of embarrassing himself in front of Shiho too. Lucky for him, the descend down the fence went a lot less problematic than the ascend. In the end, he even was able to give Shiho a hand for the last few steps down.

The group of three hurried to the woods in the dark, to where Ann had parked Eikos car. After stowing Shihos backpack in the trunk, Mishima awkwardly looked around. There were only two seats in the car and now they were three.

“Um… I guess I’ll go in the trunk then...” Mishima stammered.

“Don’t be silly.” Shiho said and pulled him towards the passenger door and gave him a light push to get him to get in.

“Wha-?” before Mishima could complete his exclaim of confusion, Shiho was moving in to sit sideways on his lap. After reaching behind her to pull the door shut, she leaned back and used the passenger-door as a backrest.

When Ann got behind the wheel and saw Shihos sitting arrangement with a beet-red Mishima, she had to grin and bit back a comment in fear of killing the poor guy. Shiho seemed like the right kind of extroverted for him, because she was able to counter Mishimas awkwardness without being obnoxious or making him too uncomfortable. She turned the key in the ignition and steered them back onto the road.

Mishima barely registered their drive back. His entire focus was on the girl sitting in his lap, whose upper body shifted more and more from leaning against the door towards leaning sideways against his chest. Her eyes fell shut from time to time too before she snapped back awake. He had no idea if his face was still as red as it felt but he was grateful for the darkness. His heart did a somersault when Shiho eventually leaned her side against him and her head found a place to rest on his shoulder. He had to smile to himself when he carefully let his hand rest on her back.

It was past midnight when they rolled into New New Shinjuku, but that was the time where the settlement was alive the most. Upon recognizing the car, the guards waved them through immediately. Even in the pitch-dark of the night, the streets were as bright as during the day, only that now the light come from all the neon. When Ann pulled into the garage and into the parking spot, she saw Ryuji leaning against one of the pillars. The relieve on his face was obvious.

Ann was the first to get out of the car to fall into Ryujis arms. She pulled the switchblade out of her pocket and handed it back to him “Didn’t even need it this time.” she said with a small smile.

Ryuji had to grin “Good.” he said as he took it back.

“Hello Ryuji.” Shiho said with a small smile as she and Mishima walked around the car.

“Hey Shiho. Glad you’re okay.” Ryuji replied.

In the meantime Mishima got Shihos luggage out of the trunk. When everyone was ready, Ryuji led them out into the back-alley. “Ren and I cleared the side-entrance to the staircase, since we can’t just walk through the bar at this hour.” Ryuji explained as he led the way.

After entering, Ann and Ryuji helped together to push the barricade that would keep the door blocked and inaccessible back into place before they walked upstairs to the Phantom Thieves quarters.

“This is it.” Ann said as she pointed down the hallway. “This door right here is where Ryuji and I are staying. So if you need anything, you come here, okay?”

Shiho nodded.

“Good. Then let’s go and look if someone is still awake in the living room.” Ann said before walking to their new hangout-spot, silently hoping that she wouldn’t have to see Makoto today. She was a little less angry than before, but she still felt that meeting or even talking to her today wouldn’t end well.

When they opened the door, the only one still sitting there was Ren, who was reading a book. Upon seeing them, he got up “It’s good to see you again, Shiho.” he said.

Shiho nodded “I wish it could have been under different circumstances but I suppose I’m not the only one wishing for that.”

Ren had to chuckle “I have to agree.” he pointed to a room behind him “Futaba told me to tell you that you can stay in there. Don’t be disturbed by all the tools and stuff. During the daytime, she will spend some time in there to tinker around. The bed is all yours though.”

Shiho nodded “Thank you.”

Ann reached for backpack in Mishimas hand when she said “Come on, I’ll help you settle in.”

Shiho put up her hand to stop her “It’s okay, Ann. You’ve been driving all night, you should get some rest.” she cast a look at Mishima before saying “I’m sure that Yuuki will be able to help me, if I need anything.”

Mishima was perplexed at first before he nodded.

“Oh...” Ann drew back her hand “… okay…” she said and took a step back.

Ryuji placed a hand on her shoulder “It’s been a long day. Come on.”

A little reluctant at first, Ann eventually followed Ryuji out the living room. Ren cast a look at Mishima and Shiho and smiled “Now that everyone’s safe, I’ll leave you to it.” he said and picked up his book “Good night.”

“Good night.” Mishima quietly called after him before he and Shiho walked into the small room, that must have been the home of a teenager before. The desk was already cluttered with Futabas stuff but aside from that and some more excess luggage from the others, the room was untouched. The twin-bed in the corner was neatly made but the layer of dust on top of the sheets indicated, that it’s been a while since the last time someone had slept in it.

Shiho stood in the middle of the room with drooped shoulders when she let out a small sigh.

Mishima put her backpack beside the bed and looked at her. So far, he had been surprised by how well Shiho stomached all of this but now she was crying. “Shiho..” Mishima muttered, unsure of what to do. Would she want to be held? Or did she want to be alone? He took an uncertain step towards her and awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder.

Shiho averted her gaze and shook her head when she said “I’m sorry… I tried to hold it in in front of Ann…”

“What’s wrong?” Mishima dumbly asked, perfectly aware of the fact that pretty much everything felt wrong in all of their lives at the moment.

Shiho looked at the floor when she replied “It’s just… a lot…” she sniffed. “This day started out like every other and now I’m here, hiding for my life while my parents…” she shivered. “What if they start looking for my parents and hurt them? I wouldn’t even know...” she covered her face with her hands. “I… I know that you’re in much more danger than I am… but I’m scared… for myself…” she sobbed “I’m not a part of the Phantom Thieves. I never did anything to upset anyone. And still I’m the one having to go into hiding now...”

“Shiho...” Mishima muttered as he carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders. When she didn’t take a step back, he took it as a good sign. “I’m… I’m so sorry. We never wanted anyone to get hurt, especially not the people outside of the group that we care about.”

Shiho leaned against him when she replied “I know. And I really appreciate that you and Ann risked so much to come and get me.” she took a deep breath “I think I’ll just need to process the situation for a bit. The last time I’ve been away from home was because of Kamoshida...”

At the mention of Kamoshida, Mishima instinctively held her a little tighter. During their time at the castle, he had wanted to hold and to comfort her so many times but the iron bars inbetween them had always made that impossible. Now, he was finally able to do be there for her the way he wished he could have been back there. His heart skipped a beat when Shiho slowly adjusted her arms to wrap them around his waist. “Hey… can I ask you something?” he reluctantly asked, scared of ruining the moment.

“Of course.” Shiho replied.

“Why don’t you want to talk to Ann about this?”

Shiho shook her head “Because I know that she would feel horrible, if she knew. Ann… she wants to be strong for the people she loves but sometimes she’s not. I think that she still feels responsible for me going with Kamoshida because she feels bad about leaving me behind. Even if I tell her, that I did it on my own free will because of what I had believed back then, she still thinks that it’s her fault. If she knew that I struggle with this situation now, she would feel even worse than she already does. And I don’t want that. So I try to be strong for her, because she always stays strong for me.”

Mishima recalled Anns words after their last visit to Shihos town, when she had told him that everyone needed someone to be weak in front of. He felt his cheeks go red again when he realized that Shiho had chosen him.

Shiho balled her hands into fists against his back before she whispered “Yuuki…?”

“Y-.. Yes?” Mishima asked.

“Can you stay with me tonight?” she asked “I… I don’t want to be alone…”

Mishima nodded without thinking twice “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, everyone! 
> 
> You can probably guess which ship will get a bit of attention next;) I'm a bit conflicted on whether to put it in the tags or not because I know that it's disappointing when you're starting to read a fic only because of a certain ship-tag and then the ship is barely existant, which is also why I didn't put up YusukexHaru for those very small and very rare moments. 
> 
> For everyone who's been wondering why the hell I wouldn't send Ann and Ryuji together (because if there's a moment of RyuAnn to be had, I normally seize the opportunity): Because of that conversation on the drive there. Ryuji being another hothead would have probably had a different effect on Ann. And also because it would have been strange if Mishima hadn't gone to rescue Shiho. And also because of the sweet ShihoxMishima-moment on the drive back. So I hope you weren't disappointed and enjoyed the conversation between Ann and Mishima. These two didn't have a lot to do with each other again after they last visited Shiho (and we all remember how that went), so I felt that it would be nice for Mishima to see that Ann supports their relationship. And I thought it was pretty funny for Mishima, who is dead-scared of angry-Ann to point out that she might have overreacted a bit during their argument with Makoto. 
> 
> Now with Shiho safe and a new day starting, it is time to focus on Makoto and her dreaded talk with her sister.


	76. Clearing The Air

Makoto had slept very poorly that night. While she couldn‘t fall asleep while Ann and Mishima were still out there, she had still refused when Ren offered that they could wait for their return together in the living room. She hadn’t wanted to catch any more of the others disappointed looks, especially not before she had figured everything out herself. Besides, after Ryujis very clear statement that he did not want to see her right now, she had a feeling that Ann wouldn’t want to either, especially if she came back in the middle of the night. And so she had sat in Rens and her new apartment, worrying and pondering. It must have been far past midnight when she heard commotion in the hallway and eventually Anns voice. A huge weight dropped off her heart when she had pressed her ear to the door to make out if her voice was excited or calm. When she heard Ann explaining where her and Ryuji were staying, she had figured that the blonde was showing around Shiho.

Sleep still hadn’t come easy for her. When Ren had returned not long after, he informed her that everything went well and that Shiho was with them now. He had fallen asleep rather quick after that, leaving Makoto alone with her thoughts again. Their day had been full of events and her body had been yearning for a break, yet her brain wouldn’t let her. Eiko was right. She needed to set things straight with her sister and actually talk to her. But how was she supposed to do that? Would Sae even want to?

Both Makoto and Sae had always been early birds. And so it happened that Makoto was circling in front of her door at sunrise, too nervous to knock but also determined to get it over with. Aside from her pacing up and down, the entire house was quiet. She figured that after working all night, it would likely take some time for Eiko and the other girls of the Velvet Room to get up. And after their exhausting recent days, Makoto figured that everyone was more than happy to sleep in for a bit. She would have enjoyed that too but apparently her brain had other plans for her.

She took another long breath before she knocked on Saes door. She needed to set things straight with her. She needed to repair her relationship with all the other Thieves. Because even if Ren had said nothing of that sort, she knew that he was disappointed in her too. She was sure that he knew that she hadn’t meant it the way that everyone else thought she had but she figured that he had hoped that she would act smarter and more empathetic to her Phantom-family. And he was right to do so. She flinched when the door unlocked and opened.

Her sisters silvery hair was neatly combed and she was already dressed in tight black pants and a fitted gray t-shirt. While Makoto was used to looking into tired and grumpy faces in the morning – at least from most of the Thieves – she now looked at her sister, who looked like she had already solved a complicated equation and fought against world-hunger. Her eyes were stern and she gave away now emotion.

“Hey, Sis...” Makoto reluctantly said before she bit her tongue. Why was she so nervous? It was Sae who had stepped on everyones toes. Shouldn’t she be the one trying to blend in? But blending in had never been something that Sae Niijima did. She came and she ordered, no matter where.

“Makoto.” Sae nodded before stepping to the side and offering her to come in.

Makoto reluctantly followed her invitation. She looked around the apartment. The door to the bedroom was closed. On the small coffee-table in the living room stood her black leather-briefcase. A cup was standing beside it. She could feel Saes eyes on her back, judging and demanding and she was transported back to the time when she used to be nothing more than her shadow, observing and executing whatever her sister did. Some times, Sae would put her to the test, presenting her with a “case” of hers and asked her to find a solution to it. Makoto remembered the time with dread, when she would look at the table with shaking knees as Sae paraded up and down behind her back, looking over her shoulder and putting even more pressure onto her with her high expectations. The younger Niijima had learned quick enough that Sae never cared for her opinion. To her, every issue was either black or white. And as soon as she had made up her mind on what was right, she was deaf to any other approach. So the young Makoto had learned that Sae didn’t want to know how she would approach a situation, but it was rather a test to make sure that Makoto handled a situation the right way. The Sae Niijima-way. The Jinbocho-Queen-way. Makoto gulped before she forced herself to remember Rens words. _You’ve done so much badass shit and all of it while being true to yourself. I’d say that your sister doesn’t know what’s about to hit her._ She had done it before. She had to do it again. “Ann and Mishima got back safely with Shiho.” she started the conversation. 

Sae walked out from behind her back and into Makotos field of vision “That’s good to hear.”

Makoto was aware that Sae not so much cared about Ann, Mishimas or Shihos safety, but rather that their hide-out  remained  uncompromised.  She felt really tired of the entire situation all of a sudden. She was tired  of being afraid or trying to evade her sister. She was tired of being treated this way by her own family, especially after she had  learned that it didn’t have to be this way. She was tired of being scared that she could let her sister down. She was tired of all of this. “Sis, this isn’t working.” she said with a sigh. 

Sae turned around and raised an eyebrow at her “I don’t understand.”

Makoto shook her head “You can’t treat my family like this. I know that you think that  we’re the same but  I’m not like you.  Not anymore. ” she gestured to the door “These people, they took me in when I thought that I was alone. Even though I took them hostage and risked their lives before because I tried to fill the hole that you left behind at Kobayakawas side.” 

“What are you trying to say?” Sae asked.

“I’m trying to say that after losing dad, I finally found people who actually seem to care about me again.” Makoto whispered.

Sae seemed perplexed “I always cared about you, Makoto.”

“Then... why did you leave me? Why was everything that you told me that night about what jobs I would need to cover as your replacement? Why… why couldn’t you just talk to me?” Makoto asked, tears welling in her eyes.

For once Sae averted her gaze to think. A few moments of silence passed until she eventually said “Because I felt trapped.” she sat down on the sofa and folded her hands “After dads disappearance, we were all alone. I was 17 and I had no idea what to do. I figured that we needed to join someone else to survive, so I set us up at Shujin. We were just two girls and I was afraid that people wouldn’t respect us. That’s why I started to work close with Kobayakawa. Because I thought that as long as I could be of use to him, he wouldn’t dare to throw us out.”

Makoto was surprised by her sisters sudden candor.

“So I obeyed his orders. Because in the end, all that mattered was that we had a safe place to live. Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t allow myself to think like father or to question my actions like you have. I tried to advise and give my opinion but I soon learned that I couldn’t question Kobajakawa if I wanted to keep his favor.” she calmly explained. 

The younger Niijima suddenly understood why Sae had always been so angry when she had asked whether what they did was the right thing to do. Maybe deep down, she had realized that it wasn’t. But she hadn’t seen another choice for them.

“I knew that I couldn’t keep this up forever. I hated Kobaya and the older I got, the more I wanted to live my own life. I felt so trapped by him, by you, by dad, who just left us without ever thinking about what his death would mean for me.”

Makoto sat down beside her. They both had lost their father but for Sae it had also meant that she was responsible for her little sister. A responsibility she had never asked for and that had been far too big for a 17-year-old. All of her anger that she had held for him suddenly made a lot more sense. “Was… that why you left me behind?” she carefully asked “Because you felt trapped by me too?”

“Partly.” Sae replied. “All I knew back then was that I wanted to be my own person. I felt that I would only be truly free if I left everything behind.” she shook her head “You were old enough when I left so I thought that if I took care of your rank under Kobayakawa, that I wouldn’t have to feel bad because I would have set you up with a good start in life. I don’t expect you to understand. It was what made the most sense to me back then. And I don’t regret leaving.”

“Would you have ever checked up on me or came looking for me, if our ways hadn’t crossed like this?” Makoto quietly asked.

Sae seemed to weigh her answers before she sighed “I don’t know. But we are here now. I know that you think of me as a cold-hearted monster. Maybe I am.”

Makoto slowly started to shake her head “No… I think I understand...”

Sae turned her head and looked at her in surprise.

“Back when I met Ren and the others… they caused the same reaction in me. I suddenly realized how trapped I was because everyone had these high expectations for me and because of the things I had to do for Kobayakawa because that’s what you told me I had to do. Ren opened my eyes and reminded me that it didn’t have to be this way. He reminded me that I was my own person, who could stick to her own justice. And once I remembered it, I couldn’t stand to work for Kobayakawa for another minute. But I didn’t have anyone holding me in Jinbocho. You still had to take care of me back then…” Makoto explained.

Her sister nodded.

Makoto folded her hands in her lap when she asked “Sis… Akechi said that you lost sight of your justice and that all you cared about was winning. Is that true?”

Sae scoffed “I will admit that I preferred to come through for my clients, even if they might have been in the wrong too. Goro had never objected before.”

“I believe that he was covertly pitting us against you, painting you as the evil one so we would get scared. By telling me all those stories about you, he must have tried to discourage me from thinking that I could just talk to you to make you see our justice.” she shook her head “If we hadn’t figured out his background, I would have believed him and would have never even entered the casino.”

Sae sighed “Akechi is smart. That’s why I kept him around. I felt that we were working on the same level. Although now I’m starting to wonder whether he was manipulating me, feeding me all the info that he wanted me to have.” she shook her head “I would just like to know why. If he made so many connections more than I had, why didn’t he just build the case himself?”

“Akechi must have had his responsibilities within United Future as well. After all, he did kill Harus father while you thought that he was working with you.” Makoto pointed out.

“I can’t believe that I’m caught up in all of this just because I ran into him...” Sae muttered. “We’ve known each other before your debut, so he couldn’t have had that in mind when we decided to work together...”

Makoto realized that Sae actually seemed hurt by Akechis betrayal. Had she considered him a friend even? “Were you two close?” she awkwardly asked.

Sae scoffed again before she replied “I suppose you could say that. At least I considered him the first friend that I had in a while.”

“I’m sorry...” Makoto replied.

She shook her head “No, it’s okay. I suppose I had it coming for actually opening up to someone after all these years of keeping my privacy.”

_Opening up? Privacy?_ Makoto sat up straight before she asked “Did you show Akechi a photo of me once?”

Sae looked confused before she reluctantly nodded, as if she was embarrassed about it “It was in a moment of weakness.” she tried to justify her actions.

This time it was Makotos turn to scoff _That sneaky bastard._ Akechi had manipulated her into believing her sister didn’t give a damn about her anymore, when actually she sort of did.

“What is it?” Sae asked, confused.

“Nothing.” Makoto replied and flattened her shirt. “Just unraveled another of Akechis lies.”

Sae nervously adjusted her hair before she said “I apologize for being so harsh on you back at the casino. I know that I have not left you in the best environment. I should have thought ahead enough to know that the job would destroy you too.” she sighed “To be completely honest, I was quite shaken after your boyfriend revealed to me that you were in fact not just a part of the group that I had been hunting for half a year but even one of their commanders and the leaders girlfriend...”

“Or concubine, as you put it at first...” Makoto muttered.

Sae looked a bit shocked that she knew “I know. And I apologize.”.

“I forgive you. I haven’t been the most diplomatic either but if I hadn’t changed your mind, Ren would be dead now.” Makoto apologized.

“I understand. There was a lot on the line for you. Since Akechi apparently also fed you some false intel on me, it’s no wonder that you felt like you couldn’t talk to me.”

“I keep thinking that I should have known better. That I should have doubted him more when he told me how much you had lost your way and how you only lived for winning...” Makoto muttered.

“You haven’t seen me in years and I know that I used to be tough on you.” Sae replied. “I don’t blame you for actually believing him. Akechi is a talented manipulator.”

“He said that you are too.” Makoto replied.

Sae scoffed “Let’s say that it’s been another thing that we have been equals in.”

Silence fell when both of the sisters folded their hands and stared off into the distance.

Sae seemed a bit nervous when she asked “So how do we proceed from now? I’m probably about as high on United Futures-hitlist as you are. It seems like we are forced to be in the same boat. And it very much seems forced for all of your friends.”

Makoto chewed her lip. Was she about to regret her words, or did she actually just create a base off of which she could get Sae to become a part of their team? “Well…” she carefully started “The biggest thing that I’ve learned from them, is that they are forgiving if you are willing to make an effort.”

Sae looked confused. If Akechi really had been her first friend in forever, getting her to really get to know the Phantom Thieves without jumping on any more already broken toes could get difficult. The older Niijima sighed “How would you recommend I proceed?”

Makoto had to take a minute. It felt like the first time ever, that her sister asked for her advice for once. She folded her hands again and said “I want you to get to know them. Really get to know them. Forget everything that you’ve put together in your studies and your case-files and just… talk to them. Without judging and without interrogating. You had your reasons for leaving me in Jinbocho and everything you thought that the others have done, they had a reason for it too. And if you decide to open up to them, they might actually be able to help you too. I… know that it’s difficult at first to just listen without building an opinion right away. But I learned that you can meet the most wonderful people that way. And I would love for you to meet them too.”

Sae looked conflicted but eventually nodded with a sigh “Very well. I shall give it a try.”

Makoto couldn’t hold back a smile. She didn’t know if her sister would really fit in with the Phantom Thieves. Would the others really be able to forgive her? Would she be able to just start anew with her sister? But Sae was right. They were sitting in the same boat now so they should at least try.

Mishima woke up in the same position as he had fallen asleep in last night. Given how nervous he had been once he realized that he had agreed to share a bed with Shiho, he was surprised by how well he had slept. They both had just dropped into bed and had fallen asleep instantly. As he looked down, Shiho was still sleeping with her face buried in his sweat-shirt against his chest. Her breathing was even and compared to her scared and upset face yesterday night, she now looked relaxed. When Mishima tried to move, he noticed that Shihos arm was still wrapped around his torso, keeping him from moving away from her. Even though his side hurt from laying on it all night, he still found himself unwilling to break their embrace. He continued to look down at her peaceful face for a while, completely disbelieving of the situation he was in, until she eventually started to move and slowly opened her eyes.

“Good morning.” she quietly said with a small smile.

“G-.. Good morning...” Mishima stammered. “Did you sleep okay?” he awkwardly asked.

Shiho carefully nodded before she said “Thank you for staying with me… It helped a lot.”.

“No problem...” Mishima spluttered, fully aware that he was making a fool of himself.

But Shiho just smiled at him with that small sparkle in her eyes that made his knees weak, even while lying in bed. He gulped when she moved her face closer to his. His initial state of shock was over a little earlier than the last time, and so he actually got to something close to enjoying the moment. Now that they had a bit more time and the only one he could hold on to was Shiho, he got to realize how soft her lips were. Back then, he had thought of her as bold for just kissing him out in the open, in the middle of the town on that bench but she was also incredibly gentle. Living in the moment, he allowed himself to close his eyes. Eventually their moment had to end though, when Shiho pulled back again to look at him. When he opened his eyes again to look at her, his cheeks were burning.

“Yuuki…?” Shiho carefully asked. “Back home, I heard a lot of stories… Of how the Phantom Thieves killed Okumura and his personnel and that You were in there…. Is it true?” she actually seemed scared.

Mishima nodded “The others couldn’t go in because Okumura already knew their faces, so it was up to me and a friend of the Thieves to infiltrate the workers. All we did was get the people to stand up and walk out. We never wanted to kill anyone.”. He realized how much easier it was for him to talk about things, when he didn’t have to worry about saying anything wrong to her.

Shiho looked a bit relieved before she asked “What happened?”

“Well… on the day of the revolution, the plan was that we’d overpower the guards and secure them without hurting anyone. We were in danger of being compromised and losing the element of surprise, so one of the other men shot one of the guards...” he admitted. He was afraid of Shihos disappointment, but to his surprise she just nodded and kept on listening. “But he was the only one. We managed to secure all the other guards. Haru actually got Okumura to release the workers without any more trouble. All of them had evacuated and we had just regrouped with the others when the factory suddenly blew up.”

Shiho listened to him with wide eyes.

“At first, we didn’t know if it was our fault. I… thought that I’ve done something wrong and that one of the workers was seeking revenge… But now we know that the Crow set us up. Okumura was ready to change United Future was scared that he would spill their secrets, so the Crow murdered Okumura and triggered the explosion, so that it looked like the Phantom Resistance caused it.”

To his surprise, Shiho just wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself closer to his chest. She took a deep breath before she whispered “I’m just glad that all of you got out of this okay.”

Mishima smiled with burning cheeks as he patted her back.

“I… knew that that didn’t sound like you at all… I’m sorry that I doubted you.” Shiho whispered.

He shook his head “No, it’s okay. We were doubting ourselves too.”. He wondered why the public reaction had been so different with Okumura. The others had burned down Kaneshiros bank too. Did people not care about that because Kaneshiro and his men had been undoubtedly the bad guys? Or was it because back then the Phantom Thieves hadn’t been popular? The public surely had had a different opinion and also different expectations around the time with Okumura.

The two continued to lay in bed together for a little longer until they decided that it was about time to get up. Mishima was still groggy and a bit dazed from the events of last night but his heart did a leap nonetheless when Shiho reached for his hand before they walked out into the living room. Mishima only realized how messy his hair must have looked when he saw that almost all the Thieves were gathered around the table in the dining area. As they walked towards the others, one after another, the heads started turning. Judging by the few surprised faces, he realized that not everyone had known about him and Shiho. The first face he was looking for though was Anns. Would she be angry? Would she think that he was taking advantage of Shihos state? Before he could find Anns expression though, he noticed Ryujis wide smirk. He could feel his face taking on beet-colors again. He could already tell that the blonde had a completely wrong idea. When he turned his head a bit farther, he saw Ann. To his surprise, there was a small smile on her face.

“Morning.” Ryuji broke the ice with a grin.

Haru walked up to the couple with a smile “You must be Shiho.” she extended her hand “Ann has told us so much about you. My name is Haru.”

Shiho smiled and shook her hand “It’s nice to finally meet all of the Phantom Thieves.”

“Oh, right!” Ann exclaimed and jumped to her feet. She wrapped an arm around Shihos shoulder and started pointing at the others “You already know Ren and Ryuji. Shiho, meet Yusuke, Morgana, Futaba, Shinya, Hifumi and Boss. The two ice-queens aren’t here yet.”

“Ann.” Ren warned. He had had a bit of sympathy for Ann yesterday but her shooting against Makoto in her absence was a bit excessive and didn’t do anything for camp morale. He was starting to feel like he was sitting between two chairs. One being his girlfriend and the other one of his closest friends. While normally there shouldn’t have been an issue because his loyalty would always go to Makoto, the situation proved a bit difficult when he could actually understand Anns point of view. He had felt bad enough for leaving Makoto behind yesterday, but as the leader he felt that he had to make sure to listen to his other team-mates as to not make them think that he was on Makotos side just because she was his girlfriend. Makoto had appeared to be processing everything on her own yesterday night, so they hadn’t talked much about it either and by the time he had woken up this morning, she had already been gone. He only knew that she was talking with Sae because of a note that she had left on the bed for him.

Shiho seemed to ignore Anns gossip and just shyly smiled into the round and waved “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

Ever since they had joined the others, Shinya gaped at the two. Before Sojiro could clamp a hand over his mouth he asked, wide-eyed “You were in there with Mishima the entire night?!”

Mishima took a step back in surprise. As the focus had started to drift away from him, he had felt his face turn to a more normal shade again. Shinya of all people calling them out with a his childish naivete brought the flush back to his cheeks. This time Shiho actually blushed too.

“Don’t be so nosy.” Sojiro said and ended the conversation that way.

Haru broke the building awkward silence when she asked with a smile “Would you guys like some tea and breakfast?”

The two nodded and immediately Haru was hurrying off to the kitchen-counter.

Futaba looked around the group with a raised eyebrow “Where’s Makoto? She can’t be sleeping still, right?”

Ren shook his head “She’s having a talk with Sae.”

Ann looked conflicted but didn’t say anything. She decided to hold on to what she had realized after her conversation with Mishima.

“The day is already advanced. What are our plans?” Yusuke diverted the conversation while sipping on his tea.

Ren got his mind back on topic before clearing his throat “Right.”. He folded his hands and looked into the group “I’d say all of you stay inside for today. I’ll go down to the Crossroads and talk to Ohya and Kayo to give them a heads-up about our situation. Aside from that, not much to do but following our new codex.”

Shinya, Morgana and Futaba recited with rolling eyes “Stay undetected at all costs and don’t cause a scene.”

“Exactly.” Ren nodded before he looked to Shiho “This living-room and the kitchen are our community-area. This whole floor is ours so feel free to move around.”

Shiho nodded “Thank you.”

Ren nodded back before emptying his cup “I’ll be on my way then, as long as most of the town is still asleep. You guys hold the fort while I’m done.”

Shinya and Morgana beamed at each other before saying in unison “pillow fort!”. They stormed off into their room.

Rens corner of the mouth twitched upward “Not what I meant, but okay.” he reached for his jacket when he searched for Anns eye-contact. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Ann shrugged and followed him outside.

They walked towards the staircase together when Ren said “I know that you’re mad at Makoto but can’t you at least talk it out with her one-on-one instead of adding more fuel to the fire with the others?”

Ann sighed “It was petty, I know.” she shook her head “There really isn’t that much I have to say… Shiho’s safe and that’s all that matters.”

Ren wasn’t sure on how to interpret her words. Was there nothing to talk about because she didn’t want to talk to Makoto or because she wasn’t mad anymore? He sighed to himself. Girls were complicated…

“I know now, that Makoto wouldn’t betray us so easily.” Ann said.

The leader nodded “I’m glad to hear that.”. He offered her a smile when he said “Ryuji told me the news, by the way. I suppose congratulations are in order.”

Anns face lit up when she replied “Thanks.” she leaned forward to mutter “So far only you and Makoto know. With everything happening so fast… there never seemed to be the right time.”

“Skull definitely didn’t pick the best moment to propose.” Ren smirked.

Ann snorted “At least we gave Akechi a show.”

Ren chuckled “Do I even want to know?”

The blonde gave him a playful shove before saying “It wasn’t anything traumatizing.”

Ren grinned “I always knew that you’d get married. But damn was it a long way to get there…”

“Shuddup.” Ann smiled.

“Seriously, I’m happy for you.” Ren said before the two hugged.

“You know that the ball’s in your court now, right?” Ann whispered into his ear before she let go of him again.

“I’m aware.” Ren replied. “But unlike you two, I care about the timing...” he teased.

Ann patted him on the shoulder “Just don’t wait ‘til one of you gets shot again, okay?”

“I’ll do what I can.”

When Ren stepped out into the street, his hood drawn over his head, New New Shinjuku resembled a ghost town. Here and there, the cafés were open but the real thing went down at nights, when every establishment was open. Ren couldn’t help but get a queasy feeling when he started walking. Somehow, he anticipated Akechi stepping out from around a corner any second now, shooting him in the head with that insane smirk of his. What must have happened in his young life, to make him so bitter? Although in his particular case, Ren had to wonder if there really had to be reason for everything. Maybe Akechi was just straight up crazy without any traumatic past. But that would have gone against everything the Thieves had seen the past half year. In their own messed up way, each of their opponents had had a reason to do what they had. Not that that meant that what they had done was right. The crazy yet mysterious figure of Akechi was spooking around his mind more than he wanted to. On the one hand because staring into his face with a gun pointing at him had been fucking scary. And on the other hand, his strange comments about him being almost entertained by Rens wits and saying that they could have gotten along under different circumstances struck Ren as a hidden call for help maybe? He sighed to himself and shook his head. There really wasn’t much sense to be made from crazy people. In the hope that Lala-chan was up and sorting her liquor already, he leaned against the door.

Lucky for him, it was unlocked. Inside everything was quiet except for the always polishing Lala, who was whistling a tune, which abruptly stopped upon seeing who was standing in the doorway. “If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, I think I see a dead man walking.”

Ren tried to be witty when he replied “Winter is coming, it gets harder and harder to get a tan...”

Lala snorted before saying “You might wanna go into the back. Sometimes people get lost and end up here during this time of day.”

Ren was surprised by how quick the situation seemed to have carried on to the barkeep. He nodded and walked through the thick velvet curtains into what he awaited to be Ohyas messy separee-office. He was confused when he actually saw what was happening in the place. It was decently lit and the tables were cleared off. Instead of the one typewriter standing among stacks of paper, there now seemed to be two workplaces with two reporters who were busy typing something on their typewriters. Ohya was the first to raise her head when she noticed Ren walking through the curtains. Her expression was about the same as Lala-chans.

“I don’t believe it...” she whispered before getting up and walking up to Ren. She crushed him into a hug.

To Rens surprise, she didn’t reek of booze anymore. He patted her on the back.

“We haven’t heard from you in so long, we thought you were dead.” Ohya said when she let go of him again.

“If a certain organization had their wish, we would be...” Ren replied.

“Organization?” Ohya wondered.

Behind her table, Kayos eyes went wide “You think that someone is after you?”

Ren nodded “We know, for a fact. The name’s United Future. Both Kaneshiro and Okumura were working for them. Kaneshiro stored money and Okumura probably provided everyone with weapons. The factory blowing up wasn’t our fault. They saw Okumuras change of heart as a threat and so they disposed of him before setting the factory on fire to make it look like our revolution was responsible.”

While Ohya just stared in disbelieve, Kayo was already taking notes on a notepad.

“I’m not here to ask you to investigate. In fact, I’m asking you to stay as far away from this as possible.” Ren quickly added before the two could jump into action. “We had to abandon our base because it’s been compromised.” he looked at Ohya “Since you’ve been involved in our operation with Okumura, you might already be linked to us. We don’t know what their next step will be but we’ve managed to evade them once. If they’re pissed, they might start questioning people related to us.”

Ohya nodded “I understand. My lips are sealed.”

Ren nodded “It’s not just that. Just to be safe, I’m asking you to keep a low profile too. I recently met the head of the investigation and he’s not joking.”

Ohya and Kayo exchanged a look before they both nodded. The reporter walked back to her desk and sat down “But… something even bigger than Kaneshiros gang?”

Ren nodded before saying “I’m counting on your discretion on this but we have reasons to believe that the very same organization that is after us now, caused the Shadow Infestation over 50 years ago.”

Ohya dropped the pen she had been chewing on and gaped at him “How…. How could you know that?”

“It turns out that we’ve crossed paths before.” Ren replied before he turned to Kayo “You’ve been digging into Okumura a bit. Did you learn anything about any of his outside connections?”

Kayo pondered for a moment before saying “There was rumored to be someone who threatened smaller gunsmiths into quitting...”

“Yeah, we learned about that too.” Ren said. “The same guy’s looking for us now. He’s… sort of a double-agent. Kaneshiro talked about him too. He goes by the codename Crow.”

“And you really don’t want us to look into these United Future-guys?” Kayo asked.

Ren shook his head “No. I have a feeling that we already have the best minds on it.” he sighed “All I’m asking is that you, Ohya, keep a low profile and if people start asking around: you haven’t seen us. You helped us with setting up the Phantom Resistance but after that, you’ve never heard of us again.” he repeated.

Ohya nodded “Understood.”

“Good.” Ren was a bit more relieved. He leaned against the wall before asking “So how have things been around here?”

Ohya pointed at their office “We’re officially a newspaper now.” she smiled.

“I like what you’ve done with your office.” Ren smirked.

“That was all Kayo.” she proudly pointed to her friend and colleague.

“Although it’s been hard to get a newspaper going with so many tabloids around...” Kayo sighed.

“Another dirty campaign from United Future to flush us out. Maybe they’ll switch to different methods, now that we’ve moved on to a different phase.”

“And all of this just for a gang of teenagers...” Ohya propped her chin up on her hand.

“I imagined the end of my teenage years a little different too...” Ren replied. He certainly wouldn’t have thought that his sister-in-law would hold him hostage, punch him in the face and call him a terrorist. To be fair though, he had probably deserved that punch in the face.

“The people are conflicted. They don’t know whether to keep believing in you or trust the news that seem to be everywhere right now..” Kayo said.

Ren shook his head “Even if we were to start something against all those different newsletters, we would only be met with more resistance from United Future. They seem to have infinite resources.”

“It’s a shame, really. You were something like the heroes of the common folk.” Ohya said.

The leader of the Phantom Thieves could only shrug “There’s nothing much we can do about it. All that matters for now is that we have a safe place to hide and United Future and the Crow keep running in circles for a while. How we go on from there will need to be discussed among ourselves...”

Kayo nodded “You have our support, no matter what you decide on doing.”

“Thank you.” Ren said as he stepped towards the curtains again “I’ll better be on my way before the streets start to crowd.”

When Makoto stepped out of Saes room, she felt relieved. After their initial heart-to-heart in the morning, they had spent the entire rest talking and catching up. While Makoto still felt that there was something of a distance between them, resulting from years of not seeing each other, Makoto had a feeling that they might finally start to have a new understanding of each other. Now the next step for her sister would be to make up with the rest of the Thieves. But first she should probably do that too.

When she walked into the living room, she found all of them sitting together. What had sounded like a relaxed chat immediately died down when they saw her enter.

Mishima was the first to make a move when he nervously cleared his throat before leaning over to who Makoto suspected to be Shiho. “Shiho, this is Makoto.” he introduced.

Makoto tried to smile despite all the doubtful looks of the others when she walked over to the girl and extended her hand “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

Shiho smiled and took her hand.

Makoto looked around and took a deep breath “Where’s Ren?” she asked.

“Out to talk with Ohya and Kayo...” Ryuji replied.

She nodded before starting “I would like to address yesterday evening.” All eyes were on her now “I understand that my timing to utter my concern for our safety was poorly chosen. My sisters words have gotten into my head and I was doubting the path that we have always taken so far.” she looked at Ann and Mishima directly “The reason why I spoke up was because I was worried that something might happen to you two on the way and the fear of losing my family was bigger than the valiant thought of saving the innocent at that moment. I know that I let you down. And I honestly hope that I will be able to restore your trust in me.”

To her surprise, Ann was the first to speak up “Let’s just… leave last night behind us, okay? I shouldn’t have been so fast to accuse you of betraying us. I know that you care. We all know. And that’s what makes you different from who you were when we first met.”

Makoto couldn’t help but tear up at Anns words. When the blonde girl got up and embraced her, all the dams broke. After Ann, Ryuji walked up to her too.

“Sorry for being so harsh… It’s been a weird night…” he said before extending his hand “We’re good?”

Makoto wiped away a tear and nodded before grabbing his hand and shaking it once. After that came Futaba and Haru, who hugged her at the same time. “Thank you.” she said to all of them after the line to hug and shake hands had come to an end. She composed herself again when she said “I’ve been talking to my sister about our future together and I asked her to reintroduce herself to all of you in terms of a fresh start for all of us.” she saw how the initially smiling faces turned doubtful “I know that she stepped on all of your toes in some way before. Everything I would like to ask of you is that you give her a chance to better herself.” she looked at Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke “I know that you’ve already done it once for me. I hope that you can find it in your heart to give another Niijima a second chance.”

Silence spread in the room until Futaba eventually snorted “You Niijimas don’t seem to be good at making first impressions...”

Ryuji chuckled and even Makoto couldn’t hide a small smile over her remark before she sighed “You might be right. Let’s hope that we’re better at making seconds.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it: Sae had her reasons too, even though they might not have been particularly "good". She was nothing but a girl who felt overwhelmed by all of the sudden responsibility that had come for her when their father went missing and simply needed to "get out". We're not done with her character development though, as Makoto said: if you decide to open up to the others, they might be able to help too. Maybe there will even be something that resembles a "change of heart" *cough cough*?
> 
> Now that we've got Mishima and Shiho together in one spot, they deserve a moment together.
> 
> Now the air between the Thieves and Makoto is clear. And next chapter we will see, how Sae will attempt to set things straight ;)


	77. Second First Impressions

Another day passed after Makotos talk with the rest of the Thieves. While everyone had agreed to Makotos plea to at least hear Sae out, none of them were really looking forward to it. There was just something about her that was intimidating even though everyone felt that they shouldn’t be the one scared of Sae Niijima, but rather that she should be the one making an effort to garner some sympathy from them.

While he would have liked to tell himself that he didn’t care about what Sae thought of him, Ryuji at least had to admit to himself that he did. Judging from what the others have recited about their encounters with her, he hadn’t been the only one who’s been hit by some low blows. And yet still, he felt that if she had just called him a bad tactician, guided by emotions – mostly rage – too much or being too loud and impulsive, he would have had to give it to her. It was the truth and it was something that he and probably everyone who ever crossed ways with him already knew. The prospect that now Sae would come back and talk to him about… whatever, instead of just moving on and arranging themselves professionally wasn’t something that he was looking forward to. Because how was he supposed to prove to a stranger that he wasn’t some hormonal asshole? Especially if he had no idea how he had gotten that reputation in the first place. He stared at the ceiling of Anns and his room. Maybe he should just stay in here all day to avoid Makotos sister. Maybe he would even be able to tempt Ann to stay with him. He had to smile when he looked down where she was pressed against his side, her head resting on his chest. No, he would have never been happy with a one-time-thing. Waking up beside her every morning was far too good.

When Ann opened her eyes eventually, she could already tell without seeing his face that he wasn’t asleep anymore. She raised her head.

Ryuji heart jumped when he saw her turquoise eyes looking up at him. He leaned forward and put a kiss on her forehead.

“Since when are you up so early?” Ann yawned, confused, before she wrapped an arm over his stomach.

He shrugged “Dunno… Couldn’t really sleep.”

Ann seemed reluctant to let it go. After short pause she asked “Is it because of Sae?”

Ryuji sighed “Yeah… Maybe.”

“You said it yourself. She doesn’t know us.”

“I know.” he sighed “But that makes it even worse. I mean… who gave her those images about all of us then?”

“Just let them talk. We know who we are. And isn't that all that matters?” Ann asked, remembering how he had told her back at Madarames gallery that as long as the people that mattered knew who she was, it didn’t matter what a bunch of stupid guys at the next table thought.

“Yeah, I know.” he groaned “I know that I shouldn’t care. But I do. And now she wants to talk to us again? I mean, what am I even going to say to her?”

“I’d let that be her problem. She’s the one who needs to make an improvement.” Ann argued.

“Hey… can I ask you something?” Ryuji reluctantly asked. “Back before we got together… did it ever seem like I was just out for a quick fling?”

Ann sat up beside him and looked down before saying “You did act like it but I always knew that you wouldn’t be able to pull it off in the end.” she shrugged “You care too much. You tried to act like this horny douche with Mika and even with Eiko in the beginning but in the end you never even made a move on them.”

Ryuji sighed “So now I’m a coward… That doesn’t help...”

Ann groaned “You just said that you didn’t like that Sae thinks of you as a playboy but now that I say that you weren’t you’re also unhappy?”

The blonde sighed once more before saying “Maybe I don’t even know what I want to hear...”

She smirked when she shifted her seat so she was kneeling over him before saying “Sometimes people just assume things based on looks. You look different. So people automatically think that you must behave different too.” she reached out and locked her fingers with his “What I’m trying to say is that whoever gave Sae the idea that you were this skirt-chaser, they clearly had no idea about who you really are.” she said as she leaned forwards. Their lips were almost touching when she whispered “You are the most kind and caring person I know. You’ve always been. So let them talk. The people who care about you know who you are. I know who you are.”

“Thanks.” Ryuji reluctantly smiled when he put his free hand up to the back of her neck to close the last distance between their lips.

Ann had to grin when his hand wandered down her back “I know that we should face the issue and all.. But what would you say that we just don’t leave the bed for today?”

He grinned against her lips when he replied “I would have done that anyway.”

Ann put another kiss on his lips before she dropped down at his side again.

Ryuji rolled over so he was looking at her “You tryin’ to avoid her too, huh?”

Ann grimaced before reluctantly saying “I’m… not super proud of how I handled everything. I know that I shouldn’t have freaked out like that and that Saes concern about me busting our cover was… valid. But I’m not sorry for getting Shiho. And I won’t apologize for it.”

“Ya think she’ll be looking for one?” Ryuji asked “She’s not really in a position to make demands right now...”

Ann sighed “Maybe I’m worrying too much.” she chewed her lip “I just… don’t want to talk to her. Because even if she does try to fit in… what if she just doesn’t? What if I don’t like her? I’ve already had my issues with Makoto and she’s like…. the Jinbocho-Makoto times 5.”

Ryuji reached for her hand “Maybe you're overthinking this? I mean yeah, you weren’t off to a good start with Makoto but you went out to get apple-pie the next day.” he shrugged “Maybe the Shiho-discussion with Sae was your shadow-fight with Makoto.”

Ann gave him a doubtful look “I don’t think I want to go and get sweets with her...”

“Cause you haven’t talked to her since your fight.” Ryuji replied.

The blonde sighed “Maybe you’re right… I should at least hear her out and maybe everything will be a lot different than what I’m fearing...”

“There ya go.” Ryuji grinned.

Ann smirked “Are you still down with staying in bed a bit longer?”

Ryuji grinned “Hell yeah.”

Ann wasn’t the only one worrying about Saes chemistry with the group. Makoto was nervously pacing up and down her room, worrying about how she would break it to her sister if anyone of the Thieves came up with the judgment that Sae Niijima was not fit to be a part of their group.

“If you keep this up, you’ll have covered miles by the end of the day...” Ren uttered from his place on the bed.

Makoto sighed “I can’t help it. I’m worried.”

“Your sister is a grown-up. She’ll be able to handle herself. I think.” Ren replied.

“I don’t think that Sis has ever been in a situation where she needed to be liked by people.”

“She must have been the bomb at parties...” Ren muttered.

Makoto looked at him with dropped eyelids “I think you can imagine that we’ve never been invited to parties.”

Ren sat up with a cheeky smirk “The more I learn about your life, the more I think that it only really started when you joined us.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest “As if we’ve been to parties.”

He grinned “Isn’t every day with us a party?”

Makoto scoffed and threw a sweatshirt at his face.

Ren caught it mid-air and stood up to walk up to her “Hey.” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist “It won’t make a difference whether you stress out about it or not. In the end, it’s up to your sister.”

Makoto leaned against his shoulder and let out a long sigh “I know...”

“Maybe getting something to eat will take your mind off of things. I’ll check if breakfast’s ready.” he said before giving her a kiss.

He was still wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt when he stepped out into the hallway, only to find Sae standing right in front their door.

“Holy sh-” Ren cursed before he regained his composure again and took a deep breath. He closed the door behind him as to not upset Makoto any more than necessary. “How long have you been standing here?” he asked with a hushed voice. Given the time of the day, probably not everyone was awake by now.

“A few minutes.” Sae replied “I figured that since you are living with Makoto, you must get up early too. I was trying to find the right words before knocking.”

“Okay, um,… just for your future visits… don’t stand and stare in front of peoples doors for minutes. It’s a bit weird.”

Sae looked honestly interested in his tips and nodded.

Ren wondered how he had gotten into the situation of having to teach his sister-in-law about how to behave in a non-strange way. There surely wasn’t normal a lot in his life.

“I assume that Makoto has already informed you of my new… resolution.” Sae awkwardly started “And since we have been off to quite a rocky start, I wanted to start with you.”

Ren nodded “Sure.”. When Sae awkwardly continued to stand in the hallway, he decided to take the initiative “Shall we sit down at the table?” he figured that offering the living room would have been too much leisure for Sae Niijima.

She seemed a bit relieved before she nodded.

As they walked into the common area, they were alone. Since it would have taken too long to make some tea, Ren put two cups of water on the table before he sat down in front of Sae.

A few moments of silence and awkward drinking passed until she eventually said “How is your nose?”

Ren leaned back in his seat and replied “It’s getting better.”

Sae nodded.

The leader decided to offer her a way out of the situation “I don’t blame you for punching me. I do tend to say unhelpful things in tight situations. I deserved it.” he leaned forward “I’m dead serious about is Makoto though."

Sae nodded again “I noticed. And I apologize for accusing you of anything that indicated otherwise.” her eyelid twitched slightly when she reluctantly said “I haven’t been a part of my sisters life for a while. In my head, she was still the 14 year-old girl. Hearing that she was in a relationship, and with my enemy nonetheless, came as a surprise.”

“Understandable.” Ren said. “Look, let’s just forget that interrogation. We were both at very different points and maybe both of us have behaved a bit different than we would have done in a familiar environment.” he extended his hand across the table “So let’s make this a proper new beginning. My name is Ren Amamiya. I’m your sisters boyfriend. And also the leader of the Phantom Thieves.”

Sae reached out and shook his head “Sae Niijima.”

“Stern handshake.” Ren noticed. “I assume that you taught Makoto.”

For the first time, Ren saw something resembling a smile on Saes face. While normally so confident, she flinched when the door of Harus room opened and the young heiress stepped into the living room. She was equally surprised to see someone sitting in the kitchen this early already.

Ren smiled and got up “I’ll leave you to it.” he said before giving Haru a nod and walking out.

Haru wasn’t exactly looking forward to another talk with Sae. After her so tactlessly wanting to leave her chickens behind to starve, she wasn’t fully convinced that Makotos sister was someone who she wanted to talk with. She took a deep breath and forced herself to remember her manners. She put on the best obedient Okumura-smile that she could muster before asking “Would you like some tea, Niijima-san?”

“There’s no need to be so formal.” Sae shook her head “Since all of you are on a first-name-base, there is no need to keep up certain boundaries just for my sake.”

“Oh. Very well.” Haru replied and scanned the kitchen cupboards for a tea-vessel. To her surprise, she even found a kettle. In another cabinet she found a large pot, which she decided to dedicate for their breakfast-porridge. She wondered how many days she would be able to get by with the last sack that they had. After that, she would need to think about what to cook next. As she got into her daily flow of preparing tea and porridge, for a moment she forget that Sae was still sitting at the table, watching her. She flinched when Sae spoke up:

“Do you prepare breakfast for everyone every day?”

Haru put the water and her assorted herbs into the kettle before she turned around and nodded “I always wake up early anyway.”

“It’s very thoughtful of you to do this for the whole team.” Sae noted.

“Oh...” Haru stammered “I.. really don’t mind. I find it quite peaceful to use the early morning hours. And the others seem to enjoy my cooking, so I’m happy to do it.”

“So it wasn’t something that Ren and Makoto assigned you to?” Sae asked, curious.

Haru shook her head “When I first joined, we still lived in Boss’ tavern. I just started helping him one morning, while everyone else was still asleep. From then on, we’ve established something of a routine.”

“A tavern, you say?”

The fluffy-haired axe-wielder nodded “Sadly, it’s been hit in one of the first bombings.”

Sae pondered for a moment before carefully saying “I don’t mean to be rude but knowing your father and the conditions that you grew up in, it’s quite a surprise to see that you are this… grounded.”

Haru couldn’t even say that she took it as an offense. It was a logical observation. Before she lived with the Phantom Thieves, she never had to cook a single time in her life. Now she had taken over the responsibility of keeping everyone fed. “It’s true that I’ve never had to cook myself before but just because I didn’t have to, doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to. When I started growing my own vegetables, I got interested in cooking too. After raising my own produce, I wanted to know how I could honor it as much as possible. I believe that we should be more conscious of what we eat and that we should cherish the work that went into raising the vegetables and the processing of our food, as well as the animals that help provide for us.”

Sae nodded “And that’s why you wanted to find a new home for your chickens.” she finally understood.

“After we took down Madarame, the people of one of the towns nearby gave them to us as a thanks. We’ve only had them for over half a year but they have given us so many eggs that then resulted in delicious meals. The least I could do to appreciate what they have given us, was to make sure that they would be transferred to a good home that would appreciate them as much as I did.”

Sae felt incredibly dumb for being so narrow-minded back at LeBlanc2. She had thought that Haru was nothing but a spoiled brat who couldn’t handle leaving anything that belonged to her behind. But the daughter of one of the most selfish men she had heard of had actually cared about the animals, even with her own life in danger. While a part of her still found it incredibly risky and stupid, another, very small, part thought that it was heartwarming. “When our father was still alive, I used to have a cat that lived with us.” she suddenly said.

“Oh?” Haru was surprised.

Sae nodded as a fond smile played on her lips “Makoto was allergic to it, so they told me that I needed put it out of the house again. But I couldn’t. She just seemed so… helpless. So I secretly kept her in my room and fed her with left-overs from my dinner.”

Haru had to smile “That’s adorable!”

Sae slowly nodded “It really was...”

When the kettle started to boil, Haru turned around and poured two cups before she walked over and placed one in front of Sae. During their first meeting, she had never thought that Sae had had anything resembling a childhood. But neither had she for most of her life. But now after hearing her cat-story, Haru realized that the Sae that had loathed her for caring about her chickens just was who she was because she didn’t see another choice for herself. Maybe there really was a different person underneath all these layers of cold calculation. Maybe there really was a chance of her finding her way into the group.

Since they weren’t running on a tight schedule now that they were in hiding above the Velvet Room, everyone decided to appear for breakfast on different times. Makoto and Ren joined not much after Harus and Saes talk before disappearing into their room again. After breakfast, Haru decided to leave the pot standing and retreated to her room as well, leaving Sae alone with the rest of her breakfast until eventually Sojiro walked in to help himself to a bowl of porridge.

The old man gave her an indifferent nod as he sat down with his bowl and cup of tea.

While Sae didn’t exactly sense that he wanted to talk, she decided to make the first step “Haru mentioned earlier that you used to run a tavern.”

Sojiro nodded “Those were the good old times...” he reminisced. “Things had been a bit easier and the only worry on my mind was how I’d keep all those mouths fed, that that guy would drag in.”

“So Ren was the one who invited them to stay?” Sae asked.

The old man sighed “I suspect that he had an idea that I wouldn’t be able to say no. First was Morgana. A boy who had no idea about his parents or what had happened to him. Then came Ann and Ryuji, who had been exiled by their hometown after their parents died. Yusuke had just recently lost his mother and got by by living in peoples attics until we took him in. After that was your sister, who Ren said had burned down some bridges. And last but not least Haru, who ran away from her wedding.”

“I see.” Sae said. “And before all that was Futaba.”

Sojiro nodded “I don’t know how much you were briefed about United Future but these kids have found out that they were the reason why Futabas mother was killed. And because Medjed knew that she wouldn’t stop asking questions, they wanted to lock her up to keep quiet. If I hadn’t been in the right place at the right time, I wouldn’t have known about their plans and wouldn’t have been able to take her away in time.”

“It must have been hard to look after your dead friends kid.” Sae tried to sympathize.

“It’s the only thing I knew I could do for Wakaba.” Sojiro replied “She had tried to tell me that something wasn’t right and I didn’t listen.”

Sae realized that she could relate to his story “Have you ever been mad that she still went out, even though she knew that something would happen?”.

Sojiro took a sip of his tea before replying “No. Because that’s who Wakaba was. She was what Medjed claims to be about: Finding answers. And if she hadn’t gone there and hadn’t done what she had, we would never know the things we know now.” he took a deep breath “I miss her every day. But I know that sooner or later, it would have killed her in a different way, if she had decided to not go and investigate.”

“I see...” Sae pondered over his answer.

“I assume that you can relate, given your father.” Sojiro said.

The older Niijima nodded.

“I know that it’s hard to understand at first. Especially when you are young. You were just a kid who suddenly had to look out for her little sister while also coping with the loss of your father.” he said “It’s understandable, that you don’t feel the same about his death as I do about Wakabas.”

Sae folded her hands on the table “As the days passed and he still hadn’t returned… I got angry. Angry about why I had to worry about his safety for days at a time because he decided to help random strangers. Angry about why he didn’t seem to care that both of us worried every time he left us. At one point… I just decided that if he didn’t care about us, I wouldn’t care about him.” she looked into her almost empty cup “It was the easier way out, than to fully admit that I was sad and scared.”

“Sometimes it’s easier to be angry than to actually come to terms with what you really feel.” Sojiro said before he reached across the table to collect her empty bowl. He got up and placed the dishes in the sink before tipping and imaginary head towards her and walking off.

Later that day, Sae found Hifumi and Yusuke sitting in the living room, playing a round of Shogi. She decided to sit down with them and observed their ongoing game. It was obvious who the master was. Ten minutes later Hifumi slammed her piece onto the board before calmly saying “Checkmate.”

Yusuke chuckled before nodding “I concede.”

“You played well.” Hifumi said.

The artist smiled “I have a good teacher.”

Sae had watched the round in what everyone knew as the Makoto-thinker-pose. “That pin a few rounds ago was impressive.” she stated eventually. “Although Yusukes fork a little earlier was a well-planned move too.”

Hifumi was impressed when she looked to the older Niijima “You play Shogi?”

“Goro and I played a lot in the evenings.” Sae said.

Yusuke got up from his seat “I believe that the next round will be yours then.”

Sae was a little perplexed before she got up and got into Yusukes seat opposite of Hifumi, who was already setting up her pieces.

Yusuke sat down beside Hifumi before asking “Was Akechi a good player?”

Sae arranged her pieces while replying “It was another thing that I considered us equals in. Ever since I’ve met him, he acted rather tactical. Now that I know that he’s been working as a double-agent the entire time, I can’t help but wonder how I was never even the least suspicious about his calculating behavior.”

“Being calculating does not necessarily mean that one has evil intentions.” Hifumi replied as she made her first move.

Sae nodded “I agree. Although in my experience, people tend to get wary with a calculating person around.”

Hifumi and Yusuke nodded, fully aware of their own situation.

Sae considered her options and made her first move “Both of you have come from a very paved way.” she observed “A shogi prodigy and an artist. With your talents, you would have been able to live off of your trades. I apologize for my rude questions on our first meetings. Yet I still can’t help but wonder why you chose the riskier path.”

Hifumi and Yusuke exchanged a look before they both shrugged. Hifumi was the first to put her thoughts into words “I realized that I didn’t want to be defined just by my talent for Shogi. I’ve lived years with the thought that it’s the only thing I was capable of doing. It was what I defined myself with. And while it’s still a game very dear to me because of my father, thanks to the Thieves I realized that I can do more. It’s very likely that I acquired these skills thanks to shogi, but nevertheless, I wouldn’t want to live as a one-trick-pony. That’s why I decided to go with the people who had taught me just that. And I’ve never regretted it once so far. Because unlike living as a shogi-prodigy, I know that I’ve been able to better many lives with the Phantom Thieves.”

Yusuke nodded in agreement before he asked “If I might ask a question in return, why did you decide to leave Jinbocho, where you had a protected job and a safe space to live?”

“A fair question.” Sae admitted. “I realized that I wasn’t happy with who I had decided to be. A lot of my decisions had stemmed from the need to provide for myself and my younger sister. When I came upon the luxury to question my decisions, I soon realized that I couldn’t live like that anymore.”

“Do you think that your fathers profession has impacted you on your decision of what to become after that?” Yusuke asked.

Sae pondered over her answer before replying “I can’t deny that my fathers career had been on my mind.” she admitted “But I set out with the thought that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes as him.”

“It makes sense to not plan on dying.” Yusuke stated. Beside him he could see Hifumi covering her face while shaking her head.

A short amused snort escaped Sae before she replied “True. But what I meant was that I didn’t plan on getting in situations where I would have to risk my life for someone I barely knew.” she moved her next piece “I assume that my philosophy was the exact opposite of the Phantom Thieves’.”

Hifumi reluctantly nodded.

“But why?” Sae asked. “Why would you so easily endanger yourself and your friends for strangers?”

“Because if strangers hadn’t so selflessly decided to help me, I would still be trapped at Madarames gallery.” Hifumi answered.

“And if Ren, Ann, Ryuji, Futaba and Morgana hadn’t offered to help me, a struggling artist, then I would probably still be roaming the settlements, looking for attics or cellars to sleep in.” Yusuke added. “In a way, all of our lives have turned for the better because of strangers who were selfless enough to care and that wanted to make a change.”

Hifumi nodded.

Sae couldn’t come up with something to answer to that. She felt a bit overwhelmed by a bunch of teenagers talking about selflessly helping others because they have received the same kindness. And in the end, it made sense. Sae wondered if she would have been the same, if she hadn’t been branded by the events of her childhood.

After Sae had to admit defeat against Hifumi, she found Futaba sitting in her workshop. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she was tinkering with a small device.

“What are you building?” Sae awkwardly tried to start a conversation.

“Reading light.” Futaba replied, not looking up once. “Ren always complains about Makoto reading so late. So I thought: Why not make a small light that won’t bug Ren but will let Makoto read until the sun comes up again.”

“That’s.. very thoughtful.” Sae stated.

Futaba shrugged “Not really a lot I can do right now… I had to leave all of my defense-system back at LeBlanc2. Not that we need it here anyway...” she sighed before grumbling “I hope Akechi at least gets a shock when he touches the doorknob...”

“A defense-system with electricity. That’s quite impressive.”

“Pfsht. It’s nothing compared to what you had at your casino. But hey, at least I built mine with my own two hands.” Futaba replied.

Sae noticed that the young hacker never took her eyes off of her project while she was talking.

“Did Hifumi beat you at shogi?” Futaba eventually asked.

“Yes.” Sae reluctantly admitted.

“Don’t feel bad. She beats everyone.” she shrugged.

“That’s what I heard.”

“I also heard you talking about our motives.”

Sae looked at the door. Hadn’t it been closed when she entered?

Even without looking, Futaba must have sensed her confusion “I bugged the living room.”

Sae raised an eyebrow “Do the others know?”

She shrugged “They should be able to guess by now.”

“Don’t you think that you should officially disclose that to them?” Sae poked further.

For the first time, Futaba raised her head to look at her with a raised eyebrow “Who are you? Makoto?”

“A Niijima at least.” Sae shrugged.

Futaba sighed and moved her focus back to her reading lights.

Sae remembered how Hifumi and Yusuke had both said that if it weren’t for the Phantom Thieves selflessness, they would be in very different places right now. But Futaba had already lived with Sojiro and she had lost her mother to a very similar reason as her and Makoto. “Can I ask you a question?”

Futaba shrugged “Shoot.”

“When I gave up on my fathers return, I was mad. Mad that he left Makoto and me behind just like that. Mad that he died while helping strangers. Did you feel the same when you lost your mother?”

The girl stopped working for a moment and stared into the distance before eventually saying “Why would I be mad at her for dying?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure that she would have chosen to live, if she had gotten the chance. The only people I’m angry at is those United Future assholes.” she turned around to look at Sae with honest curiosity “Weren’t you ever mad about the fact that there’s people who just walk around and kill? Or that there’s shadows roaming around, terrorizing us all? If it weren’t for them, maybe your father would still be with you.”

Sae didn’t quite know how to react. She had always been so focused on her father leaving them when Futabas quite direct statement, that he probably hadn’t wanted to die either, summed up the situation so perfectly.

The young hacker shrugged again and turned back to her workshop-table “But hey, don’t worry about it. We’re all crazy traumatized here. If it weren’t for Ren, I would have probably died in the original LeBlanc because I wouldn’t have left my room.”

Sae was still too confused to talk. Why had she never thought about that? Everything could have been so different, if her anger hadn’t been directed at her father.

“Your face looks just like Makotos when your gears are grinding.” Futaba mentioned, her eyes on her desk.

“Do you have cameras installed here?” Sae asked, alarmed.

“Nope.” she replied. “Just guessing. But judging from your reaction, I was right.”

When Sae left the workshop, she felt confused. She realized so many things today. Makoto was right, all of these people had offered her some valuable insights. Her inner detective was annoyed by how a group of teenagers was lecturing her about life but that small part that had already started to doubt her actions was gnawing at her, telling her that they were right. In the room across the living room, she heard childrens laughter. As she passed by the open door, she saw how Morgana and Shinya had their fun with the toys that they had found in their new room. A kid who couldn’t even remember his own parents, who had been given a home by a fellow orphan. If she had passed by, would she have even cared if that scrawny kid had a home? Everything suddenly felt too much for her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to walk away. On her way out, she passed by Mishima and Shiho, the girl that she would have left in the hands of United Future, if Ann hadn’t opposed her like she had. Sehe couldn’t bare to look at her and the guy who all the people she had interrogated had described as timid and scared. And still, when it came to infiltrating Okumura Industries and now rescuing Shiho, he had put himself in harms way for others. It suddenly felt like something in her heart, that had been dormant for almost her entire life, just started to come back to life. And somehow it made her break out into a cold sweat as she hurried down the hallway and into her apartment. As she hastily closed the door behind her, she couldn’t help but cry as she sank to the floor. She had spent all her life being angry at the wrong person.

She flinched when she heard the door open behind her “Makoto?” she asked, trying to cover up her shaky voice, as if that would make it any less confusing that she was sitting on the floor.

“No...” a female voice uncertainly replied.

When Sae turned her head a bit, she noticed the blonde locks in the corner of her eye.

Ann reluctantly walked closer to her “What’s wrong?”. All she had planned on doing was sneak out of their room, get something to eat for both of them and then disappear without anyone noticing but when she had seen Sae hurry through the hallway with a downcast face, she had suddenly started to care. She just hoped that she wouldn’t regret it.

Sae shook hear head “It’s… nothing.” she tried to steady her voice “I just realized a few things.”

“What did you realize?” Ann asked.

Sae was reluctant to spill out her gut, especially in front of Ann. She was about to bottle up her emotions again when all of a sudden the words just started spilling out of her “All my life, I was angry at my father, when there was nothing that he could have done.” she took a deep breath and tried to sort her thoughts “Everything could have been so different, if I had thought about it differently.” she wiped away a tear before saying “Excuse me. I don’t make sense. I don’t expect you to understand.”

“I… think I do.” Ann said. “Back in our case, I knew who I could be angry at. Our parents had been forced to fight by the council. It was obviously their fault because they had made the decision to order for civilians to fight.” she tugged at the string around her wrist “Your father didn’t die because he was following orders of others.”

Sae was surprised by the blondes understanding of her dilemma “But if he had stayed behind, would he have been himself? He had always been the first to come to the rescue of civilians.” she shook her head “All this time, I was blaming him for leaving us. Blaming him and that event for everything bad that happened in my life.”

Ann squatted down beside her and remembered Mika and her talk with Ryuji in the car after that. “All of us, we’ve turned out the way we have because we’ve had someone by our side. I don’t know if I would have been who I am today, if I had been all by myself. You must have been lonely when your father didn’t return.”

“The only one I had was Makoto and she was too young to understand the entire weigth of it.” Sae said “It felt like it was me against the world. Only that I wasn’t just responsible for myself but for Makoto too.” she grimaced “I got stressed. I started to pity myself, asking why it had to be me of all people. And I got annoyed. I’ve never asked to be in this position. But the more Makoto kept asking, the angrier I got because it annoyed me that she didn’t understand the situation we were in, when she continued to believe that he would come back.”

The blonde gave her a sympathetic look. She probably would have felt overwhelmed too if it had been just her and a child, that she had to care for. “I can imagine that it must have been hard for you.” she eventually said. “You’ve had noone to turn to.”

Sae sounded stubborn when she said “I don’t need help from anyone.”

“It’s good to be independent. But sometimes you just need someone on your side. And there’s nothing wrong with that.” Ann replied.

Sae scoffed “I’m probably too late for that.”

“Well…” Ann said, her hand wrapped around the ring at her wrist “You’re with us now.”

Sae looked at her in surprise.

The blonde shrugged “Whether you like it or not, you’re part of our team now. So no more lone wolf. Neither in actions, nor in feelings.”

The silver-haired woman nodded before she let out a snort “I feel so embarrassed. All of you are so much younger and seem so much less damaged.”

“Oh trust me, all of us are pretty messed up.” she shrugged “But we’re messed up together.”

Sae smiled a weak smile before saying “I want to apologize for how I behaved two days ago.” she started. “After everything I realized today, I’m glad that you didn’t back down from getting your friend.”

Ann was surprised by Saes sudden change of heart. Change of heart. The first one to use the term had been Haru but it described Saes state pretty accurately. It must have really been the power of the Phantom Thieves, that made Sae realize that there were other ways to approach situations.

Sae tried to collect herself again before she said “I appreciate you checking up on me. After our rather rocky start, I was anticipating that you would be my biggest obstacle towards acceptance.”

“I thought so too.” Ann decided to be honest.

“I believe that I owe your… husband… an apology too.” Sae admitted.

An embarassing giggle escaped Anns lips. So far, noone had referred to Ryuji as her husband yet. Not a lot of people knew either. It felt nice. She smirked “You did scratch his ego quite a bit.”

“I apologize. Even from the view of an investigator, it was an unprofessional observation.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to see in no time that he’s a great person.” Ann said.

Sae raised an eyebrow at her “Isn’t it only natural for you to say that about your spouse?”

Ann giggled “Maybe. But I’ve already thought so before we got together.”. She got back to her feet “But whoever told you that he’s some douchy ladies-man is a bad source of information.”

Sae tried to recall how she had gotten the image of the two blondes “You were rumored to be rather easy too.”

The blonde sighed. There might have been a time when she would have been angry about that but she felt like she didn’t care anymore. “I know. I’m blaming my different looks for it. And Kamoshida.”

“You had a past with Kamoshida?” Sae asked, surprised.

Ann was grossed out when she replied “Ew, don’t put it like that.” she shook her head in disgust before she continued “Kamoshida was obsessed with me. He always wanted to get me to go with him and become his… I don’t know what. Apparently he tried to change my mind by spreading rumors at home, that I was sleeping with him. The others didn’t like me much anyway, so I guess they found it funny to spread the news.”

“I apologize for following baseless rumors about you.” Sae said. “It has become obvious that you care. Not just about Skull, but about all of your friends.”

Ann had to smile “Thanks.”

Sae stood up and extended her hand “I would like to propose that we make a new start.”

The blonde stood up and took her hand with a small smile “We already have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it: A change of heart. Her entire life, Sae had been fueled by the anger about her father leaving them behind until the Phantom Thieves made her realize that there's another way to see things. Now with all the blockades out of the way, it seems like Sae is officially welcomed into the Phantom Thieves. I'm a bit proud of this chapter, especially the conversation between Futaba and Sae was really fun to write as kind of an eye-opener for Sae. 
> 
> Let me know what you think about Saes change of heart! 
> 
> We're nearing the next huge arc and over the holidays I've been in a bit of a struggle, both concerning ideas and how to put them into effect as well as time. I've been spending some time playing Cyberpunk 2077 too (awesome game but haven't completed it yet), which has also taken up a bit of my time that I would have usually used to write. There was a short moment where I was considering reducing my updates to 1 chapter a week, just to buy some time and to avoid entire weeks without updates should I be unable to find my groove again in time but in the end I've been able to catch up to almost my usual buffer of 5 weeks (probably insane, right?), so now I feel at peace again and therefore no changes in the regular schedule and this paragraph was kinda pointless but still thanks for sticking around ;) 
> 
> I've also noticed that there's been a lot more hits on this piece over the last week, so if any of you new readers reach this part of the story: Welcome!


	78. A Third Pair Of Observant Eyes

As the Phantom Thieves continued to lay low and hide, days melted into nights and into days again. At some point, all of them lost their feeling of time as it started to alternate between sleeping long and lounging around their apartments or the common living room. The only ones remotely doing something useful were Haru and Sojiro, who continued to cook for them.

When after one week in confinement everyone started to feel their muscles deteriorating, Ren and Ryuji made the first move to introduce a work-out into their daily routines. And so it happened, that while Hifumi and Morgana did the dishes after breakfast, a few of the Thieves got into a push-up-challenge. After moving furniture in the living room, Ren, Ryuji, Shinya, Mishima, Shiho and Haru each found themselves a spot on the floor.

As the athletes got into position, Sae walked in only to stop and cast a confused look at the scene in front of her. “What is going on here?”

Sojiro was still sitting at the breakfast table when he explained “They’re having a competition.”

“A push-up-competition!” Shinya exclaimed.

Sae scanned the room before eventually saying “Exercising is an important aspect since all of us are getting a lot less of it ever since we’re hiding here.”. She took off her jacket and walked over to the competition-ground.

“Sis…?” Makoto asked, perplexed “What are you doing?”

Sae shrugged “I’m joining.” she looked at the other contestants “If you will have me, of course.”

Ren grinned “Sure thing. Find yourself a spot and prepare to be stomped.”

There was a short flare of fire in Saes eyes before she overplayed it with a cool smile “I assume that you know my sister well enough to know about the Niijimas competitive nature.”

“I’m aware.” Ren replied.

Sae smirked coolly “Then you should know that I am ten times worse than her.”

Ryuji gulped.

Makoto had watched her sister joining the competition with suspicion but seeing her actually joking with Ren made her incredibly happy. As everyone got ready to go, her motherly side kicked in again “Is this a good idea? You are a bit out of training after all...” she uttered her concerns but her objections trailed off when Ren took off his shirt.

Futaba rolled her eyes and walked up to the guys in question “Okay, you got your ladies all brain-dead now at least give the rest of us a show too.” she puffed her chest before announcing “On your mark!…. Get set!…. Push-Up!!”

“Prepare to lose, chicken arms.” Ryuji taunted.

“Oh please, I’ve seen you wheezing when you walked up the stairs yesterday.” Ren replied.

“Different muscles!” Ryuji grinned, feeling confident until he turned his head to look at Sae, who was doing two push-ups in the time the rest of them did one. “Damn...” the blonde muttered, but appreciative. Ever since Sae and he had had a clearing talk where she had apologized for what she herself had described as unprofessional behavior and for so easily believing what apparently had been nothing more but a rumor, he had started to feel like he could loosen up a bit around her. She was really just an older Makoto, and eventually he had been able to get along with her too. Compared to how Sae had behaved on their first meeting, she had come a long way already. Sometimes she smiled at someone elses joke. Sometimes she even dropped some witty remarks herself, although it seemed that she sometimes wasn’t aware of them. He clenched his teeth when his arms started to hurt.

“You can do it, yes you can! Goooo Phantom Thieves!” Ann cheered them on from the sidelines.

“That’s the spirit!” Futaba said “Don’t get weak now!”

Hifumi and Morgana had joined the spectator-ranks after being done with the dishes.

“Looking cool, guys!” Morgana called out “But Sae puts all of you to shame!” he cackled.

It didn’t take long until one after the other, first resignations occurred.

“And the first one out is Hermes!” Futaba announced when Mishima dropped to the floor, gasping for air. “It’s been a while since Okumura Industries.”

The blue-haired boy just nodded, his face on the floor. Not much later Haru announced her pullout by sitting down and trying to steady her breathing.

“And the lovely Noir is out next!” Morgana called out “But dare I say that she looked majestic.”

“Kiss-ass.” Ren and Ryuji said in unison, struggling to keep going.

“Hey!” the kid shrieked.

The next to drop was Shinya, who rolled over on his back with a loud sigh.

“And General is out too!” Ann pointed before returning to cheering “Go Ryuji! Go Shiho!”

Indeed, the young woman was surprisingly fit and seemed to struggle a bit less than Ren and Ryuji even, who were both breathing and sweating heavily by now. A gasp went through the crowd when Ren struggled to complete his push-up.

“Ooooh this is it!” Futaba dramatically announced as she made her way to Ren, who was clenching his teeth as he tried to straighten his arms once more. “Joker is struggling. If he is unable to complete the push-up within the next 3 seconds, he’s out!”

Everyones eyes were on their leader when the others started counting down from 3.

Ren groaned before he had to admit defeat. His arms were burning when he sat up on his knees. The muscles in his stomach were screaming too, now that they got finally got to release the tension. He was already anticipating a smug goad from Ryuji but apparently the blonde was too invested with staying in the contest.

While it seemed that Shiho was less exhausted than Ryuji, she still had to break off earlier than the other remaining two contestants.

“And taking home the bronze medal is Shiho!” Ann cheered.

Shiho tried to raise her arms to display her joy but found that she couldn’t. She instead decided to lay down on the floor besides Mishima.

Not long after Shihos capitulation, Ryuji collapsed to the floor too, declaring Sae the winner.

“And that’s the end! Sae Niijima wins!” Futaba hollered, accompanied by applause of those who were still able to clap.

“Geez Sae!” Ann exclaimed “What are you packing underneath that turtleneck?”

Sae got off the floor, only slightly out of breath when she replied “I did use to work out a lot. Although I have to admit that everything gets a bit more interesting with a challenge.”. Her eyes wandered over all the collapsed Phantom Thieves who were still struggling for air.

“I think I’m dying...” Ryuji groaned.

“You just gotta know when to stop.” Ren grinned.

“Oh ha ha.” Ryuji was still struggling for air “Because that’s what you did, right?”

“Obviously.”

Futaba looked triumphant “Well, I’d say that was a good work-out for all of us.”

Sae raised an eyebrow “How was it for those not participating?”

“Ann almost did an entire cheer-routine for you guys!” Futaba argued “And I was super involved as the announcer!”

Sae sighed and shook her head. She had learned by now, that there was no arguing with Futaba Sakura.

Ryuji managed to push himself back to his feet. His arms were shaking when he reached for the shirt that he had discarded earlier. He wiped his sweaty face with it. Before he took it off his face again, he heard Futaba complain:

“Dude, you’re making your girlfriend drool!”

When he uncovered his eyes again, he saw Ann shoving Futaba. Ann had told him about Sae being the first who had called him her husband. Until then, he had never even given that another thought. He hadn’t given her a ring because he wanted to call her something else than his girlfriend. It wasn’t like they were sharing a name now. Or that anything had changed really, except for the sometimes cold and sometimes warm piece of metal dangling from her wrist that would lay on his chest whenever her hand was resting there. He had to smile when their eyes met. Her smile dropped when he tossed her his sweaty t-shirt.

“Ew, Ryuji! Gross!” she shrieked as she stepped out of the way as if getting hit by his t-shirt would be the end of her.

“You want a hug then?” he grinned and took a step towards her with his arms spread.

Ann made a face as she took a step back.

“Awww.” Futaba exclaimed with a malicious grin.

“No, no, no….” Ann begged as she was taking one step after the other to avoid Ryujis advances to hug her with his sweaty upper body. When she started to sense the wall coming up behind her, she decided to turn around and hurry out the living room.

The rest of the Phantom Thieves stood and watched as Ryuji walked out after her. Ren turned to Sae “Nice going there.”

Sae nodded “Thank you. It felt good to get moving again.” she stretched her neck “I’ve been sitting in uncomfortable positions too much recently.”

Makoto cast her sister a worried look “Is everything alright, Sis?”

The older Niijima nodded “I’ve spent a lot of time with re-functioning my living room into a new office recently. I haven’t been able to grab all my documents before leaving but there’s a few things that I managed to take with me, that now need order and connecting.”

“You took your case-files with you?” Haru asked, surprised.

“When I decided to believe Makoto and to rescue Ren, I thought that I should probably take a few useful things with me.” Sae explained.

Futaba raised an eyebrow “And you didn’t think of clothes or something?”

“I believe that the first thing you would grab in case of an emergency would be one of your gadgets too, or am I mistaken?” Sae asked in return.

“Touché.” Futaba pointed her finger at her.

“Compared to everything Akechi and I have gathered over the last 6 months, the documents I’ve been able to bring aren't much. There will be a lot that I need to reconstruct with my memory.” Sae said.

Ren smirked “I hope you didn’t bring those profiles you did of us. Since they're obsolete by now.”

Sae shook her head “No, I brought them. But just so Akechi wouldn’t be able to pass them on to United Future.”

Yusuke chuckled “Very smart.”

Sae sighed “It’s a lot of work and the more I look at the evidence, the more questions I have. Most of them about Goro.” she said as she started walking towards the hallway. Ren and Makoto fell into pace beside her.

“He’s an enigma.” Ren said “And we’ve only known him for a few days...”

“I keep searching my memory for times where I should have gotten suspicious of him but I can’t find any. As much as it pains me to say it: He played me.”

“He would have played us too. If Haru and Hifumi hadn’t come across his handwriting before, we would have walked right into his trap.” Makoto said.

“I wonder what his original plan was.” Sae said.

“Who knows. But initially we had planned that three of us handled the security, three spread through the building as lookouts and Makoto and me in the evidence-room.” Ren said.

“And after you realized that Akechi played you, you decided to go in alone.” Sae concluded.

“Exactly.” Ren said.

Makoto had her finger on her chin as she pondered “Maybe Akechi wanted to make it seem like he caught the entire Phantom Thieves in the act. It would have made us look a lot guiltier, if all of us had been caught doing a break-in at your headquarters.”

Sae opened the door to her apartment “Akechi must be a good actor. He actually made me believe that he had caught you red-handed and overpowered you on instinct.”

Ren shrugged “Yeah, he’s a bastard.”

As the two followed Sae into her apartment, their eyes went wide. If they hadn’t known that Sae was an investigator, they would have thought that they stepped into the lair of a crazy serial killer. Along the wall, Makotos sister had started taping and nailing papers. Stacked on the coffee-table were the remaining documents that Sae had carried in her briefcase.

“I love what you’ve done with the place.” Ren joked.

“Thank you.” Sae said, unironically.

Makoto stepped up to the wall and looked over the documents that Sae has put up. She squinted her eyes when her gaze fell onto the last letter that United Future had sent. “M. S….” she muttered, trying to think of anything that those initials reminded her of. “Sis, is he the one that you’ve been corresponding with all the time?”

Sae shook her head “No. It’s been the first time that I’ve received a letter from him personally. Goro explained that he’s the head of the whole thing. Until then, I’ve always been contacted by someone who went by “director”.”

Ren walked up beside Makoto and looked at the letter. It was the one that he had read in the evidence-room. “Say...” he started “What was United Futures plan with us anyway? Judging from this, they only wanted you to apprehend us but Akechi seemed to have something different in mind.”

Sae crossed her arms in front of her chest, which seemed to be her Niijima-thinking-pose. “I don’t know what Goros secret objective was but I have been tasked with capturing you.”

Makoto looked confused “But if Akechi wanted to kill Ren… Did he go off-script?”

Ren could only shrug “He said that he liked to tie up loose ends.”. He suddenly recalled that letter that Akechi apparently had prepared in advance. “But he must have planned it at least a little bit. I found a draft for a letter that he signed as “C”, claiming that he had killed me.” he scratched his head “He wouldn’t have told his bosses so casually if they had wanted us alive, right?”

“It makes sense that they didn’t tell me, if they really wanted to take you out for good.” Sae said. “I would have denied working for them if I had known that I would have to deliver you to be murdered.”

When Ren turned to Makoto, her eyes were glistening. After thinking the worst of her sister for so long, it must have moved her to hear that she wouldn’t have done everything for her contractors.

“Nevertheless, Akechi killing Ren couldn’t have been part of the plan. According to my briefing with United Future, I was supposed to deliver you to a meeting point. Assuming that Akechi didn’t want to blow his cover in front of me...”

Ren nodded “He did put away the gun when you entered again. He wasn’t ready to compromise himself in front of you.” he sighed “If you hadn’t come in at the right moment, he probably would have shot me and then made it look like self-defense.”

Makoto was uneasy when she reached for his hand. The thought of him being so close to death was unsettling enough. The fact that the only reason why he was alive was because of a lucky coincidence was even worse.

Ren returned to look at the rest of the documents taped to the wall. It started to look like a timeline of all the correspondence with United Future. As Sae had explained earlier, most of them were signed by a certain “director”. “So, since you were working for them… What exactly is United Future?” he eventually asked.

Sae stopped looking through the loose papers and leaned against the nearby wall. “United Future is trying to establish a new order. By connecting the now individual settlements and introducing a new government, United Future wants to reestablish the system of how the country used to work.”

Makoto and Ren exchanged a confused look. “That’s… actually an interesting idea.” Makoto had to admit.

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “Maybe. But how does a mobster and a gun-mogul fit in with all of this good-will?”

“When I was briefed for the case, they told me that Kaneshiro was tasked with storing and collecting the old currency because United Future intended to bring it back.” Sae explained.

Ren raised an eyebrow “Well, he definitely took his job seriously. But why am I not buying that there was a noble thought behind gathering all this money? Especially with the way Kaneshiro worked, it’s already been in circulation before he put it into his safe. So what’s the reason behind collecting it from the people, only to then give it back to them?” he shook his head “Sounds like a power-trip to me.”

Makoto pondered for a moment before saying “I have to agree. While the idea itself sounds like something worth thinking about, after meeting Kaneshiro and the distorted Okumura… It’s just hard to believe in their good intentions.”

Ren took a look at the letter from the mysterious M.S. “ _The future that we are steering towards shall be paved with success._ Sounds pretty elitist.”

Sae pondered “This could be the reason why they wanted the monopoly on old currency and weapons. Because they want to be in control on who gets what.”

Makoto furrowed her brow “And by us taking them out, we reduced their future control over people.”

“If they’re really out to hoard every valuable resource until they gain control, then we’ve definitely didn't do them a favor by helping the people and making them more independent.” Ren pointed out.

Sae nodded “Overall, I did get the impression that United Future wasn’t just upset with you taking out two of their partners. They were important but overall, ever since the phenomenon of the Phantom Thieves occurred, people started to become more independent. By you ridding them of the shadows that threatened their settlements, a lot of them have been able to regain their independence. During my investigations I registered a lot of settlements that claimed that they have been living in fear of shadows attacking and scaring them. After you helped them, people seemed to have a new outlook on life and more hope all together. They took their lives into their own hands again.”

Ren and Makoto couldn’t contain a proud smile. Hearing how much they had been able to support people as the Phantom Thieves felt good.

“It pains me to admit but you’ve been able to help a lot more people than I have and all of that in a lot less time.” Sae grimaced.

Makoto shook her head “It’s not a competition, Sis.” she gave her an encouraging smile “What’s most important is that you’ve found your justice again.”

Sae nodded and picked up another piece of paper from the coffee-table. “Another crucial mistake I made was that I didn’t do a background-check on my client.” she turned the letter in her hand. “They’ve talked about all those grand plans of their organization. I assume that it didn’t happen on accident, that they didn’t tell me that they were the ones responsible for the shadows in the first place...”

Ren massaged his temple before asking “In that letter, M. S. was talking about you having to prove your worth. Did that have something to do with your reward?”

Sae nodded “In return for capturing the Phantom Thieves, United Future promised me a part in their “vision”. After they explained that they wanted to rebuild the system, they hinted that I would be appointed as the head of the justice department.”

“Baited with a job...” Ren muttered. “I wonder when that was the last time something like that happened.”

Sae shook her head “On paper, their vision sounds intriguing. That’s why I didn’t see an issue with working for them. On top of that came that Akechi kept praising and repeating that they were professionals. I trusted him too much. In many different ways, as it turns out.” she grimaced and looked out the window.

“Sis...” Makoto muttered. She truly felt sorry for her sister. She hadn’t been able to talk to anyone for so long and now it turned out that the person she had considered her partner and also only friend had lied to her for so long was too sad to handle.

The older Niijima shook her head “It’s okay. I will get over this.”

“Akechi said that he was the one who got you the job in the first place…” Ren said.

She glared “The first contact I had with them was over letter. But since Goro was so involved with them, it would be no surprise if he had orchestrated the whole thing behind the scenes without me knowing.” she shook her head to clear her mind “He probably knew me too well than to think that I would take on a job that he got me because of connections.” She leaned against the window. “You said that you uncovered that United Future was responsible for the shadow infestation all those years ago. How can something like this happen anyway?”

Makoto and Ren exchanged a look before Makoto started to explain “We don’t have a scientific explanation per se. Sphinx had been able to discover that the shadows came from a different realm that exists parallel to ours. Back when the incident happened, United Future was a political party that was running in the elections.”

Sae grimaced “A political party caused all of…. This?”

Ren could only raise his shoulders “It sounds crazy but why else would they have the best-kept secret stashed on their outdated servers? As far as their motives go, Sphinx hadn’t been able to determine those. Or maybe she has but she didn’t get to write it down.”

Makoto nodded “Everything that we have been able to learn from the notes she left behind was where these shadows supposedly are coming from. She had also come up with the theory, that the event of the shadows traversing to our world was man-made.”

The older Niijima nodded “Which only incriminates United Future more.”

“If I remember the flyers that we’ve found at their HQ, even back then they’ve been talking about “steering the country into a better future”.” Makoto recalled.

Ren snorted “They stuck to their theme.”

Sae crossed her arms and looked at the floor in concentration. “To think that all of this happened because of politics...” she shook her head “Why would they resort to such tactics?”

“According to Sphinx, they’ve done pretty bad in the polls...” Ren said.

“But opening a portal to release some supernatural creatures?” Makoto asked. “That seems a bit… crass….”

“So far, everything we’ve heard about them is crass...” Ren replied.

Sae summed up her thoughts “So Futabas mother found out that a political party was responsible for the shadow infestation. Said political party is still active and working towards rebuilding the system that they themselves have destroyed. And to protect their secret, they had Futabas mother killed so noone would get to know what she had discovered at that headquarter.”

“That about sums it up.” Ren nodded.

She bristled “If you would have told me that back during the interrogation, I would have thought you a lunatic.”

“I figured as much.” Ren smirked.

“To think that I’ve been left in the dark about such a huge part of my clients past...” Sae sighed.

“They’re working hard to keep that one under the rug.” Ren replied.

“And that portal that they opened…?” Sae asked.

“It’s our own guess but Mementos does seem like the gateway.” Makoto said.

Her older sister nodded “If someone had extended the metro-system farther down without the public noticing...”

“Have you ever been down there?” Ren asked. When Sae shook her head, he continued “It’s pretty easy to determine which part of the tunnel-system was man-made and which… wasn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Sae asked.

Ren recalled that time when they had gone down into Mementos for Yusukes painting. That eery atmosphere. That utter darkness, that almost seemed unnatural. The floating reaper. “I don’t know how to explain it. But at some point… everything just starts to feel unnatural. Like it was created by something else.”

Sae pondered for a moment “So you think that the Metaverse has actually made its way up to the surface on its own?”

“I don’t know. Everything about this is bizarre and I wouldn’t dare build any theories.” Ren replied.

Sae still seemed perplexed by her contractors past. She shook her head “This is… a lot to think about.”

Makoto nodded.

“But… isn’t Medjed an ally of United Future?” Sae suddenly asked. “Not even they know about United Futures secret?”

“I think it’s more of a hostage-situation. United Future made Medjed promise that they wouldn’t go in there. Futabas mother did anyway and they let her because they were a bit curious too. When she was found out and murdered, they decided to sweep it under the rug to keep the peace. Medjed is actually pretty scared of United Future. They’re being threatened. Now that we know how big an organization all of this is, it’s not that unrealistic that United Future could end them.”

Sae pondered “I will have to write down all of what we’ve been talking about now and add it to my mind-map.”

“Oh! I can help you!” Makoto exclaimed.

Ren smirked. It wouldn’t have surprised him if Makoto had actually missed creating something like mind-maps. None of them did these kinds of things.

A small smile appeared on Saes lips “I would appreciate it.”

Ren smiled “Okay. You two have fun then.” he leaned over and gave Makoto a kiss on the cheek before he turned around and left the elder Niijimas apartment.

After Ryuji had drawn her into a quick shower, Ann decided to check up on Shiho. Ever since she had come here, she hadn’t really felt like that they had the time to talk much. She was happy that Shiho was able to talk with Mishima too and that he supported her. While she had been a bit jealous, when she had chosen Mishimas company over hers on her first night with them, she quickly realized how stupid it was to be angry about something like this. The most important thing was that Shiho was happy.

The blonde had her still wet hair draped underneath the hoodie of her sweatshirt and was carrying two cups of tea when she softly knocked on Shihos door. Only then did she realize that she should have checked if she had seen Mishima around. Given that her and Ryuji had also been busy until recently, the thought of her interrupting something drove the heat into her cheeks. To her relieve, the door opened not long after and Shihos head popped out.

A smile spread on her lips when she saw Ann.

“Hey.” Ann awkwardly smiled “Is it a bad time?”

“Of course not.” Shiho smiled and opened the door for her.

Ann stepped inside “I just thought that we didn’t have the time to properly catch up...”. She extended her hand to offer Shiho one of the cups. Why was she behaving so awkward?

Shiho smiled and took the cup. She pointed to her bed “Would you like to sit?”

Ann nodded. When they both took a seat on the bed, Ann decided to ask “How… are you holding up? Did you settle in okay?”

Shiho nodded “Everyone has been so welcoming.”

She smiled “They’re pretty great, huh?”

The girl nodded “I can see why you’d want to stay with them.”

“I know that you’d rather be with your family...” Ann muttered, clasping the cup with both her hands.

Shiho grimaced “I… can’t say I don’t. But I understand that it’s for the best to stay with you right now. I know that you only want to protect me. And for that I’m grateful.”

Ann nodded “Always.”

Shiho looked at her cup before reluctantly saying “Yuuki told me about everything that happened at the factory and before that too. You’ve… really been through a lot. All of you.”

Ann nodded. To think that by now she was almost able to forget the people that they had killed and how they had almost lost two of their friends. Even their operation at Okumura managed to feel so far away already, even though it’s only been weeks.

“It’s good that you have reconciled with Makotos sister.” she added. When she noticed Anns surprised look, she said “Yuuki said that you have gotten into an argument with her...”

“Oh...” Ann replied. She was glad that Mishima apparently hadn’t told her the reason why she had fought with Sae. She nodded “Yeah. It was just… a tough day back then and everyones emotions were running hot...”

“It’s good that you seem to get along now. While I have no idea what will happen next, I assume that you will need to work together.” Shiho said.

“You’re so diplomatic...” Ann said with a half-grin.

Shiho giggled “Well someone had to be, since you and Ryuji both didn’t fit the job-description.”

Ann sighed “I guess we really didn’t...”

“But that’s why you’re so perfect for each other.” she smiled. “And I’ve always known, since we were kids.”

Ann rolled her eyes before she realized that she hadn’t even told Shiho yet: “You wanna see something?” she asked with a grin before she pulled back the sleeve of the hoodie to reveal her bracelet.

Shiho looked at her wrist and then up at Ann “It’s nice.”

“I mean the ring.” Ann clarified, excitedly waiting for her to get it.

“Yeah. It looks pretty.” Shiho shrugged, starting to look confused by how adamant Ann was about her jewelry.

“The ring’s from him.” Ann dead-panned.

The blonde flinched when her best friends hand suddenly shot out to inspect it closer. When she looked up at Ann again, she had wide eyes.

Ann could only giggle at her friends bafflement.

“He proposed to you? Like... on his knee and everything?” Shiho asked.

“Weeeell… I kinda had to make it up myself after he literally tossed it to me and I almost didn’t catch it.” Ann said. “But I said Yes. Even though he didn’t ask me.”

Shiho facepalmed “Uuugh, I can’t believe he did that...”

“Right?” Ann laughed. When she recollected herself again, she added “But to be honest… it was still kind of nice. I think it would have been strange if he had really gotten down on one knee and would have been all sappy and stuff…” she shrugged. Nothing about their story was normal. Some people probably would have seen a dark broom-closet and one of them slightly injured as the perfect setting for a first kiss but somehow it hadn’t been for them.

“I’m so happy for you!” Shiho beamed before leaning over and hugging her with her free arm.

“Thanks.” Ann smiled. “I know that it doesn’t really mean anything officially but… it still feels nice.”

Shiho smiled back at her “He must have really remembered all these times that we’ve talked about weddings.” she giggled. “Who would have thought Ryuji to be such a romantic?”. She reached for her hand again to take another look at the ring.

Ann had to giggle. She was rather happy with how it went. No, she actually loved how it went. Even though they were caught making out by Akechi. And everything had started to fall apart after that. “How are things going with Mishima?” she eventually decided to ask.

Shiho blushed slightly before she answered “I.. think it’s going well.” she looked flustered as she stared into her teacup “While the situation might be a bit sad… I can’t help but be a little bit happy about the chance to spend some more time with him. I… really missed him too. And when all those rumors started… I was getting a bit scared for all of your safety...”

The blonde smiled “It’s all okay. Mishima handled everything in the factory like a pro. If it wasn’t for him, things might have been completely different. I’m starting to forget how scared he used to be of everything when he first joined us.”

Shiho smiled “I always knew that he was much stronger than he claimed to be.”

“I think that you kissing him definitely boosted his confidence too.” Ann giggled “Although maybe not at first, when I threatened him...”

“Ann...” Shiho reprimanded while shaking her head.

“I know, I know...” she tried to reassure her “I apologized not long after.”

“It was me who kissed him, you know?” Shiho said.

“He told me.” Ann nodded. “I know that it wasn’t my place to play all protective...”

Shiho smiled “I know you mean well. But you’re worse than my father.”

Ann snorted “Ouch...”

Shiho took her hand “It’s okay. You let him live and apparently he still wants to be with me, which is more than I can say about other guys who had received the infamous “Takamaki-treatment”.”

The blonde groaned “Nooo… don’t remind me!”

Shiho grinned when she started to elaborate “I reaaaaally liked this one guy….”

Ann shook her head and buried her face in her hands “I knooooow….”

“And yoooou threatened to make his life a living hell, if he was late for a date once….” Shiho sang.

“I wanted to make sure that he took it seriously!” Ann objected.

“I was 13, how serious can relationships get at that age?!” Shiho exclaimed.

“How should I know?”

“I just wanted to have my first kiss already!” Shiho groaned. “But he didn’t even show up to our first date because you scared him too much.” she smirked.

Ann raised an eyebrow “Wait, you just wanted to kiss him?”

Shiho shrugged “All the other girls were talking about their first kisses and I wanted to belong...”

“I didn’t.” Ann protested.

“I know.” Shiho patted her arm “But I was a bit popular too.”

Ann stuck out her tongue “Well then I’m glad that I stopped you from kissing that guy-”

“You didn’t stop me, you stopped him...” Shiho objected to Anns rolling eyes.

“- if I hadn’t stopped him, then you would have probably felt like you were too cool for me.” Ann completed.

Shiho hugged her from the side “Are you kidding me? You were much cooler than the others. But you were always busy with climbing roofs and all that stuff and kissing guys just felt… like something that I could do too.”

Ann sighed “I’m sorry… I… never considered that… I’m such an asshole...”

“You’re not.” Shiho smiled. “But I always knew that something called you to the outside and that I wouldn’t be able to follow you there.”

Tears were pooling in Anns eyes as she listened to her. She had always thought that she was protecting Shiho when in fact she had kept her from so many things and reminded her of so much that she couldn’t do. “Shiho I’m so sorry.” she said with a quivering voice. “I was such a jerk and I didn’t even realize it...”

“Ann stop.” Shiho calmly said. “You don’t have to feel guilty. Just because I wasn’t able to do what you did, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have done what you could.”

Ann rubbed her eyes, unable to say anything.

“And I haven’t told you but I did get that kiss anyway...” she said with a small smirk in an attempt to cheer her up.

“What?” Ann asked, confused.

“He made it a precondition that you weren’t in town though...” Shiho admitted.

Ann gaped at her.

“Sooo… you didn’t really keep me from anything...” she grinned.

Ann snorted “I can’t believe you did that. You lied to me about your first kiss too then!” she laughed.

“You would have freaked if I had told you earlier, am I wrong?” Shiho smirked.

“Maybe...” Ann sighed.

“And it really wasn’t anything special...” Shiho shrugged.

“Well someone sounds experienced...” Ann grinned as she wiped the last tear away.

“Like I said, you’re a bit like an angry father, so I didn’t tell you a lot of my guy-stories...” Shiho smirked.

“You make me sound so horrible...” Ann sighed.

Shiho patted her shoulder “I know that you did it because you care. And besides, you didn’t really talk to me about your first kisses either...”

Ann raised an eyebrow at her “Every boy except Ryuji didn' want anything to do with me, remember?”

Her best friend grinned “Then tell me about your first kiss with Ryuji.”

“Won’t this get awkward for you? He’s your friend too….” she squirmed.

“Oh Ann, what did you do?!” Shiho asked, aghast.

Ann gasped, her face as red as Mishimas “Nothing weird!”

Shiho laughed out loud, making Ann join after a moment. “It feels like it’s been ages since we sat together like this...” Shiho eventually said when their laughter died down. “Back then, we just used to gush over clothes and stuff and now… you’re somewhat married and I’m in… probably a relationship.”

“You haven’t talked about it?” Ann asked, surprised.

Shiho raised an eyebrow at her before saying “As if you and Ryuji sat down and had a talk...”

Ann sighed. There just really wasn’t anything getting past Shiho.

“But… overall, no. I mean, we spend every night together” she raised her finger and accentuated “Because I ask him to.”. She continued in a normal tone “I… think he doesn’t get too nervous about kissing me anymore either...”

Ann had to smile at how much Shiho beamed when she talked about Mishima. “Well… if you’re okay with how it is at the moment… then that's all that matters, isn't it?” she shrugged “Just do what feels right and what makes you happy. I won’t get in your way.”

Shiho smiled at her “Thanks, Ann.” she leaned over to giver her another hug.

“And it’s a lot easier knowing that you’re with a good guy.” Ann admitted when she returned the hug.

Shiho had to smile when she thought back to the times where nothing had been fine except for those short moments at night, where they would sit in front of each other on the cold floor, separated by metal bars through which he would hand her a bottle of water. She had never quite understood Kamoshidas agression towards her, yet he would only have her brought to his room when he was particularly angry. But even the anger that he would let out on her wasn't enough, for when he had her returned to her cell, she would sometimes be the only one who wouldn't get food and who wouldn't get water in her solitary confinement. At first she had only known Mishima from whenever she caught a glimpse of him in the hallway when it was her time to be with Kamoshida again. She had only noticed him as a scared, scrawny guy who seemed like he would have liked to sink into the ground as to not raise attention. She had related to that and she had admired him for actually being able to blend into the background because sometimes she had wished that she could melt into the cold stone-walls of her prison just so whoever Kamoshida would send down to fetch her would be standing in her cell, wondering where she had gone. But later she had also come to admire his bravery, when he actually dared to enter the dungeons at night, only to see if she was okay. Remembering Kamoshidas iron grip around her throat was something that still caused her to wake up at night, shivering and crying. After being reunited with her parents, they had organized for her to talk to someone close to a psychologist. But the more she confided in her, the more she realized that it wasn't just painful for her to talk about but also painful to listen, even to those not close to her. Unwilling to make any more people sad about her circumstances, Shiho had decided to therapize herself by simply forcing her brain to only remember the bearable moments down in Kamoshidas dungeon and to grasp onto those, whenever someone would dare to ask. Pretending to be fine was easier for everyone. And as long as she managed to make herself believe so too, then noone would need to be worried. And especially not Ann. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're nearing the start of the next arc but first I felt that it was time for the two Niijimas and Ren to catch up on what they know so far, along with a bit of fun and a friendship-moment between Ann and Shiho, since they're supposed to be best friends but haven't really had many moments together so far, where it would have really shown (or so I felt at least).
> 
> Next chapter will be a bit of a lighter (and longer) one before we start the dive into the next arc one week from now. I still hope that you'll come by for saturdays chapter though. All I'll say is that Makoto still owes Eiko a girls night. ;D


	79. Last Chance To Party

The next day started like any other with a small breakfast before none of the Thieves had any idea about what to do with the rest of it.

Sae and Makoto were doing the dishes when Eiko walked in with a wide smile on her face. “Listen up everyone, it‘s time that you get out of this place again and live a bit!”

“You‘re throwing us out?!” Futaba wailed.

“No, silly.” Eiko said with rolling eyes “We’re going to have a little party downstairs.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Makoto and Sae said at once.

“Like clockwork...” Sojiro muttered.

“Chill out Makoto 1 and 2.” Eiko replied. “We’re closing down everything for the night. There will be noone coming in from the outside, so you’re safe to move around.”

“The entire settlement will be closed for visitors?” Haru asked, surprised.

Eiko nodded. “Yup. Heard about it this morning at the meeting. Apparently there’s something big going on tomorrow so there will be preparations for that tonight and that means no patrons.” she grinned “And that means: private party at the Velvet Room.”

“Hmm...” Yusuke pondered before he looked to Ryuji “You were planning on getting “hammered”, as you put it...”

“Oh, riiight...” Ryuji grinned before he looked to Eiko “We’re in.”

Eiko crossed her arms in front of her chest “Nuh-uh you’re not. Me and the girls will have a girls-night downstairs and you can go and drink at Lala-chans.”

“What?!” Ryuji exclaimed. “Now hold on…” he started sputtering.

“What’s his problem?” Eiko asked.

“He’s afraid that his good looks will drive the ladies mad...” Ren explained.

“Dude, I’m not.” Ryuji muttered through gritted teeth. “But… Ohya and Lala were hitting on me…?”

“HA! Ryuji is drowning in ladies!” Futaba cackled.

Ren patted the blondes shoulder with a grin “We’ll protect you from them. Besides, who knows. Maybe the next big hit with them will be Mishima or Yusuke?”

“M- Me?” Mishima squeaked.

“Well, someone definitely has to fall for Haiku-Inari...” Futaba shrugged before turning to Eiko “Can I go with the guys instead?”

Eiko shook her head “No can do.”

Futaba sighed “Can I stay home then?”

“Also no.” Eiko replied.

The orange-haired girl cast a pleading look at Sojiro, who could only shrug. “But I want to hang with Haiku-Inari...” she pouted.

Shinya smirked “I think we found the one who fell for him.”

Futaba gaped at the boy while Ann and Ren couldn’t hide a laugh.

“Well, you better get prepared because Makoto promised me a girls-night and by god will we have one!” Eiko announced. “So you better get in the mood for gossiping, laughing, chatting and maybe trying on some new clothes. Oh, and lots of drinks.” she looked to the guys, who started to feel a little left out “And you… I don’t know. Have fun too, I guess.”. With that she walked off again.

Haru looked to Makoto “When did you make that promise to Eiko, Mako-chan?”

Makoto shook her head “It’s… been a while ago. But apparently she hasn’t forgotten.”

“I don’t know about you but I don’t really feel in the mood for partying right now...” Mishima muttered.

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck “I mean… when will be the next time that we have an entire place like this just for us?”

Ren raised his shoulders “He has a point… If noone’s here, then there’s also no risk of anyone spotting us.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting out of the house for a while...” Yusuke uttered.

“Our situation is quite dire… would it really be okay for us to celebrate?” Haru asked.

“If you have the right wretched humor for it...” Ren shrugged.

“And… when if not now. Maybe that’s the last chance we’ll ever get to walk this freely...” Ann pointed out reluctantly.

“Don’t say it like that...” Ryuji muttered.

Makoto looked into the round “No matter how many arguments we find against it… I don’t think that Eiko will be able to be persuaded. Besides…. I made her a promise and...”

Ren smirked “Look who’s actually looking forward to it.”

Ann took a stand “Makoto is right. She promised and we owe it to Eiko.”

“You owe it to her… to party?” Yusuke asked with a raised eyebrow “That does sound like a convenient excuse.”

“If you don’t agree, then you don’t have to go out. You can just stay home.” Ann shrugged provocatively.

“Hell no. As if we’ll wait up here while you are having fun downstairs.” Ryuji exclaimed before looking at the other guys “Right?”

“I could go for a drink.” Ren shrugged.

“As I said, I am not opposed to getting out of the house for an evening.” Yusuke added. “And if we actually are about to hit a bar, I would be quite interested in their mixed drinks.”

Futaba pointed at Ren “You better write down his Haikus while I suffer in girl-hell.”

Ann grinned “Aw, come on Futaba. It won’t be that bad.”

“Am I allowed to drink?” Futaba asked.

“No.” Sojiro said with an icy voice.

“Fan-tastic!” Futaba threw her hands in the air.

“Well...” Haru pondered “I guess that settles it then.”

“Yup.” Ann looked at Shiho and beamed “We’re having a night out.”

Back when Makoto had proposed a girls-night to Eiko, she hadn’t exactly envisioned that they would party in the empty bar in a time where they were also fearing for their future. But maybe that was just her usual worrying. And maybe it was the influence of the other Phantom Thieves that made her understand the desire to forget everything for one night, especially when it was safe to do so. Ever since Sae lived with them now, she realized just how much she had really changed. She turned around to find Ren napping on their bed. Another thing that their new situation had taught her was to be patient. She would have never been able to sit still for this long just a year ago. And she had never taken a nap during the day until recently. Seeing him sleeping so peacefully was just too tempting to not sit down beside him. Underneath his black bangs there still was a faint trace of the wound he had carried away from his encounter with Akechi in the casino. She carefully laid down beside him and stroked the hair out of his eyes as she put her head on the pillow and watched him for a while. The fact that he had almost died in Saes casino still had her laying awake longer at nights. The thought of him simply not being here any longer regularly caused her to struggle with breathing. Ren had told her about how hard it had been for him to think straight when she had been in Kaneshiros grasp. She didn’t even want to imagine how she would have felt, if Ren hadn’t come out alive. She squeezed er eyes shut for a moment before she focused on his peaceful face. He was here. He was alive. And it turned out that he was also awake, when his mouth twitched into one of his cocky smirks.

“Really? 5 minutes? At first it was cute but now it’s getting a bit strange...” he said, his eyes still closed.

“Did you count the seconds?” Makoto asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I was guessing.” he grinned before opening his eyes to look at her. “Care to join me in a pre-party-nap?”

Makoto shook her head “I’d rather stay awake and prepare myself mentally for what’s about to come.”

Ren snorted before saying “You have the very unique position of knowing Anns and Ryujis bombshell of a news so I have no doubt that you will be able to dodge any uncomfortable question within a heartbeat once you mention that ring dangling off Anns wrist.”

“I suppose that’s correct.” Makoto pondered “Yet I don’t really want to throw her under the bus like that. And I would honestly be concerned about Eiko. She might drop dead.”

“They already behaved like a married couple ever since I met them, so it’s not really much of a change...” Ren shrugged.

“You saw how she freaked out when she learned that they were a couple now.” Makoto replied.

“True...” Ren had to admit before he smirked again “Guess you’ll have to brace your eardrums then...”

Makoto sighed and reluctantly nodded.

“And will I finally meet intoxicated Makoto tonight?” he asked with a grin.

She shot him a look “Of course not. Especially now that Sis is around too...”

“As if you would have gotten wasted if she wasn’t here.” Ren countered with a grin as he put his arm around her.

“Probably not...” she sighed in defeat.

He brushed a strand of hair out of her face before he said “I probably won’t drink much either. Someone has to take care of the guys after all, right? And I definitely wouldn’t hand over the wheel to Haiku-Yusuke.” he smiled and pulled her a bit closer. “But before all of that action, I suggest some rest.”

“Do you now?” Makoto asked with a small smile as she inched closer to him.

Ren leaned in and was about to kiss her when the moment was interrupted by a faint knock on the door. He sighed.

“I’ll get it...” Makoto was about to turn around climb out of bed when Ren slung his arm around her waist and held her back.

“If we just pretend we aren’t home, then maybe they’ll leave again...” he whispered mischievously.

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him “And where would we be, if not here?”

He rolled his eyes “Just stay here and don’t answer it.”

Makoto leaned over and gave him a quick kiss before she wiggled free of his grasp and got up.

Ren smirked as he watched her walk to the door “You’re scared that it’s Sae and that she will get some “uncomfortable” images of us, isn’t that right?”. He could have told her that Sae was already aware of just how close they were since their first meeting, but he did not want to face that Niijima-wrath.

Makoto sighed as she turned around “It’s not that.” she said with crossed arms “But we’re the leaders of this group and we should be available for our team-mates.”

He sighed with a grin “Since when have you returned to being such a goody-two-shoes?” he dropped down on the bed again and looked at the ceiling “You weren’t happy about the open doors either.”

“Don’t remind me.” Makoto wasn’t joking anymore before she opened to door, only to find noone standing there. What she did see though was a hanger with a black set of clothes that someone had hung on the doorknob. On the doormat stood a matching pair of shoes. Makoto scanned the hallway but noone was there. She noticed that another hanger hung from Hifumis door but noone in sight who could have placed it there. She picked up both items and took them inside. As she walked back to the bed, she assessed the dress that she was holding in her hands. It looked like it was meant to be tight-fitted and was covered in black sequins. She guessed it to be knee-long and it had a long sleeve on the right arm while the left shoulder and arm remained uncovered. “Someone hung this at the door...” she said as she continued to muster the dress. She couldn’t even say that she disliked it. If it really fit her, she imagined that it might even look nice. She continued to muster the dress and the far too high heels before she eventually turned around to look at Ren. While she had anticipated that he had already fallen asleep again, she found him looking. Looking was maybe the wrong word. His expression almost had Ryuji-esk traits. “Are… you alright?” she asked. She couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing. So far, she had thought that Ann was the only one able to transform men into sputtering messes but Ren seemed to be pretty close to become exactly that.

“Um… sorry, what?” Ren asked, perplexed.

Makoto shook her head with a blush “I have no idea where this came from. But if I had to guess, I would say that it comes from Eiko.”

Ren scratched his head before slowly saying “Well, she definitely has good taste.”

She held up the dress and looked at it “I don’t know...” she sighed. “I’ve never worn something.. shiny.. like this...”

“I think it would look great on you.” the words were flowing out of Rens mouth.

“Thanks.” Makoto smiled shyly before skeptically looking at the dress again “But before I try it on… I… think I’ll need to consult with Ann...”. She thought that she heard Ren sigh when she walked out the door.

Makoto couldn’t help but stare at the dress as she knocked on Anns door. When Ann opened and saw what was in her hands, she grinned “You got one too, huh?”. She waved her inside.

“I assume it was Eiko?” Makoto said as she walked inside. Ryuji was lounging on their couch and lazily waved his hand as a greeting.

“I didn’t see who it was but it must have been her, right?” Ann replied before she took the hanger from her hand “Makoto, that is super cute! You’d look amazing in this!”

“You really think so?” Makoto asked with red cheeks.

“I know so.” Ann said before she turned around “Ryuji, you think so too, right?”

Ryuji looked up and shrugged “I dunno… I guess?”

Ann rolled her eyes before she turned back to Makoto “You’d totally rock this. It’s even your color. And Rens too, I guess...”

Makoto chewed her lip “Don’t you think it’s a bit short?”

Ryuji got up from the couch and sighed “’Aight, Imma head out...”.

“Where are you going?” Ann asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m gonna hang with Ren. No way I’m gonna stick around for all this girl-talk.” he muttered before he walked out the door.

Makoto looked to Ann “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt or something..”

Ann waved it off “Ah, he’ll live. Now you can speak freely and he and Ren can do guy-talk or whatever it is guys do...”

Makoto blushed when she whispered “When Ren saw the dress… he looked the same way that Ryuji looks at you sometimes...”

The blonde giggled “Seriously? Oh, you’re totally wearing this and I want to be there when you show it to him.”

Makoto stepped in front of the mirror and held up the dress in front of her “Noone has ever looked at me like that before…”

“Ren has but he normally has a bit more self-control.” Ann grinned.

“He does?” Makoto asked.

“Course he does. He’d be stupid not to.”

“So you think that I should wear this tonight?”

“I think that’s not even a question.” Ann replied. When she noticed Makotos still uncertain face she added “We can get ready together, if you want to.”

Makoto smiled at the blonde “I’d love that.”

It was about to get dark when everyone got together in the living room. While the guys lounged on the sofas, wearing their usual attire, Haru and Futaba looked terribly overdressed when they set foot outside of their room, wearing the dresses that Eiko had brought them.

True to her style, the girl had picked something dotted for Haru. Futaba awkwardly staggered out the room in her plateau-heels and a bright-green dress.

“I think I’ll break my neck on my way downstairs...” she muttered as she clung to Harus arm for support.

“You look nice, Futaba.” Sojiro smiled.

“Boss is right, Futaba-chan.” Haru nodded.

Futaba looked at the skirt of her dress “Why can’t this be pants?”

“Because it would look strange, obviously.” Yusuke spoke first to everyones surprise. He formed a frame with his fingers to first capture Futaba, who immediately stuck out her tongue at him, before panning over to Haru. “May I say that you look breathtaking tonight, Lady Okumura?” he gallantly said.

Haru blushed before she curtsied “Thank you very much, Sir Kitagawa.”

The next to enter was Hifumi, who was wearing a dark blue dress with a flowing skirt, a v-neck, long sleeves and matching heels. She as well didn’t look entirely comfortable in the attire when she nervously brushed back her hair.

“You look lovely, Hifumi.” Haru exclaimed.

“Thank you...” she reluctantly replied. “I’m not quite sure about how unsettled I should be about the fact that Eiko was able to guess my size…”

Ryuji sighed “What’s taking the others so long? Ann, Makoto and Shiho occupy our room for hours now...”

As if on cue, Ann was the first to walk in while saying “You’re so impatient. You have no idea how much effort goes into looking like this.” a satisfied grin spread on her face when she noticed Ryujis wide eyes. She adjusted her fresh curls and the shiny red dress that reached down to the middle of her thighs with high-tied red heels.

Makoto wasn’t sure how to feel when she reluctantly stepped inside. She didn’t have the confidence that Ann had to just waltz into the room as if she was wearing just her everydays’ clothes. She nervously flattened her dress one more time before she stepped into view for the others to see but the only face she cared about was Rens. She didn’t even care about what her sister would think of this.

While at first Ren had been amused about the usual Ryuji-reaction to Anns looks, he now felt equally dumbfounded when he saw Makoto standing there. While he managed to keep his mouth shut, he felt his cheeks going red. She looked breathtaking.

The third one to lose his breath was Mishima when Shiho stepped in, dressed in a light pink dress with short sleeves and white shoes. Her hair had been swept up and arranged in a bun.

Ann looked at Sae, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, silently baring the amount of teenage stupidity concentrated in this room. “What about you?” she asked.

“Oh, your friend did find something for me too but I will sit out on this one.” she replied. “I will spend my evening sorting the evidence.”

“How Niijima.” Futaba grinned.

“What about you, Sojiro? You wanna hit the town with us?” Ren grinned.

The old man snorted “No way, kid. I’m gonna stay in.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Ryuji asked as he jumped to his feet. “Let’s get going.”

The Phantom Thieves made their way out the living room together, leaving only Sojiro and Sae behind.

“I found a bottle of whisky in the bar. You want a glass as long as we have some peace?” Sojiro asked.

“With pleasure.” Sae replied.

After Ren had helped Futaba down the stairs, the group advanced to the bar where Eiko had already placed a tablet of glasses filled with her signature cocktail. When she spotted the girls entering, she squealed with joy “You. Look. Amazing!” she yelled across the room “I knew that I found some good stuff for you!” When everyone arrived at the bar, Eiko walked up and gushed a bit more about the dresses “I’m so proud of myself. I had no idea about what to give you two” she pointed to Hifumi and Shiho “But you look soooo good!”

Ren grinned “Well, we’ll be on our way then.”

“Right.” Eiko grinned “I told Lala that you’re out tonight, so she’s ready for a crowd.” she winked.

Ann leaned over to Ryuji and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He put an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer to him before whispering into her ear “Will you still be wearing that when I get back?”

Ann smirked before whispering into his ear “I’ll actually need your help getting out of this...”

Ryujis neck was burning when he nodded. He pressed a kiss onto her lips.

“Have fun on your girls night.” Ren smiled as he walked over to Makoto. His cheeks still felt hot every time he looked at her. “You look beautiful.”

Makoto blushed “Thank you.”

Ren smiled and gave her a kiss before he led the guys outside. The last one to turn around was Mishima whose lips were moving without any actual word coming out as he feverishly tried to come up with the right words to compliment Shiho.

“Yo, Mishima, come on!” Ryuji called out from the middle of the stairs, causing the guy to nervously shuffle away.

As soon as the door closed, Eiko raised her perfectly formed eyebrow “What was that about? Did Mishima go from pimp to simp?” she took a step towards Shiho and extended her hand “We haven’t officially met yet, I’m Eiko.”

Shiho nodded and took her hand “Shiho. Thank you for the beautiful dress.”

“You didn’t know each other?” Futaba asked.

Shiho and Eiko both looked confused.

“Um… You were both at Kamoshidas...” Ann uncomfortably said. She had been looking forward to a fun evening and starting off with this topic wasn’t very promising.

“Ooooh.” Eiko said before she shrugged “That place was huge and I didn’t memorize the faces. If Mishima and Shinya hadn’t walked away with me, I would have had no idea that they had been at the castle too.” she connected the dots “But did you and Mishima know each other?”

Shiho smiled and blushed when she said “He… would sometimes keep me company down in the dungeon and keep me from going insane…”

Eikos eyes went wide as she looked around to the others, who already knew what she was thinking. When Ann gave her a confirming nod, she clapped her hands and exclaimed “Hell yes, that’s what I’ve been waiting for!”

“For Mishima to get a girlfriend?” Futaba asked, confused.

Eiko sighed “No, for all the hot new stories of course!” she ushered the girls towards the table and shoved a shot-glass into each of their hands. Futaba was about to reach for hers when Makoto blocked her with her hand and a stern headshake.

“I’m one year younger than you.” she protested “It’s just because Sojiro is sleeping upstairs, isn’t it?”

“You heard Boss. He said No.” Makoto tried to justify her actions.

“Weeeeell….” Ann started “I mean, I’m sure that he wouldn’t notice if she’d do one round with us, right?”

“Ann...” Makoto sighed.

“Nothing good has ever come from these settings...” Hifumi uttered.

“Too late, Ann already said it was okay!” Futaba said and snatched her glass.

Makoto shook her head and sighed “I will not be held accountable for this.”

“And you won’t.” Eiko assured her before raising her glass “To the Phantom Girls!”

“Urgh, cheesy name.” Futaba muttered but raised her glass nonetheless.

After the girls had downed their shots and had amused themselves about Futabas disgusted face, Eiko leaned back in her seat “Seriously though, as soon as I left all of you finally realized and got together? It feels like I only turned around and boom, couples everywhere.”

“Haru and Yusuke were even about to get fake-married.” Futaba added. Whatever she just drank was burning in her stomach now.

To everyones surprise, Eikos reaction was a calm one when she seemed to ponder for a moment before shrugging “Hm, I could actually see that working.” she looked at Haru “Good for you.”

Haru was confused. Considering how weird Eiko found Yusuke, she would have at least expected a raised eyebrow or worse.

“Next round.” Eiko announced and put a large bottle on the table and started pouring again.

Futaba covered her glass with her hand “No thanks. That was gross.”

Eiko smirked “It’s not supposed to taste good. Seems like you’re not dead enough on the inside.” she grinned and returned to the bar “I’ll make you my sober-special.”

“I really like your establishment.” Haru smiled as she looked around the elegantly lit room.

“Aw, thanks.” Eiko said with a shaker in her hand “Some probs belong to the guy who owned it before me but there was a lot of cleaning involved. Mostly because I felt grossed out by him...”

“Who would have thought that you would be someone to get your hands dirty.” Ann grinned. “Back when you joined us, you always made such a drama when you were on dish-duty.”

“What can I say, I changed.” Eiko shrugged and patted the bar “This place is my baby now. And honestly.. this feels much more like me. I wasn’t made to sit in a run-down house and wash bent cutlery and crooked pots.” she apologetically looked to Haru before she pointed around her bar “I was made for this.” she dramatically announced.

“It suits you.” Hifumi nodded.

“Aw, stop it. You’re making me blush.” Eiko waved off as she walked over to the table with a tall glass and a funny straw that she placed in front of Futaba.

The hacker took a critical sip before giving an approving nod “Now that’s my kinda high.” when she caught Makotos alarmed look she added with rolling eyes “Sugar high.”

“This is so great.” Ann smiled as she knocked back her drink. “I’m finally starting to let go of all of the sad stuff going on around us.”

“You will probably remember again tomorrow… Along with being sick...” Shiho pointed out.

Ann sighed “Seriously? Can’t we just concentrate on the fun tonight and not think about tomorrow?”

Shiho shrugged “Of course. I just wanted to warn you about how you’ll be feeling tomorrow.”

“Ugh...” Ann sighed.

Her best friend smirked before downing her shot “But I guess I’ll feel it it too.” she said before shivering when the sting of the alcohol hit.

The air was starting to get cold as the guys walked through the empty street. Ren and Ryuji had taken the lead as the others followed a few steps behind. To Morgana and Shinya, everything seemed new and exciting. He cast a sideways glance at the blonde before muttering “You planning on telling the others tonight?”

Ryuji shrugged “I dunno. It’s not like it’s such a big thing to other guys, right?”

“I guess...” Ren replied.

“Wanna bet how long it would take for one of them to get it?” he grinned.

“With really obvious hints?” Ren asked.

“Sure.” Ryuji grinned. “I say that none of them will get it.”

“Huh...” Ren rubbed his chin “I say that Mishima will ask at some point.” he low-key extended his hand for Ryuji to shake it to seal the deal. “It’s a shame though. You’re missing your chance on something resembling a bachelor-party.”

The blonde sighed “I think I’m done with ordering maids...”

“Scared that we run into your long-lost aunt next?” Ren grinned.

“Ha Ha...” Ryuji groaned before he made a turn towards the Crossroads.

When Eiko had told the guys that Lala-chan had been informed, she had forgotten to mention that she had reserved them a booth in the anyways empty bar. However, as Ren led the other guys inside they were immediately greeted by the owner of the establishment and were escorted into the second separee that wasn’t used as a newspaper-office.

Mishima cast a look at the decadent interior before nervously asking “So… you have been here before?”

“Not to drink though.” Ren replied.

“So this is where Ohya works?” Morgana asked. “No wonder that she was an alcoholic...”

“This place is rather….” Yusuke was trying to look for words and failed, especially when Lala stuck her head in and placed two bottles, one carafe and glasses on the table.

“Eiko told me that you were thrown out by your girls.” the barkeeper said, amused. “These are on the house. Didn’t know that you were going to bring in kids, so they will have to do with water. I’m not condoning underage drinking at my bar.”

“You probably shouldn’t ask for our ages then…” Ren smirked. “Thanks, Lala-chan. Although I’d rather say that Eiko was the one who threw us out...”

When Lala left again, Ryuji leaned back in his seat with a relaxed sigh “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Just us guys hanging out without any girls around….”

Ren smirked “Spoken like a true married man.”. He was pretty sure that none of the others would find that statement peculiar. Ryuji and Ann had already been described as an old married couple a long time before they even officially got together. And while he was sure that at some point this evening, the girls at the Velvet Room would figure out that Ann had a ring (most likely Makoto would be the one to steer the conversation in that direction), he also had a feeling that if this topic would ever have to come up among the guys, it would have to be the most obvious statement ever. But he would just have to drop some more hints to make Mishima confused.

Ryuji grinned with a red neck as he reached forward and started pouring drinks for the four guys. As everyone had a beverage, Ren was the first to raise his glass “To our evening as free men.”

“And to our wives.” Ryuji added casually.

“Yeah. That.” Mishima uncertainly replied before everyone knocked back their drinks.

Yusuke looked confused after he set down his glass again “Wives?” he asked “Ren, is it already this serious between you and Makoto?”

Ren noticed how in the corner of his eye, Ryuji had trouble to keep his drink in instead of snorting it all over the table. This would be an interesting night.

After round 5 of shots and two of some other cocktails mixed by Eiko, the girls started to get a little louder and a little more giggly. Exactly what Futaba had imagined as girl-hell. She wondered whether Yusuke was in Haiku-mode already. That would have been a fun evening, instead of listening to Eikos guy-stories – although this time it was about guys that would hang out at her bar, instead of guys that she was obsessed with. Even Makoto seemed glassy-eyed as she giggled along with the others conversations, like sober Makoto never would have. Futaba sighed. Everyone seemed to have so much more fun than her. Or maybe she just had a different classification of fun. “Hey, Eiko.” she asked “Can I have some more of that juice-stuff?”

“Sure!” Eiko said “Go get me a bottle of coconut-syrup from the cellar and I’ll make you one.”

The orange-haired hacker was almost relieved to get away from the clucking hens for a moment. She could just walk upstairs again but she didn’t want to seem boring either.

As Futaba disappeared into the cellar, the others raised their glasses for the next round. Makoto almost dropped hers when Futaba ran from the cellar, clutching a bottle and screaming. The second-in-command couldn’t remember jumping to her feet but apparently she had for Futaba was suddenly cowering behind her.

“Futaba what happened?” Ann asked, wide-eyed.

“There’s…. someone….” Futaba shakily stammered “…. in the cellar….”

Haru cast Eiko an alarmed look but the bartender only started laughing. “Whoops, my bad. I should have told you that the VIP’s still down there.”

Makoto sighed “You still keep him locked up in your cellar?”

Eiko shrugged “’Course.” she turned her head and hollered towards the open cellar-door “Hey Tsukasa! The Phantom Thieves have moved out of their old place! You think that it’s safe enough to let you out yet?”

“FUCK OFF!” a coarse voice rang out from the dark cellar.

“Thought so.” Eiko shrugged before yelling back “I wouldn’t have done it anyway. Because the Phantom Thieves are living with me. So whoops, another secret you know of. No way that I can let you leave now!”. She got out of her seat and walked towards the door as more and more colorful insults came from Tsukasas prison. She kicked the door shut to silence him again and returned to the table of gaping girls.

Eiko grinned “Hey, he deserves it. Some times it’s kinda fun to just go down there and insult each other..”

Hifumi was the first to speak when she quietly said “And people call Haru sadistic...”

Futaba dared to emerge from the safety of Makotos back again “You could have warned me!” she exclaimed.

“I said I’m sorry.” Eiko rolled her eyes. “He’s just been living there so long, all of us have gotten so used to him that sometimes we don’t even notice it anymore.” she noticed Shihos horrified look “Oh… Sorry… I didn’t mean to come of as a psycho….”

“I love it….” Shiho whispered with wide eyes.

Eiko started cackling “Makes you think what could have been if someone actually had had the balls to give Kamoshida a bit of his own medicine, huh? If we had just worked together and locked him up in his creepy sex-dungeon…”

“Eiko...” Ann grimaced with a worried glance towards Shiho “Let’s not talk about that, shall we?”

Shiho shook her head “No Ann, it’s okay. Eiko is right. If we hadn’t been so scared, we would have been able to overpower him without needing your help. But he was also a good manipulator and he knew how to keep everyone reluctant enough to put with his schemes."

“Who would have thought that Mishima would be the bravest of them all?” Eiko chuckled.

Shiho smiled and blushed “I always knew that he was braver than he thought he was.”

“Awww.” Haru and Ann said.

Eiko sighed “Gawd you’re so cute it makes me want to vomit.”

“You have a weird way of making compliments.” Makoto pointed out.

“As if that’s so new to you.” Eiko grinned before it turned into a malicious smirk “So now that we’ve loosened our tongues a little, I finally want to know the juicy stuff.” her eyes rested on Makoto the entire time “Makoto tell-”

“Ann has a ring!” Makoto hadn’t anticipated that she would need to shake her ace out of her sleeve so soon but here she was. She didn’t even want to hear the question that Eiko was going to ask her.

Not just Eikos head whipped over to stare at Ann, who could only look at Makoto in disbelieve “For real?” she mouthed. She braced her ears when she reluctantly raised her hand to show off her wrist.

“No FUCKING way!” Eiko reached across the table and pulled Anns hand towards her with a force that almost moved the blondes entire body. After giving the ring a long enough look-down, she stared at Ann with wide eyes “You finally got together and now you’re already engaged?!”

“Ryuji must have really wanted to seal that deal….” even Futaba seemed impressed.

“Ann, I’m so happy for you!” Haru had tears in her eyes like a proud mother.

Eiko couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the ring when she asked “So you’ll be Mrs. Skull then?”

“You know that his real name isn’t Skull, right?” Makoto asked. Her head was buzzing. Given that she had told Ren that she would be the sober one of the girls, she figured that that wouldn’t hold up.

Eiko sighed and rolled her eyes “Duh, Makoto.”

Ann only shrugged “We haven’t really talked about it. It’s not like I’m using my last name a lot anyway...”

Haru giggled “Maybe you should call yourself Mrs. Skull then.”

Eiko leaned back as she philosophized “And why not Mr. Panther, by the way?”

“Guys, changing our names isn’t the plan right now.” Ann clarified.

Eiko sighed as she poured another round “Fiiine. Are you plannin’ on doing a ceremony or something? I’m sure there must be an empty bridal shop somewhere in the bigger cities.”

Ann raised her shoulders “I don’t really need one. Sure, all those dream-weddings back in the day seemed nice and all with super fancy flower-arrangements and buffets...”

Eiko shrugged “I get it. I also wouldn’t see you in some kind of barn-wedding.”

“Well, wouldn’t this be a nice location though?” Haru asked with glassy eyes, although it was hard to determine whether it was because of the alcohol or because she was so moved by Ann being engaged.

Ann shrugged “Maybe. But is it really necessary? It’s not like we could invite our parents or any other friends.” she smiled “All of our family is right here and now they know. Besides… we really have other things to worry about.”

“Nuh-uh! Not tonight. NO talking about you-know-what.” Eiko reprimanded. As she was about to pour Makoto another shot, the second-in-command pulled the glass away “I think I’m good for tonight.”

Eiko sighed “Seriously? Even without your sister being here?”

“I’d rather make sure that nothing happens to you...” Makoto tried to argue.

“Oh, I can totally do that!” Futaba volunteered and patted Makotos shoulder with a grin “You should take a day off from time to time.”

“Yeah, Makoto!” Shiho chimed in. “Your sister won’t find out. We won’t tell.” she giggled.

“Fine...” Makoto reluctantly sighed, hoping that Ren would be in the same situation as her.

Ann shuddered after emptying another shot “Speaking of Sae… She said that you picked something out for her too….”

Hifumi lightly giggled before saying “I’m guessing that it wasn’t a pant-suit...”

Eiko smirked and shook her head “Do you really think that something like a pant-suit would survive in any wardrobe here? I would have burned it myself.”

“So what did you pick for her?” Shiho inched closer to the edge of her seat.

Eiko waved it off “Ah, probably something sexy, I don’t remember. But my options were limited given how freaking tall that woman is...”

“Ugh, now I want to see it.” Ann sighed before she had to giggle uncontrollably “Can you imagine Sae in a mini-skirt?!”

The other girls couldn’t hold their giggles before Haru eventually asked “Mako-chan, have you ever seen your sister wear something like this?”

Makoto could only shake her head. She didn’t even blame it on the alcohol for not knowing. She was pretty sure that her sister had never worn anything but long pants.

Eiko just shrugged “Too bad though. I hung it at her door like all of your other outfits… I would have loved to see her out of her comfort-zone. Although I guess our girls-night would have been different then.”

Ann placed her hands on the table when she excitedly looked into the round “But that would mean that… that that outfit still has to be in Saes apartment...”

“Ann...” Shiho already seemed to get where her best friend was going.

Haru excitedly gasped when she figured it out too.

Makoto sighed “Really…?”

“Yup.”

The four guys had started on their second bottle of tequila when they decided to hit the road and move around the empty street a bit. It must have been the middle of the night and somehow the street still was alive but only with its own workers, who seemed to use their free evening for strolling around the street or sitting outside and chatting. It was a calming atmosphere, that four guys with a slightly wonky walk and two young boys sort of distorted.

“Truly a great night

Worthy of remembering

and not to forget.” Yusuke poetically recited as he looked up into the clear night sky.

“Geez...” Ryuji muttered as he tried to stop his vision from blurring so damn much.

Ren looked to Morgana and Shinya “Alright boys, we’ve reached Haiku-Yusuke. I hope you’re ready to remember everything he says from here on or we’ll get a problem with Futaba.” he noticed how his voice started to slur a bit.

“Why us?” Shinya asked.

“Because I’m unable to.” Ren dead-panned.

“Oh Ren. What will Makoto say?” Morgana mischievously asked.

“Hopefully not much because I still have high hopes that she’s fallen to peer-pressure too.”

“Hah, trouble in paradise.” Ryuji grinned.

“Hey, unlike other people we’re not married.” Ren replied although he had to admit that his hope of Mishima catching onto something was getting smaller by the minute for their manager was quietly walking beside them, apparently too confused with his own buzz to actually listen to the others.

“A marriage how great!

A construct of trust and love.

A symbol so pure.”

Ren cast Ryuji a questioning glance but the blonde shook his head “For real, dude. That doesn’t count.”

“Fuck...” Ren muttered and took a sip straight from the bottle in his hand before handing it over to the blonde.

Ryuji grinned when he slapped him on the shoulder “I think it’s pretty clear that you’ve lost your chance. But hey, I’m feeling generous. I’ll only remind you of it for a week.”

“Judging from how wasted you are, I’d dare to make another wager that you won’t even remember anything about this tomorrow.” Ren replied.

“Wanna make another bet that you’ll lose?” the blonde grinned.

He sighed “Not really...”

Ryuji slapped him on the shoulder again when he suddenly turned serious “Seriously dude… I’m effing lucky to have a best friend like you. So… thanks.”

“Shit, are you gonna cry?” Ren grinned and slapped him on the back. “But the feeling’s mutual. I mean, I love Makoto and shit but if we’d had to split up after the casino… I would have missed hanging with you the most.”

“Same...” Ryuji grinned. “For real though, if we continue bein’ sappy, I might really start bawling...”

“Hey, you started it.” Ren replied. When he looked at their way ahead, he noticed how two girls dressed in Yukatas approached them, their eyes set on Yusuke.

“Hey guys.” one of them smiled.

“Hi.” Ren inelegantly replied.

“What’s the occasion?” Morgana asked as he pointed at their Yukatas.

Since it was a kid asking, the girls didn’t seem to be offended by the blunt question. “A friend of ours throws a party at her bar and we’ve decided on a dress-code.” one of them explained before she gave all of them a look-down “You wanna join us, maybe?” she purred.

“Oh… uhm…” Mishima suddenly started stammering.

“I’m engaged.”

The only thing that confused Ren at this point, was that the two boys didn’t find anything strange so far. Morgana probably thought that Ryuji was trolling or something. Maybe they were just too used to Rens and Ryujis bullshit, that they didn’t even ask anymore. “Sorry but most of us are already taken and you’d have to be into really strange stuff to enjoy hanging out with that guy at the moment...” Ren pointed to Yusuke.

“Gowns of tradition.

You disgrace your ancestors!

Embrace womanhood!” Yusuke sounded as angry as someone speaking in Haikus could.

“Okay, that last verse sounded really choppy...” Ren uttered. “But I think that proved my point...”

The two girls gasped. Even if the guys’ reflexes hadn’t been slowed by the nights alcohol consumption, they wouldn’t have seen the small purse flying at Yusukes face coming. The drunk artist staggered back a step, covering his eye as the two girls angrily stomped off.

The guys stared at him, some of them holding in laughs, some of them shocked.

“Well… that happened...” Ren was the first to speak up after a few moments of dazed and confused silence.

“I stand by my words.

Behavior so pathetic.

I missed elegance.” Yusuke blinked his slightly swollen eye.

“Well… Haru does sound like the one for you then….” Ren said.

“Haru so kind and classy.

A woman of dreams indeed.

Hair soft like a cloud.” Yusuke sounded strangely dreamy.

“Okay, I don’t care if you remembered all of the last stuff he said but you have to remember this one. For Harus sake.” Ren urged the two boys.

“Way ahead of ya.” Shinya held up a notepad on which he had written down everything.

“I couldn’t be more proud right now.” Ren said.

Ryuji walked up to Yusuke and placed a hand on his shoulder before handing him the bottle “Here, take one for the pain.” After Yusuke took two sips, the blonde said “Okay, I think we’re done for the night. Let’s not upset anyone else and call it in.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this...” Makoto sighed but she noticed herself that her voice lacked the normally so stern motherly tone. All those cocktails had fueled her interest.

“If you chicken out, you can just wait outside.” Ann said with her hand on the handle to Saes apartment. “The rest of us – those who aren’t cowards – will sneak inside and find the outfit that Eiko picked out for her. And I’m telling you. 1000%. There’s fishnets involved.”

“Pfffft.” Shiho waved off “As if. I bet that it’s a cropped top or something else revealing.”

“Don’t forget the lacquer plateau-boots!” Hifumi added.

Eiko groaned “Oh my god, how messed up a fashion-sense do you think I have? Just because I don’t remember what I’ve picked out for her, doesn’t mean that I dug up rags from 100 years ago.”

“We’ll see.” Ann said before she turned to Makoto “So are you in or not?”

Futaba stood at a distance and watched the girls antics with amusement. So far, she had always been the one that people called childish or weird. It felt nice to see that deep down, there seemed to be a little Futaba in all of them. And she wasn’t about to stop them from what they were doing. She had to admit that she was too intrigued by how this was going to end up.

Makoto reluctantly nodded before she shooed Ann to the side and quietly opened the door. When she stuck her head inside, she saw that the room was dark. She silently slid inside before the other girls followed suit. Her head was buzzing but this time it wasn’t because she was high on adrenaline. She cursed the shoes she was wearing as she silently walked towards the bedroom door to find it closed. She was glad that Sae was an organized person and that she at least didn’t have to worry about tripping over something. She carefully reached towards where she remembered a lamp standing and turned it on to cast a little light on the living room.

Ann was the first one to spot their target. She triumphantly sneaked across the room and held up a hanger with a black dress. “Holy shit, that is super hot!” she both exclaimed and whispered as she mustered the long black dress with the high leg-slit and the back-side that was even more revealing than the dress that she was wearing. “Aha!” she whispered and pointed to the cut-out line in the middle of the front, that seemed to reach deep down, that was lined with mesh and net. “Fishnet!”

“That doesn’t count! You meant the tights!” Shiho argued.

Ann smirked when she reached down and pulled up a pair of fishnet stockings. “Then eat this.”

“Dammit.” Eiko muttered.

“I win, bitches!” Ann triumphantly announced.

“What the hell is going here?” Sae asked from behind Makoto as she looked at the commotion in her living room.

“Oh hey Sae.” Haru waved with a smile.

“Sis...” Makoto tried to think straight as she tried to push down the undeniable tipsiness that she felt “We….” she was struggling for the right words before she eventually called out “RETREAT!”. With that, the girls started scrambling out the apartment and into the hallway, where they ran into the guys.

“We didn’t find you downstairs so we thought that you were already asleep!” Morgana said. “Where you hanging out with Sae?”

“Finally. Sober people!” Futaba exclaimed as she walked over to stand with Shinya and Morgana.

“In a way…” Hifumi said.

“Yusuke, what happened to your eye?” Haru asked.

“He decided to lecture two girls on their womanhood.” Ren replied to ease the burden on Yusuke.

“I hope he did it in form of a poem!” Futaba uttered. She was pleased when she saw Shinya and Morgana nodding.

“We should stop standing in the hallway and get some sleep.” Makoto tried to urge, wanting to avoid that her sister would come out after them and loo said eventually.

“I agree with that.” Hifumi muttered and turned around to walk to her apartment. Shortly after, Morgana and Shinya took their leave and walked towards the common area to get to their room as well.

“Come on, Haru. I’ll lead you to our room.” Futaba said and started to guide Haru by her elbow.

“Sleep well dear Haru

the sweetest of dreams to you

Of you I shall dream” Yusuke poetically called out after her.

Haru nervously giggled as she carefully inched towards the door, guided by both Futaba and the wall that she clung to with her free hand.

“Goodnight, casanova.” Ren patted Yusuke on the shoulder before he wrapped an arm around Makoto.

Ryuji yawned before he put an arm around Anns shoulders before guiding her to their room.

“Well.” Eiko said “Guess I’ll get to my bed too. See you in the morning, guys.” she said. She was almost at the staircase and the others were already standing at their doors when she called out “Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Skull!”

“Wait….” Mishima suddenly stared with wide eyes “Mr. and Mrs.?! Are you…?”

Beside him, Shiho raised an eyebrow “You didn’t know?”

“Fuck yeah!” Ren exclaimed as he pointed at Ryuji with a grin on his face “I win Suck-amoto!”

“Dammit, you-” Ryuji didn't get more time to talk about it though for Ann pulled him inside their apartment and shoved the door shut with a grin on her face. She leaned against it and pulled him towards her by his jacket until their lips met.

“The guys didn’t know?” she eventually whispered.

“Ren and I were hinting at it reeeeeally hard.” Ryuji replied with a smirk. “What’s with the Mr. and Mrs. Skull-thing?” he smiled as his hands found their place on her hips.

“I swear, it was Eikos idea.” Ann replied before she chewed her lip “I mean… having the same name would be nice… but my family-name is all that’s left to tie me to my parents and...” she couldn’t believe that at this time of night and at this alcohol-level, she would still be able to ruin the mood but it had been gnawing at her ever since Eiko had brought it up. She just felt that if she took on someone elses name, her own name would disappear forever.

“Hey...” Ryuji cupped the back of her neck with his hand and ran a thumb over her cheek “I get it. Just know that you can use mine whenever you feel like it.”

Ann had to smile as a tear found its way into her eye. She nodded before whispering “Ann Sakamoto… It does sound nice too.”.

A pleasant shiver ran down his spine when he buried his hand in her blonde curls as she unzipped his jacket. “You still need help with that dress?” he muttered against her lips with a small smirk when his other hand found the cross-ties at her lower back.

A small giggle escaped her before she whispered “Yes please.”

Mishima was too baffled by Ryuji and Anns news to register that Shiho had taken his hand and led him to his room. After their first night cramped into the small bed in Shihos room, they had switched to his room and the larger bed - at her behest of course. Mishima would have never dared to offer it himself so of course the idea had come from Shiho. He wasn’t even capable of putting into words just how beautiful she looked tonight. At first he had blamed it on Ryuji, who had dragged him away too quickly but in the end he had to admit that he wouldn’t have come up with the right words even if he’d stood there for hours. Once again, he could only stand and watch as Shiho sat down at the foot of the bed and started taking off her shoes. Her hair was slightly messier now but it was still held together by various pins that she started to pull out next.

“Um...” Mishima forced himself to stammer before his tipsiness took over “You look great.”

Shiho looked up in surprise and smiled “You think so?” she asked, her cheeks slightly red.

Mishima sighed as he dropped down on the bed beside her “Of course you are. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” his shoulders dropped when he looked at the floor “I’m sorry… I should have said it earlier but I was too scared again… I’m such a coward…”. Somehow being drunk brought all his insecurities at once and also lowered his boundaries of expressing them.

Shiho shifted her seat so that she was facing him when she reached forward and took his hand “You have to stop saying that, Yuuki.”

“But I am… If I weren’t, I would have told you how pretty you are, even before tonight. Everything that happened between us happened because of you because I was too scared to do anything…”

She uncertainly looked at the floor “And… do you think that’s bad?”

“No! But I don’t know how you can be so patient with me, when I’m nothing but a nervous mess all the time...” Mishima argued. Normally he would have thrown an awkward giggle in there because talking about his insecurities was about equally as uncomfortable for him as talking about his other true feelings. But maybe his slight buzz took away the idea of nervously chuckling away every serious concern to not make it seem like he took his own feelings serious.

“Because I love you.” Shiho replied.

“Wh-?” Mishima didn’t even manage to finish the single word when he processed what she just told him. He opened his mouth again to speak but Shiho silenced him by putting a finger to his lips.

“I don’t want you to say it back just because you think you have to.” she said “Just know that I do. You are the kindest person I know. You’re the only one I can talk to without having to think about saying something to worry them. And… maybe I’m imagining things but sometimes I feel that I can tell what you would like to say without you actually having to say it.”

Mishima could only gape at her before he eventually muttered “I don’t deserve you...”. To think how happy she could be with someone that wasn’t as scared of saying anything as he was…

“Don’t say that.” Shiho said before she got up and stood in front of him, her hand still holding his “You took so many risks in your life, why do you forget that so easily?” she asked “You saved me twice by now and you risked your life to get hundreds of people to safety. You’re not a coward and you’re not weak. Was the Yuuki back at Okumura Industries as nervous as he’s now?”

Mishima shook his head “No...”

“Then what’s so different with me?”

“I didn’t love anyone in that factory.” the words suddenly burst out of Mishima as he got up and stood in front of her. “If you were in danger, I would come and rescue you again over and over but in the end, it will be a one-time act of bravery because I don't want . And now you’re here and you want to be with me and you know all the bad things I’ve done and all the heroic things I’ve done but in the end I’m just… this.” he pointed at himself. “Awkward Yuuki Mishima. Maybe all those sides that you so admire about me are just one-time-things. I know that you’re trying to get me “out of my shell”… but maybe you’re already in it. Maybe heroic and dark Mishima were the shell and this… boring one is the core.”

Shihos thumb softly traced the back of his hand “Yuuki….” she carefully whispered.

He shook his head “I’m sorry to let you down… The truth is that I love you. Already have for a long time too.”

Shiho let go of his hand and looked at him with a small smile “How long will it take for you to understand that I don’t think you’re boring?”

“I’ll probably never get it...” Mishima sighed.

“Because you don’t believe me.” Shiho said.

Mishima sighed “I… want to believe you, really. But I just… can’t see what you see.”

Shiho gave him a compassionate look when she said “Maybe you should stop worrying so much about my reasons. I don’t understand yours that make you like me either.”

He was unsure of what to say “You… don’t?”

“I know that you’re uncertain about how to act so I thought that if I take you by the hand… but recently I've been starting to wonder if I’m just forcing you to do things that you wouldn’t want to do, if you had a choice. And then I wonder if I trap you...”

“But… you don’t!” Mishima forced himself to speak when he realized just how much his own insecurities affected Shiho too.

A small smile appeared on her face when she let go of his hand “Then kiss me.”

Mishima gulped and nodded. So far it had always been Shiho who’d done the first step, whether it was them sleeping in the same room, kissing or even just holding hands. He looked into her brown eyes before he decided to pluck up some courage. He would never forgive himself if his fears ended up hurting Shiho. Maybe it was the buzz that ended up giving him the last push to reach for her hand and pull her towards him ever so carefully. She was leaning against his chest and looked up at him with a small smile on her face. He took one last deep breath when he focused on her eyes. She had told him that she loved him. For days, she had stayed close to him. What messed up crazy person would she be if all of that had been some joke? And how could someone with clear eyes like hers lie? He didn’t order his hand to move up to her cheek but when she didn’t retreat and their lips met, he figured that he couldn’t have been terribly wrong by doing it. Shiho had kissed him a few times by now and yet their first kiss under his initiative felt entirely different. Because he hadn’t gone along with what she had started. He was the one who made the first move and she still chose to kiss him back. He could feel her smiling against his lips when she placed her hands on his chest.

When they parted lips again, they kept standing in a tight embrace with their foreheads touching. “See?” Shiho whispered “Was that so hard?”. She slid her arms up and around his neck.

“No...” Mishima answered as he placed his free hand on her back, hoping to keep her close to him for as long as possible.

“Then could you do it again?” she asked with pink cheeks.

Mishimas cheeks felt like they matched hers when he looked at her with a somewhat newly found courage “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to make it as plausible as possible but with the whole situation so grim, I just felt that it was time for at least a night of light-hearted fun for the group. We're going to return to the serious stuff next chapter, alongside with the Thieves' hangovers.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this little night-out too ;)


	80. An Unpleasant Morning After

Rens eyelids felt heavy when he forced them open the next morning. Even while laying still, the whole room around him still seemed to be spinning. Normally the feeling of Makoto huddled up against him made for a good start into the day but this morning about everything felt wrong. He would have liked to sit up but he was afraid of what his brain would do to him then, if it was already spinning now. He wasn’t sure whether the sounds from the street outside just sounded louder than usual or if there actually was more commotion than normal at this time of the day.

Not long after, Makoto started to stir beside him before letting out a long groan. She squinted her eyes before asking with a grimace “Has it always been this bright here?”

“I think...” Ren muttered before he forced a weak smile on his face “Thought you’d stay sober and take care of the others.”

Sadly for him, Makoto hasn’t lost all of her wits along with her tolerance for light “You said something like that too...”

“Well… here we are now...” Ren failed to find some witty reply. “Did you break into Saes apartment yesterday?” he suddenly remembered.

“I… think…” Makoto replied, terribly embarrassed about how she had thought this a good idea yesterday.

“Why though?”

“We wanted to see what Eikos clothing-pick was for her...”

“Wow...” Ren grunted as he rolled over to look at her “That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“I assume that you can guess whose idea it was..” she replied, struggling to open her eyes to look at him.

“Eiko...”

“No, I think it was Ann...”

“Huh...”

“How was your night?” she asked.

Ren shrugged “It was fun. I think I won a bet and somewhere along the end Yusuke got punched by a girl. So overall… good times, I say.” he recapped “But I definitely shouldn’t have taken a part in emptying that second bottle. Lala felt rather generous...”

“I wonder what time it is...” Makoto muttered.

“I don’t hear much commotion, so I’d guess that everyone is still asleep. Or dead.” Ren replied. He couldn’t have had more than the other guys, so he figured that they would be equally wasted today.

Makoto slightly giggled “It.. was fun though...”

“Yeah...” Ren had to grin too.

“But I suppose today won’t be...”

“Probably not...”

Ryuji woke up when he felt the wet pillow-case against his cheek, that he probably had been drooling on for hours. When he tried to move, he realized that Ann was partly laying on top of him, most likely drooling on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trail of clothes that they had left behind yesterday. He didn’t remember much after opening undoing the bow on the back of her dress, that layed crumpled on the floor near the door. While normally the feeling of Anns naked body against his was the pleasant kind of hot, today the heat felt unbearable. He carefully tried to wiggle free, only for her to eventually mumble something incomprehensible before turning away from him.

His back was tense when he slowly turned around to stare at the ceiling. His stomach was rioting, even though it must have been empty. Ryuji turned his head to look at Anns bare back. Like him, she hadn’t gotten away without the occasional scar but each and every one of the faint lines on her back and arms only made her more beautiful to him, even though it sometimes made him wonder if she had gotten them just because he hadn’t covered her well enough. Ever since their assault on Kaneshiros bank, they hadn’t been in many situations where their lives had been on the line. Medjed hadn’t escalated. Mishima had taken the biggest risk over at Okumura Industries and they had been tasked with fighting shadows, something that he felt they were able to do on autopilot. Ren had taken everything on him at the casino. As he looked at her faintly moving torso, he reached out and covered her with the blanket. He knew that she was tough as nails but when he thought about the unknown risk that seemed to loom over them now, he started to become worried. They had talked about their future together. But now that they were hunted by United Future, everything had changed. They still had no idea about how to escape their hunters. Noone knew whether they would be able to lead something resembling to a “normal” life now, or if they would be on the flight forever. The sickness in his stomach suddenly got bigger when he imagined her getting hurt. Just a few days ago, he had watched her drive off to get Shiho. If Akechi had been waiting for them there, she might as well have never returned and they probably would have never known what had happened. He forced himself to stare at the ceiling as to avoid imagining her light-golden hair covered with blood. He recalled how her father had taken him to the side before one of their first ever real missions outside. _“Please. Watch out for her.”_. He would have never forgiven himself, if the one time that he’d let her go so easily would have been the one time where she’d get hurt. Why couldn’t he shake this feeling that their happy days of endless fun were over now? Even though they hadn’t split up, there was no way of telling when they would ever be able again to live like they had last night. But just because they wouldn’t be able to go out like they used to, it shouldn’t have meant the end of the world. All of them were together. They didn’t have to part ways and they were safe. So why did he feel so restless?

“What’s bothering you?” Ann tiredly asked. He hadn’t noticed her turning back towards him.

He had to gulp when he looked into her still sleepy eyes before he forced himself to shake his head “Nah… it’s nothing.”. He adjusted his arm so she could rest her head on it. “How’re you feelin’?”

“My head hurts...” she sighed with her eyes closed. “How about you?”

“Like I’m about to throw up… Although I have no idea what...” he replied.

“Ew...” Ann muttered. “But I think I know what you mean...”

Ryujis stomach churned when he turned towards her and wrapped both his arms around her shoulders. She seemed so delicate when she was laying in his arms, even though he knew that there was an undeniable amount of finely toned muscle that he could feel when he ran his finger over her upper arm. A warm shiver ran down his spine when she wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled herself closer to him, eliminating any left distance between them as their skin felt like it melted together. Anns breath tickled his chest as she placed her head right underneath his chin. It was moments like these that made Ryuji forget everything around them. Moments of pure bliss.

“Did you have fun yesterday?” she asked against his chest as she enjoyed the moment of warmth with her eyes closed.

“Yeah.” he replied as he traced a finger along her spine. “But I think I blacked out at the best part of the night… I have no idea how I got out of my clothes...”

Ann giggled before she breathed a kiss onto his chest “Well since you helped me I thought I’d return the favor.”

Ryuji tilted his head and placed a kiss on the top of her head. For a while the pleasance managed to overweigh the sick feeling in his stomach.

“You don’t remember anything that happened after?” Ann eventually asked.

Ryuji tried to concentrate on what had happened last night. “Just fragments...” he said when he remembered the feeling of her hand weaving through his hair while the other one dug into his back, too passionate to care about her nails leaving behind crescent shapes as their breathing synchronized. Ann tore him out of his memory when she gently ran her hand over the exact spot on his shoulder-blades.

Ann smiled with a trembling lip when she recalled his words from last night, that she could use his last name if she chose to. She reached up to cup his face with her hands to pull him towards her lips. After a long kiss she whispered “I love you so much, you know that?” as goosebumps rose on her back where his slightly calloused fingers started drawing shapes.

“I love you too.” he replied as he locked his arms around her. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He would keep up his promise and he would protect her. With his life, if necessary.

Even after a night of drinking, Haru still managed to be the first in the kitchen in the morning. Maybe it was because she had been forced to get out of bed rather unpleasantly when her body didn’t leave her with another choice as to commit the inelegant act of throwing up. Her head was empty when she leaned against the kitchen island and stared into her glass of water. She was both thirsty and disgusted by the thought of putting anything into her upset stomach. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a sudden _Thump_ before Yusuke stumbled into the room. Judging by how he wavered across the room until he found stability on the other end of the kitchen island, Haru guessed that he had just walked into the wall before finding the door.

“Apologies...” he muttered, his face paler than usual. “My spacial awareness is a bit off today...”

“Maybe it’s because one of your eyes is swollen shut?” Haru offered.

“Perhaps...” he sullenly replied. “That would also explain the pain I’m experiencing in that area...”

While Haru wondered whether he hadn’t looked in the mirror yet, she walked over to the functioning freezer to get out a cool-pack, that she then handed over to him along with a glass of water.

“I appreciate it.” Yusuke muttered as he held it to his black eye.

“Mornin’ casanova.” Morgana cackled as he and Shinya walked out of their room. The lively volume in his voice caused both Haru and Yusuke to flinch.

The sensory overload was complete when Futaba barged into the room as well. When she saw the two half-dead Thieves, she had to smirk “Whoah. You look like corpses...”

Yusuke sighed “That’s what I feel like. And now if you could turn down all of your voices a little...”

Futaba chuckled before she turned to the two boys “Did he drop some awesome haikus yesterday? Besides those sweet sweet words for Haru?”

Haru blushed and quickly looked away, failing to cover up the glances that she stole at Yusuke who seemed to be too out of it to notice.

Shinya pulled out the note-pad out of his pocket and flipped it open “I think my favorite was the one where he insulted those two girls...”

Futaba cackled “You have my attention...”

Haru had her hand wrapped around her glass when she looked at Yusuke. After a few moments, Futaba started laughing before looking at the artist “You really told them that they were a disgrace to their ancestors?”

“If Shinya and Morgana were to mess with me, I wouldn’t think that they would use words like these so I assume that I must have said that...” Yusuke replied with dead eyes.

A few moments of silence passed as Futaba continued to read from Shinyas notepad. She had wide eyes when she raised her head to stare at Yusuke “Awww…. Inari….” she said after she read his first Haru-focused poetry of the night “You were such a jerk to these two girls… And then you put out something like this...”

Yusuke looked confused when he asked with a sigh “I don’t understand what you are talking about...”

“What you said about Haru! Before we met again?” Futaba clarified.

Haru couldn’t hide her surprise. “There’s… a second?” she tried to hide her overexcitement.

Futaba took the notepad from Shinya and showed it to her. Seeing how Harus face lit up made her heart melt.

“Yusuke…” Haru gasped, speechless. “You really mean that?” she asked. All of them had been fairly drunk that night. They could have just been empty words.

Yusuke furrowed his brow when he couldn’t remember “Since I would be able to see with both my eyes if I had been able to lie, I dare to say that I meant what I said and hope that I have not upset you.”

Harus stomach suddenly felt upset but in a good way as she couldn’t stop smiling “You have not.” she assured him.

The next to enter was Hifumi. She too had a far more sickly complexion than usual. Her normally so poised composure seemed off today when she almost slouched towards the kitchen. Her pale skin revealed the bags under her eyes. When Haru placed another glass in front of her, she chugged it in one go before giving an appreciative nod.

“Mornin’...” Ryuji muttered into the room as he and Ann walked in before slumping down at the dinner table. Once more, Haru admired their ability to just wear whatever they felt like. Given her condition, she had decided on one of her more comfortable dresses but when she watched Ann lounging in loose jogging pants, she couldn’t help but admire her for them. They just looked too comfortable.

“You kids don’t look too fit...” Sojiro uttered with obvious amusement as he walked in and looked at all the slouched figures. He cast a suspicious glance at Futaba to check if she looked as dead as the others. When he noticed that she looked alive enough, he gave a satisfied nod before he walked over to the kitchen. “And the leaders are still asleep?”

“Makoto did try to be the voice of reason but I took that job from her so she could cut loose for a bit.” Futaba proudly announced.

“That explains why I found all of you in my living room in the middle of the night.” Sae said as she walked in.

Sojiro raised an eyebrow at his daughter. All the gathered women avoided their gaze.

“We apologize for the disturbance, Sae-san...” Haru politely bowed.

Sae got herself something to drink before she said “I’ve tried to make sense of it but I have to admit that I have no idea what your motive was...”

Ann sighed “We… kinda started talking about what Eiko could have chosen for you and then everyone had their own theories and there was only way to find out...”

“Well, not really but...” Sae threw in.

“It was the only way we could think of…” Hifumi uncomfortably said.

“They did act like it was the best idea ever had so I didn’t want to crush their egos...” Futaba shrugged.

After a few moments of awkward silence Sae replied “Well, another way would have been to just knock and ask...”

“We weren’t sure if you would open...” Ann meekly replied.

“So you decided to break in?” Sae asked with a raised eyebrow.

“… Maybe?...” the blonde flinched.

Sae shook her head but she couldn’t hide the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in mild amusement.

“It was a very pretty dress though.” Shiho said as she and Mishima walked into the room, hand in hand. The two sat down at the table with Ann and Ryuji. Like the rest of them, the two didn’t look entirely fit and yet both of them seemed to have a glow on their cheeks.

Ann turned back to Sae and nodded “It really was.”

Sae crossed her arms “I won’t deny it. Maybe there will be an occasion one day, where I could wear it.”

“With a thigh-slit like that, men would go crazy.” Futaba pointed out.

Sae looked at the hacker in surprise “And how do you know that?”

Futaba raised an eyebrow at her before pointing to the guys “Haven’t you been there yesterday? As soon as anyone wears something nice you can start picking up eyeballs off the floor and bring a mop and a bucket for all the drool that these monkeys produce.”

Ren, who had picked up on Futabas colorful explanation from the hallway, grinned weakly when he entered alongside Makoto “You called for me?”

Makoto sighed and shook her head only to realize that that was the worst thinkable move in her current condition.

“You look healthy.” Saes tone was a mixture of sarcasm and teasing.

“Normally I’d propose that we eat something but judging from the way all of you look, eating sounds risky.” Sojiro said with his arms crossed in front of him.

“Just the thought of food….” Yusuke muttered as his face took a slightly greener shade.

Sojiro sighed “Then it will just be Sae, Futaba, the boys and me eating...” he said before he turned around to the cabinets.

“Hey guys..” Ryuji groaned, clutching his head “Is it me or is the street louder than usual?”

Makoto grimaced “I’m not sure either. But I was also questioning whether the lights are brighter today, so I don’t think that I’m a reliable source...”

Sojiro shook his head with a smirk when he said “Look at you… destroyed after one night...”

Futaba turned to Sojiro “Is this one of those “Back in my days...”-things?” she grinned “I wanna know all about drunk Sojiro.”

The old man scratched his head before he replied “Maybe another time.”

“Booo.” Morgana and Shinya said in unison, much to Sojiros annoyance.

Ren grinned when he too sat down at the table “I bet Sojiro was a real ladies men back in his youth.”

Sojiro huffed “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“He does seem like someone who had game when he was younger...” Ann had to agree. “I could see women falling for him...”

“Eh, what?” Ryuji asked with a raised eyebrow, unsure of how he should interpret her words.

Ann rolled her eyes “Not me of course! He’s like… three times my age...”

“And who says that my time is over?” Sojiro protested. “Just because I don’t get out a lot, doesn’t mean that the old charm isn’t working anymore.”

Futaba raised an eyebrow at him “You might be sweet and all but I’m sure that any woman you’d bring home would run away screaming if she found out that you’re living with a horde of teenagers… Your habit of collecting other peoples children is kinda strange...”

“But that would mean that it’s our fault...” Haru realized as she turned to look at Sojiro “We’re so sorry, Boss. Are we keeping you from being happy?”

Sojiro dismissed them with a wave of the hand “Don’t worry about it. I’m not interested in getting back into that game anyway.” he pointed at the growing number of couples “Watching all of you idiots beating around the bush for so long… I don’t miss being young for a bit.”

“I don’t know about you but I feel like I’ve aged a couple of decades….” Hifumi muttered.

“Same...” Shiho had to agree.

“I’d be happy if this effing ringing in my ears would just go away...” Ryuji mumbled.

“I hear that too...” Yusuke said.

“Oh, me too!” Haru added.

Futaba sighed “Seriously, how out of it are you? It’s because it’s coming from outside.” she hopped off the kitchen-counter “Here, I’ll close the window.” she said as she walked over to the living room to shut the windows before returning to the others again.

“Much better...” Yusuke sighed as he dared to take the ice-pack off his face again.

“Holy shit, your eye looks scary!” Ryuji exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of the purple bruise around it.

“What was that girl packing in her purse? Bricks?” Shinya asked.

“You must have really upset her...” Hifumi uttered.

“If the collection of Morgana and Shinya is correct, I was merely pointing out that their behavior did not do their yukatas justice.”

“That and that they were a disgrace for their ancestors.” Shinya said.

“Embrace womanhood!” Futaba dramatically added with a grin.

Ann sighed and shook her head “Oh Yusuke...”

Morgana shook his head “You really lack tact on occasions...”

Haru couldn’t help but blush as she focused on her glass. She felt oddly honored by the fact that only minutes after Yusuke had been punched in the face after insulting two girls, he had also said the sweetest things about her. She couldn’t find it in her heart to agree with everyone on this topic.

Sojiro handed Sae a bowl and a spoon as he continued to watch the half-dead bantering of the others. All of a sudden, a sharp noise rang through all of their ears, making the hung-over thieves flinch in pain.

Ryuji grimaced as he slammed his hand onto the table, much to everyones displeasure “Gah, I can’t stand this anymore! What the eff is going on down there?” he groaned.

“It sounds like someone is doing a mic-check...” Futaba said as she carefully dared to uncover her hears again.

“Eiko did say that there was something special happening here today. That’s why the settlement was empty yesterday, remember?” Makoto recalled.

“Please don’t let it be a rock-concert...” Mishima whined.

Everyone dragged themselves to their feet, walked over to the living room and split up among the row of windows facing down on the central street. To the left, a large stage had been set up, where one of the girls was testing the microphone by repeatedly tapping on it.

“Has that been there yesterday?” Yusuke wondered.

“We did see a few of the guards carrying around some heavy stuff… They must have built this up over night...” Morgana said.

“But for what? Karaoke night?” Ann asked.

“Let’s hope not...” Yusuke and Mishima said at once.

“Sounds like things will happen soon…” Ryuji said as the girl walked off the stage. He opened the window and stuck his head out to get a better view of things. Not long after, the others followed.

“Huh… seems like a lot of the people from here are in the audience...” Makoto noticed.

“So is this an event only for New New Shinjuku?” Haru wondered.

“Why bother and build up a stage then?” Sojiro wondered.

All of them waited and looked as a man in a suit walked onto the stage. He reached for the microphone and cleared his throat “Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you for the warm welcome and the opportunity to talk about a new chance for your fine establishments and your settlement as a whole.”

“That guy’s doing a sales-pitch?” Futaba asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s the wrong time of the day to advertise alcohol, isn’t it?” Haru wondered.

Down in the street, the man continued talking “Your settlement has faced a lot of difficulties in the last year. Most of you have gotten to know this place as slaves and captives. Thanks to the actions of the Phantom Thieves, you were liberated and you decided to give this location a new flair. A new reputation. A new life.”

The Thieves watched how agreeing nods ran through the audience.

“But the Phantom Thieves aren’t here anymore!” the man dramatically called out “They have disappeared after clearing the path for a new order to form!”

“Wait, what?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“This isn’t good...” Sae muttered.

The man in the suit walked up and down on the stage as he continued to elaborate “Now is the time to think about the future. Not only of the future for your settlement but the future of the entire country. It is time to think about a United Future!”

Ren, Makoto and Sae were the first to realize and act when they quickly reached for everyone close by to pull them inside before they quickly shut the windows. Makoto hurried to the door of the apartment to lock it while Ren and Sae squatted down beneath the windows.

“What the hell?” Ann asked before Ren grabbed her wrist to pull her down beside him.

“They’re here...” Makotos voice was quivering as she sneaked back to the others.

“They already found us?” Haru gasped.

Sae shook her head “I don’t think that they would choose an approach like this if they already knew that we were here. It rather seems like us being here and this speech overlap without them knowing...”

“Ya think Akechi’s somewhere around too?” Ryuji asked.

Makoto was in her thinking-pose when she replied “If we go with Sis’ theory, then this visit is not related to their search for us...”

“Maybe we should continue to listen what this guy down there has to say?” Sojiro proposed.

Ren carefully cracked one of the windows. Down in the street, the man still seemed to be talking:

“More and more larger settlement’s are blowing up. Innocent people are being terrorized and have to live in fear. And the Phantom Thieves are nowhere in sight! There is still an organized group of attackers out there, just waiting to plant more bombs and to destroy the settlements that you have worked so hard on building! The more times passes, the higher the risk becomes of another set of attacks. The first time was around 9 months ago, the second was 4 months ago. Who knows how long it will take for them to strike again? I can guarantee you that a highly frequented place like yours will be on top of the terrorists list!”

“What the hell is he talking about?” Ryuji growled.

“We, United Future, have the power to protect you. If you put your trust in us, we can guarantee that no harm will come to you.”

The Thieves heard excited murmurs from the crowd.

The man continued to talk “I know that my proposition will have to be talked about by your leaders. While fast acting is of the utmost importance, I understand that something like this needs to be properly discussed. Should you need any more proof of our intentions, I will leave behind a small present. Our leader will broadcast a press-conference next week and you will be able to watch it with this device.” he made a short pause before saying “Thank you for your attention.”

Reluctant applause rang out from the street as the confused Thieves shared doubtful looks.

Yusuke scratched his head in confusion “Maybe it’s due to my state of inebriation but I will resort to a Ryuji-saying: What the eff?”

Noone had anything to add to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that United Future waltzes back into the lives of the Phantom Thieves, reminding them that they are here to stay and that their plan is moving on. Not the best thing to wake up to with a hangover. 
> 
> Also: Sae apparently has gotten used to the Thieves' shenanigans rather quick ;)
> 
> But now the time to relax and to party is over. United Future is switching into action-mode and the Thieves will have to think about what that will mean for them. The next arc has officially begun!


	81. Disheartened

The Thieves continued to sit and hide beneath the windows as they tried to make sense of what they had just witnessed.

“I don’t understand any of this...” Ann sighed eventually.

“What was that guys deal? The Phantom Thieves are gone?” Futaba asked “But we’re right here!”

“It’s probably a good thing that he didn’t know that...” Hifumi uttered.

“It was a smart move.” Sae had to admit. “They know about New New Shinjukus affinity towards the Phantom Thieves. They played with their emotions by telling them that their saviors are gone and that they needed someone else to protect them.”

Makoto nodded “That would mean that they tailor their speeches based on the settlement they visit...”

“So you’re saying that they’ll visit all the settlements in the area?” Haru asked.

“All of this sounded a lot like they’re trying to get masses on their side or rather under their influence...” Ren pondered.

“And they’re using the attacks to spark fear.” Hifumi deduced.

“Pointing out how little time there is to act sure sounds familiar by now...” Ren muttered.

“Seems to be their corporate identity...” Futaba grumbled.

“But… why?” Ann asked “What are they getting from all these settlements joining them?”

“Power.” Sae replied. “United Future is out to restore the old system.”

“So they destroyed it first only to then rebuild it again?” Ryuji asked, confused “That’s… kinda dumb...”

“Considering that they were about to lose the election back in the days, breaking down the entire system to then rebuild it as the only votable party does seem like an exaggerated move but still… kinda genius...” Ren could only shrug.

“Talk about dedication...” Sojiro muttered.

“But… even if that really was the only motive...” Makoto thought aloud “Then this is a project for generations. Whoever was running for office 50 years ago and the team involved, they can’t all be alive anymore, right?”

“Remember that one guy from Medjed I told you about? Still alive and kickin’...” Futaba muttered.

“You said he was a vegetable!” Morgana pointed out.

“And I doubt that someone like that is the mastermind behind the plan to subdue the entire country...” Sojiro muttered.

“What a messed up legacy...” Yusuke noted.

Ann groaned in annoyance “And now they’re making it look like they’re the saviors and that we’ve left the people alone!”

Sae crossed her arms in front of her chest when she replied “I have to say, it’s an expert move. To the wide public and especially to New New Shinjuku, the Phantom Thieves are heroes and on the side of justice. If they would have fired against you, they would have lost all credibility to the ones that you have helped. Kaneshiro was one of them but the public doesn't know. They had to distance themselves from him and lucky for them, Kaneshiro won’t be able to say anything against it...”

“Dammit… so you’re saying that if Kaneshiro would be alive, he would have actually be able to help us?” Ryuji cursed.

“Oh no.” Sae said “I’m sure that if Kaneshiro hadn’t died in that fire at the bank, he would have been taken care of by Akechi.”

“Loose ends, right?” Ren combined. “He likes to tie ‘em up.”

“That would be my guess. Someone unraveling the true nature of Kaneshiros “business” and fleeing with that kind of information would render Kaneshiro worthless. I haven’t gotten to know a lot about him but the cooperation between United Future and Kaneshiro purely seemed to exist because of Kaneshiros greed.”

“He was a greedy bastard.” Ren shrugged. “I could honestly see him turn coat at the next opportunity, if he had gotten one.”

Sae nodded “That’s what I’ve figured as well. Even if you hadn’t taken care of Kaneshiro for good, he would have wound up dead not long after you fled and took New New Shinjuku away from him.”

“And the same fate befell my father too...” Haru quietly said.

Sae reluctantly agreed “I’m afraid so. Although the speed with which Akechi had caught up to it was impressive.”

“Can we not praise that asshole?” Ryuji groaned.

Ren grimaced “She’s right though… Okumuras change of heart occurred within less than an hour before the factory blew up.”

“He must have caught wind of the rebellion early on and waited somewhere on the compound…” Makoto mused. “How else would he have been able to gain access to Okumura this quick?”

“If he’s been in contact with him on a regular basis before, maybe he was informed about another access-point or something?” Futaba asked.

Haru looked sad when she said “We won’t be able to ask anyone about it...”

Makoto placed a hand on her shoulder when she said “We… should stop talking about this… We probably won’t learn anything new from that particular case.”

A sharp knock at the door sent everyone flinching and tensing up. Ren and Makoto were quick to motion everyone to stay quiet while they absentmindedly reached for each others hand. Another sequence of knocks sent them into a panic before Eikos voice caused all of them to collectively exhale their held breaths “Guys! It’s me!”

Makoto got to her feet and opened the door while the rest got up from their spots beneath the window too to sit down in the living room. Somehow, none of them felt particularly hung-over anymore.

“Oh my god, guys I’m so sorry. I had no idea that the people coming in would be from United Future!” Eiko started rambling as soon as she walked in. “It wasn’t me who set this up. I only knew that someone came in with a proposition for our settlement but I didn’t know that it would be so political...”

“Eiko...” Ren raised his hands to get her to calm down “Calm down, we believe you.”. When the bartender settled down again, he added “But do you know how many of their people came for this… event?”

“Just him and two bodyguards, as far as I’ve seen.” Eiko recalled. “They’re staying until the evening to give another talk to the night-visitors but as far as I know, they won’t stay the night.”

“Why would they want to talk to people who don’t live here, if it’s settlements they’re trying to reach? Shiho asked.

Sae leaned against the wall when she said “It’s probably to spread the word even more. This settlement has the unique position of attracting a lot of traffic from outside. If we assume that they only visit settlements with a certain size, by spreading their message to bystanders here, they might reach settlements that they normally wouldn’t have had on the map.”

Ren nodded and looked to Eiko “That guy was talking about leaving behind a present...”

“Oh, yeah.” Eiko nodded “It’s like a really old-timey TV with a huge antenna...”

Futabas interest was immediately piqued when she leaned forward in her seat “So it really is a broadcast?” she asked.

Eiko shrugged “I dunno, that’s what he said, right?”

Makoto tapped her chin “He said something about the broadcast happening in a week. They’re probably traveling through other settlements, spreading their words in the meantime. Could they have more of those TV-sets with them?”

“Maybe… A friend of mine said that they’re traveling in a van...” Eiko replied.

“So more settlements would be able to listen to that mysterious leader at once...” Yusuke concluded.

“I wonder who that is...” Mishima muttered.

“Probably the mysterious M.S., right?” Ren asked Sae.

“That would be my guess too.” Sae nodded.

“Who?” Shinya asked.

“The guy who we think to be the mastermind behind all of this.” Ren explained.

“So…” Eiko started “What exactly is United Futures deal anyway?” she asked uncertainly.

“Our best guess right now is to garner power to establish a new system for the entire country, which they will most likely be running...” Ren replied. “Kaneshiro wasn’t just a greedy bastard, he was also hoarding money for United Future because they wanted to control it once the time was right to reestablish currency. The deal with Okumura was probably a monopoly on weapons. Long story short, they’re a greedy bunch of jerks.”

Eiko sighed and dropped down on one of the sofas beside Haru “I guess we’ll talk about it tomorrow morning but so far I’ve chatted with a few of the other bar-runners. It… really sounds like they want to go along with whatever they’re offering..”

“What?!” Morgana exclaimed.

“But we’re right here! They know that we didn’t disappear!” Ryuji was close to yelling in despair.

“Yeah, in hiding.” Eiko dead-panned. “You might be alive but if this is as big as you claim it is, you can’t seriously think that you’ll just walk out of here at some point and continue being the Phantom Thieves, right?”

Ryuji stared at her for a moment before groaning in annoyance “Goddammit, I hate this!”

“Eiko has a point...” Haru quietly agreed. “It seems like the Phantom Thieves have been defeated...”

“In the end, the bad guys win...” Futaba said, sadness in her voice “And just because they have more of… everything, really...”

“So that’s it?” Ann asked. “United Future wins and rebuilds society? And we can’t do a thing about it?”

“The most unsettling question is where this would leave us?” Makoto said. “If they strive to restore old systems, then the first thing to do would be to build up an executive that they will have control over. It would be easy to make us nationally sought after targets then. After some time, there will be no place anymore, that we would be safe in if they make us out to be villains...”

“But they just praised our work. Wouldn’t it be strange if they did a 180-turn to then make us into the enemies?” Morgana asked. 

Ren shrugged “If they’re the only ones in power, it won’t matter anymore. If they decide that they want to keep the peoples favor, then they would only have to say that they want to find us to give us a medal or something. Would probably get even more people to keep their eyes peeled for us too...”

“We also can’t forget all of the negative campaigning that they’ve done. New New Shinjuku might even be an exception in terms of people who support us. They could also spread lies about us in every other location.” Makoto pointed out. 

Ann looked through the room before asking, a little panicked “What are you saying? That we’re basically dead if they win?”

“It’s probably the worst-case-scenario but it’s a possibility.” Sae said. “If United Future is handed the power, it would probably take some time to build everything up but in the end it will most likely come to them either deciding to ignore you or to eliminate you. You have already proven to be a huge thorn in their sides on a few occasions and while I don’t know much about them, I do know that they hold a grudge.”

Ryuji angrily paced up and down behind one of the sofas “So what? All we’re gonna do is hide and wait until there’s no place to hide anymore? Cause I’m not down for that.”

“I suppose none of us are.” Yusuke uttered.

For a lack of alternative, Ryuji punched the wall once more in anger. Sitting and not being able to do anything was probably the worst way to torture him.

Ann whirled around on the sofa “Ryuji, stop! You punching a hole in the wall won’t change anything!” she called out.

“Then tell me what’s there to do? Because if we’re just gonna sit still and wait until they find us, I’d rather spare them the pleasure and shoot myself now.” Ryuji angrily replied.

“Noone’s talking about offing ourselves yet.” Ren tried to deescalate.

Futaba curled up on the couch “We thought that if we found Sae, we’d finally get some answers and know what to do but the more we know, the more hopeless everything gets...”

Haru reluctantly nodded. Even when they had thought that there was no future for all of them together as a group, there still had been a shimmer of hope that there would be a more peaceful life waiting for them. She folded her hands in her lap, when she remembered how sad she had felt about the fact that she would have to say good-bye to the others but there had also been a little bit of something resembling happiness, when she thought about how she wouldn’t travel the land on her own. Right now, they weren’t even talking about starting new lives.

Ren looked through the group of hopeless faces. So far, he had only seen collective sadness but now he found fear, hopelessness and uncertainty written all over. He shook his head “This isn’t the end.” he got up from the couch “We might not see it now but we’ve always found a way.” he said although for once he didn’t feel like he stood behind his words as much as he normally did. “Let’s wait. Maybe we’ll learn something new over the next days. Who knows.” when he noticed that noone seemed rather optimistic after his speech, he decided that it was best for him to leave before they would see his facade crumble. He knew that they were looking to him for analysis and to tell them that things would be okay but for once, he had no idea how things should turn out for the better with this. He could feel everyones confused looks on his back when he left without a word to hurry to his and Makotos room.

As he was leaning against the closed door, he looked at the ugly vase that was standing at the dresser in the entrance-area. He grimaced when he fought the impulse to take and fling it across the room. He balled his fist and drove it into the wall instead. Maybe it didn’t help with their particular situation but at least it helped him to get his focus away from the hopeless situation when for a short second the pain in his hand took over everything. He slid down with his back against the door until he was sitting on the floor. He was out of ideas. But he feared that if he let that slip to the others, he would destroy everyones hopes. Because somehow everything seemed to stand and fall with his evaluation, for whatever reason. How had he become the genius? Makoto was way smarter than him. He sighed. Maybe it was because while he was able to think things through, he also might have been just crazy enough to dare to speak out the most batshit-crazy ideas. But now it felt like every crazy idea would get them killed anyway. He sighed and leaned his head against the door. He knew that she was standing on the other side of it, wondering if she should knock or not. “I’m fine, Makoto.” he called out. “Just need some time to think, okay?”. He took a deep breath when he heard muffled footsteps walking away from the door.

It was starting to get dark by the time he felt ready to walk out into the hallway again, only to find Ann and Makoto sitting beside his door. Makoto was immediately up on her feet with a look of relieve on her face when she saw him.

“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.

Ren nodded “Yeah. Sorry for walking off like that, I just needed some time to think...” he said as he gently stroked Makotos upper arm. Behind her, Ann climbed to her feet as well. He suddenly recalled how Ryuji had talked about rather offing himself before United Future got to do it. While being the most vocal about being upset, talking about suicide wasn’t like Ryuji. And for Ann and Ryuji to not stay close to each other in times like these was even more strange. “Ann, is everything okay?”

Ann hugged herself before she nodded “Yeah, he’s just… really angry and I think that we aren’t the right people to calm each other down right now… I mean… I’m angry too but…”. She nervously toyed with the ring at her wrist. “He… said that he needed some time to think...”

Makoto reached out and took Anns hand. She had walked out of the living room with them to then wait in front of the door when the two blondes had retreated to their place. After Ren had told her that she didn’t need to worry, she had decided to sit down in the hallway to think in peace but she had been surprised to see Ann emerging from their apartment not long after again, looking worried. “Come, Ann.” Makoto said “Let’s check on Haru, Futaba and Hifumi.”

The blonde nodded before she let herself be led away by the second-in-command.

Ren decided to give Ryuji his space for now, after all, he had done the same just before. When he walked into the living room, noone was there except for Sojiro who was busy preparing dinner. The old man turned around when he noticed Ann and Makoto walking towards Harus and Futabas room before he spotted Ren entering. “You good, kid?” he asked before he turned his attention back to the pot.

Ren reluctantly walked to the kitchen and hopped onto the kitchen island “Kinda…”

“I’m gonna be honest here, things aren’t looking rosy...” the old man said.

“I noticed.” Ren replied. “I keep thinking about what we could have done different or where I’ve gone wrong but in the end… the only way with which we could have avoided ending up in this situation was if we just hadn’t cared.” he scratched his head “Now our good deeds are even getting used by Them, acting like we were following the same goal.”

Sojiro turned around and looked at him “So what are you going to do about it?”

Ren could only raise his shoulders “That’s the thing. I have no clue. Even if we knew where their leader was operating from… what good would it do? Should we just go there and tell him to bury the hatchet? Much good that will do, if they want to see our heads on spikes...”

“And then there’s still the thing about them trying to establish a dictatorship without everyone knowing.” Sojiro said.

“Yeah. And that.” Ren admitted with a sigh. “Honestly, I’m starting to question too, how exactly we ended up in this.”

Sojiro crossed his arms in front of his chest before saying “Well, fate sometimes has a weird sense of humor.”

“You’re saying that all of this was fate?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m saying that around your operation at Okumura Industries, I started to realize that maybe all of this was meant to happen. Unlike most people, you decide to act when you see people in need. But it’s not just you but all the people that you’ve met on your way. By pure chance.”

“What are you trying to say?” Ren asked, confused. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you’re trying to get me to come up with some lunatic plan to be a pain in the ass to evil people.”

Sojiro shrugged “Maybe I am. You enjoyed to say it on other occasions with that smug grin of yours: Who if not you?”

Ren scratched his head “Who are you and what have you done to Sojiro?”

Boss gave him a raised eyebrow “Oh, shut up.” he reached behind him and stirred the pot before saying “You know that He’s always been out to do the right thing and protect the community too. Maybe it’s your legacy to protect people from dictators.”

“Huh...” Ren muttered. It’s been a long time since Sojiro had mentioned his father and how he’d always been a politician while always refusing to be one. Politics… “Sojiro, you genius.” he exclaimed as he hopped off the table. “It’s all politics!”

Sojiro seemed confused but he didn’t get to ask any further for Ren was already off the kitchen counter and back in his room.

Only when everyone gathered for dinner did Ren emerge with a new-found idea that might just be crazy enough to work. Or to get them all killed. While Ren had found some new motivation to go on, the same could not be said about all of the other Thieves. As they sat at the large table, the collective fear and anxiousness was ever so present. Outside, the same guy from earlier was starting his speech to the guests of the evening, dramatically calling everyone to action and to “join” United Future.

“We are threatened by Shadows and raiders!”

Futaba raised her head “That’s a new one...”

Sae shook her head “Probably tailored for smaller settlements, since the bomb-attacks only seem to target settlements with a decent size.”

“But how can they even guarantee all of those settlements safety? Will everyone get a guard from them?” Morgana asked.

Makoto put her spoon down when her eyes grew wide “We’ve never officially made the connection before but… the attacks on settlements, couldn’t it have been United Future themselves?”

Ann and Futaba stared at her with wide eyes.

“It wouldn’t be the most despicable thing they’ve done...” Sae pondered. “And now they’re able to toy with the peoples concerns, selling themselves as saviors even more.”

“And those “unpredictable” events are the perfect opportunity to urge the leaders and people into a fast decision and submission.” Yusuke figured “While in fact they are the ones to choose the hits.”

To Rens surprise, the new deduction sparked a lot less outrage than he’d anticipated. To the others, it just seemed like another cog in a system that was too big for them to defeat anyway. He looked at Makoto. She looked about as defeated and helpless as the rest of them. This wasn’t the right moment to propose a plan.

After their almost silent dinner, most of the Thieves gathered on the sofas in the living room. It only took a few minutes for Ryuji to get up again. “I can’t listen to all that bullshit...” he muttered before he walked out as the United Future-representative continued to talk about the brightest of futures. Futaba decided to hide away in her workshop while the others continued to sit in silence.

Ren followed Futaba. The orange-haired hacker sat at her desk and didn’t look up when she said “It’s getting far too depressing to be among the others, huh?”

“A bit...” Ren said. “Can’t blame them though. What about you?”

She shrugged “Dunno. I feel kinda strange. We’ve just uncovered so much crap about United Future and I wanna kick their ass so bad and in the end… it won’t even matter. My mom already tried to bring their shit to light and she died in the process. Why should it be different with us? I’m not even half as skilled as she was...”

Ren walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder “You’re amazing. And I won’t let it happen that United Future does anything to you, you hear me?”

Futaba turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow “Do you really think that you’ll get the chance to, if they decide to play serious? They really only need to find our location and send in a bunch of guys with guns blazing and we’re dead. No heroic speeches, no noble sacrifice. Just dead. Like my mom.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t give them the chance.” Ren said, hoping that he would at least pique Futabas interest a little bit.

She sighed “I don’t know. United Future just seems too big for us to touch. Even if we had an inkling about what to do to stop them… We have no clue about their HQ.”

“Funny you should bring that up.” Ren smirked.

Futaba tilted her head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow “I’m listening.”

“That TV-set is meant to receive a live-broadcast next week. Ya think you’d be able to track the signal and find out where it’s coming from?”

A small smirk appeared on Futabas lips when she said “I could try. But I’d need some more materials...”

“We’ll ask Eiko if she can arrange something.” Ren said, happy to finally have given someone a little more hope. “I also want to know what they say during that broadcast but I assume that we won’t be able to be there in person. You think you can set us up with a camera?”

“Hmm...” Futaba pondered “Could work. There have to be a lot of security-cameras that aren’t working anymore around here, so I guess I’d be able to scrap some parts from those.”

“Awesome.” Ren grinned and patted her on the shoulder “Good job, Oracle.”

Futaba looked a little doubtful when she said “Do the others know that you’re planning on doing…. something?”

Ren shook his head “Not yet. I… was thinking about talking to everyone individually first to see what’s on their minds.”

Futaba nodded “That’s probably for the best. I think they’re all scared but they also doubt that they can change anything. All we know about United Future is that we don’t know how big they are. That’s a bit of a mood-killer.”

Ren nodded “Yeah… felt like that for a moment too.”

“What changed your mind?” Futaba asked.

“Sojiro. Although he probably doesn’t know how exactly he helped me...” Ren replied.

“He’s good at helping without realizing it.” she agreed. “He’s the best.”

“He… really is. To think of the mess he’s in now just because the orphans he’d agreed to take in couldn’t keep to themselves...”

“He acts like he’s annoyed by it but I think he thinks we’re pretty cool.” Futaba smirked.

“He said something about us getting wrapped up in all of this must be fate.” Ren recalled.

“Huh… who knows? Maybe he’s right. It does feel like we always end up in the right/wrong places...”

Ren chuckled “Yeah… Kinda weird.”

Futaba got up from her chair and hugged him “You know… I’m glad that fate brought you to us. Because if you hadn’t come to live with us, I would have never left my room and I would have never met the others. I would have never found out the truth about my mom. So yeah. I’m glad. Even though we’ve been through some sad shit because of our nosiness...”

Ren patted her head “I’m glad too.”

“And… whatever happens...” Futaba carefully said “I’ll always have your back. Until the end.”

“Now let’s not get dramatic.” Ren awkwardly replied. “We’re not talking about dying yet. I just asked you to trace a signal and set up a camera.”

Futaba snorted “We both know that it won’t end with that, don’t we?”

Ren sighed “You’re too smart for your own good, you know that?”

“That had nothing to do with smarts. I just know you too well. You’d never come asking for something if you hadn’t thought about the three following steps.”

“Then I guess you know me too well.” Ren said and smiled at her when she let go off him again.

“Guess I do.” Futaba grinned before shooing him out “Now go and talk to the others. I have work to do.”

“Sure.” Ren agreed as he started walking to the door. He turned around one last time to say “And it’s four steps, to be precise.”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves are struggling to come to terms with the situation that they're in. So far United Future just seems untouchable while also threatening their entire existence and future. Even Ren starts to struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But the Thieves have always managed to come up with something, right? But first, the leader will need to pull his friends out of their personal slumps to get everyone back into the right mindset to take down Goliath.


	82. Strengthened Hearts

When Ren walked out of Futabas room, he found Ann sitting on one of the sofas, her legs pulled up and her chin resting on her knees. It was an unknown sight to see Ann upset or worried without Ryuji somewhere by her side. She looked much more lost when she was on her own.

“Hey.” Ren said as he dropped down beside her. “Everything okay?”

Ann just sighed as she dejectedly looked at the floor “Not really...”

“What’s on your mind?” he asked and leaned back in his seat.

She made another sigh before she said “When did we start to think that we can actually change anything? We’re just a bunch of homeless teenagers with weapons who felt like big-shots after a few of their stunts didn’t get them killed.”

Ren scratched his head “That’s another way to put it…”

“I… I know that we’ve accomplished stuff but…” Ann reluctantly said “at the end of the day, we’ve made too powerful an enemy. And now… all we can do is wait and fear.”

Ren turned his head to look at her “So that means you’re done? You give up?”

Ann snorted weakly before she replied “Is there really another option?”

Ren shrugged “So far we've always found one.”

A weak smile played on her lips when she said “I always admired your optimism...”

“Do you think that we’ve meddled in things that we shouldn’t have meddled with?” Ren decided to ask.

Ann only managed to shrug “Of course not. But with every mission our targets have gotten bigger. And now we’ve reached a size that we can’t chew anymore.”

“Didn’t we think so about Kaneshiros mafia too at first?” he replied.

She sighed again “I guess...”

“So what’s so different now?”

She shrugged “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired of being worried and of being scared for everyones safety. Maybe I just want those old days back, when we lived in LeBlanc and the only thing that annoyed me were the lewd remarks some of the patrons made.”

“So you miss breaking hands?” he asked with a smirk.

Ann snorted “That was one time.”

Ren tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling “Things really changed since those golden days...”. It felt like years had passed ever since they set out to never return to LeBlanc. Ryuji and Ann had still pretended that they weren’t into each other. Him and Makoto still had silently discovered all of their similarities. And everything was a tad more peaceful and yet more cluttered with 8 of them sharing two rooms. Them fighting shadows had been nothing but a past-time activity that would sometimes occur alongside mushroom-picking before they would return to the tavern to either cook or wait on tables. Now that he thought about it, he missed those times too. He had almost forgotten how hooked he had been on coffee ever since Sojiro had introduced him to his first cup of his home-blend. And that curry…

“We had no clue back then but even the blowing up of LeBlanc happened at the hand of United Future.” Ann said.

“And that doesn’t make you angry?” he asked.

Ann just shrugged “Of course it does. But it’s not like we can do something about it.”

“What if we could?”

Ann turned her head and looked at him in surprise and a bit of disbelieve.

Ren sat back up and focused on Ann “We’ve refused to back down in front of a pervy asshole, a greedy wannabe-artist, a yakuza-clan, a secret society, a weapons-mogul and a Niijima-detective. Are you really trying to tell me that taking down the man who wants to subdue the entire country with questionable motives should be the one that we walk away from without even trying?” he flashed her a cocky smirk.

Ann snorted before she gave him a playful shove “Seriously? An inspiring speech just for me?”

“Maybe one day, at the latest when we’re old and grumpy like Sojiro, we’ll be able to live like we used to again. And isn’t that a future that we should try fighting for? But I can assure you, that we won’t get a happy end like this if United Future takes the wheel.”

Ann continued to look at him skeptically before she let out a sigh “I guess I can’t argue with that.”

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder “We’re not done yet.”

Ann put her legs down again and gave him a determined nod “You’re right. We’ve achieved too much to back down now, when it affects the most people.”

“Does that mean you’re on board with throwing some more sand into United Futures cogs?”

Ann nodded “Yeah. I’m in. You can count on me.”. After her sudden surge of confidence, she grew unsure again when she started to chew her lip “Can I ask you for something though?”

“Shoot.”

“Could you… check on Ryuji? I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” she reluctantly said. “You saw how he was and I feel like he doesn’t want to talk to me...”

Ren put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her arm “I’m sure that’s not true.”

Ann sighed when her head dropped onto his shoulder “I don’t know. The last time he behaved like this was short after we left home for good. I think something is seriously bothering him but he doesn’t want to show it.” she snorted “It’s funny how the way he decides not to show is shows so much too...”

“None of us were in a great place after hearing that speech of the rep…” Ren tried to reassure her “Maybe he just needs to sort some things out on his own. But I’ll check up on him later, if he’s still acting strange.”

Ann nodded and sat up again “Okay. Thanks Ren.”

Rens next stop was the childrens room, where Morgana was absentmindedly playing with two toy-cars. He slowly lifted his head when he noticed him entering. “Oh, hey Joker.”

“Nice collection you have there...” Ren said as he looked around the lovingly furnished room. He decided to sit down on the floor with him.

“Yeah… It’s really nice.”. The kid looked like the weight of the entire world was resting on his shoulders when he unhappily looked at the colorful carpet-floor.

“Wanna tell me what’s bothering you?”

Morgana shrugged “I don’t know. It’s probably stupid...”

“Spit it out.” Ren nudged him in the side.

The boy shook his head “It’s just… everyone has seemed to have lost hope. Yesterday, we joked around and had fun and now… Normally, you or Makoto are the ones to say that we’ll get through whatever it is but…”

“It’s been a strange day. I woke up with the weirdest headache...” Ren tried to quip before he realized that it wouldn’t help for once. They always thought that Morgana was old enough to fully grasp what was going on around them but in the end, he looked to the others for guidance on what to think and to analyze the situation. Sitting at dinner with the rest of them sulking, Ren figured that he probably was assuming the worst. “It’s not over yet.” he told him.

Morgana turned to look at him “But… what can we do? We don’t even know who’s our opponent this time. And where to find them.”

“Then we’ll need to find it out.” Ren replied.

Morgana suddenly started to chuckle “I was hoping that you would say something like that...”

Ren smirked “It would be a shame to just roll over and let them win without even trying, now that we’ve annoyed them so much in the past.”

“And if we’re the only ones who know about their shady actions, then we owe it to the people to fight back.” Morgana puffed his chest before looking into Rens eyes “Even in the worst of situations, you stay calm when noone else does. You truly are a hero.”

Ren patted him on the shoulder “Okay, you need to chill again. Sojiro tried to call it fate and I feel that that should be the upper limit for cheesy anecdotes for the day.”

“Hmm…” Morgana pondered before looking at him with wide eyes “Maybe Boss is right. Maybe us meeting in the middle of the woods was a sign too!” he gasped for air before he said “Maybe I met you because there was something that I was meant to help you with!”

Ren raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk “You think that it’s been a suggestion of the universe that led you to throw stones at me?”

Morgana jumped to his feet “Maybe! I’ve always wondered how I fit into the group but maybe I wasn’t supposed to know until now!”

“Whether you like it or not, you’ve always fit into our group.” Ren reached up and ruffled his black hair.

“But maybe there’s a higher reason why I’m with you! Like… something from my past, that will turn out to be helpful!” Morgana excitedly said.

“Something from that past that you don’t remember?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow. When Morgana shot him an annoyed look, he got back to his feet and smiled “You know what? Maybe Sojiro is right. Maybe there was a reason why we met that day in the woods.” he patted his shoulder. “So let’s find out together.”

Morgana beamed up at him from ear to ear when he nodded. “And don’t forget about my promise either.” he raised his finger to prove his point “So no matter what your plan will be, I’ll be there to cover your back. Always.”

“You’re getting sappy again...” Ren muttered uncomfortably.

“I know that you only say that because you don’t know how else to respond.” Morgana grinned cockily. That kid was starting to copy too many of Rens mannerisms...

“Well…. Shut up….” Ren replied before he couldn’t hold in a chuckle.

“You shut up!” Morgana replied with a grin before jabbing him in the side. “And you should go and talk to the others too. They’ll probably need your words of wisdom.”

“Right… wisdom...” Ren scratched his head. He didn’t feel really wise but rather… crazy. Was getting everyones hopes up really the right thing? What if they learned something at the broadcast that would crush their newly built hope again? Or what if they jumped into action and one of them died because he had urged them to keep believing that they could actually do something against what seemed to be the mother of all evil? When he walked back into the living room to pass through into the kitchen, he found Ann still sitting in the same place, chatting with Shinya.

In the kitchen stood Haru, who seemed to take her mind off of things by scrubbing a pot.

“You have very similar customs to Sojiro...” Ren started the conversation as he pushed himself up onto the counter to sit.

Haru forced a small smile when she replied “I just felt like I needed to do something. Even though Boss has already cleaned it so thoroughly...”

“How are you holding up?”

Haru stopped scrubbing for a moment when she looked at the wall in front of her “I… was surprised to see how unfazed I was by the new conclusion that the attacks on the settlements were instigated by United Future as well.” she reluctantly said. “I was wondering why we hadn’t come to that conclusion earlier. We could have known as soon as we found out that father was directly affiliated with United Future.”

“A lot has happened...” Ren replied “And even if we had realized sooner, would it have changed anything?”

“Perhaps not...” Haru reluctantly admitted and continued to scrub. A few moments of silence passed until she said “Sometimes I think about whether my father could have been saved. If we hadn’t intervened, then Akechi wouldn’t have had to murder him but he also wouldn’t have had a change of heart...” Haru started thinking out loud “But if he hadn’t had a change of heart then a lot of people would still be working under horrible conditions or even worse. So… if it wasn’t possible to save my father without him being murdered by the Crow, then the only possibility for him to live would have been to not intervene....”

Ren gulped. That was a tough topic to think about, especially from the view of a daughter. “I’m sorry Haru… I can’t imagine how tough it must be to ponder whether you are responsible for your fathers death.”

Haru shook her head “No… I know that the person who is responsible for his death is Akechi and the people who he works for.” she said, full determination in her voice. “My fathers situation was so complicated and we had no idea. To everyone, he was just this greedy and cold business-man but noone knew what's happened to him, that made him into who he was. I just wished that he would have gotten to show the people that he treated so horribly before, that deep down he never was like that monstrous mask he carried on the outside.” she took a deep breath before saying “To be honest, the most cruel thing about my fathers murder to me is that he never got to show who he really was. He will always be remembered as that tyrant who blew up with his factory, defeated by the Phantom Thieves, while it was he himself, who managed to realize his errors. He wanted to change on his own will and even that the public will never hear.”

“I… never thought of that before.” Ren admitted. “But you’re right. Your father did some very questionable stuff but he would have deserved to prove to the people he hurt that he was trying to be better.”

Haru nodded “Yes. But apparently even that was too much of a risk for United Future. Or just for Akechi. It makes me wonder even more about what my father knew...”

Ren furrowed his brow before he said “Haru…”

Haru shook her head and turned around to face him “It’s okay. I know that what we’ve done was necessary for the good of many people.” she folded her hands in front of him and looked at him with determination “And I want you to know, that I will support you with everything you come up with concerning United Future. I will stand down if you say that this is the best way for us but if you decide to fight, I will be ready.”

Ren slid off the counter and nodded. Delicate Haru Okumura might not look the part but she has always been a fighter. He just hoped that she wouldn’t be blinded by rage when it came down to face the people that had ordered her father dead.

The leaders next stop was Hifumis apartment. He didn't really know why but he felt that maybe a game would help clear his mind and come up with new approaches. And also because Hifumi was probably the most level-headed and analytical person of them all, more even than Makoto. He knocked before he was summoned to enter. The black-haired strategist was sitting at her tiny table, her shogi-board in front of her as she absentmindedly toyed with the pieces.

“Care for a match?” Ren asked as he allowed himself to sit down on the other side of the table.

Hifumi nodded before she started to set up her pieces.

“Is there a good strategy for opponents that have a much larger army than you?” Ren asked.

Hifumi was fast to catch on his implications “In general, it would never be advisable to charge at someone with much larger forces.” she looked at her board before saying “A factor that makes shogi so escapist is that both sides start with the exact same amount of ressources. You can always tell how big your opponent is, much unlike real life.”

“Sure would be handy to always be able to know who we’re up against.” Ren muttered “That would have spared us a lot of trouble.”

“I used to think that shogi has prepared me for certain moments in fights, in a way. Now I see that a very large aspect of reality is missing in the games rules. One that cannot be ignored in real life.” Hifumi said as she made the first move. 

“And that would be?” Ren asked.

“Politics.” Hifumi pointed out before she made her first move. “On this board, you see two armies fighting each other. It’s unimportant who the king you fight against answers to or who you might owe a favor. It’s a simple battle. But if being with the Phantom Thieves has taught me anything, it’s that there’s always much more to people fighting.”

“But that just gives strategizing more of an edge.” Ren said “As long as you know all of that in advance, you can even play another game in the game.” he smirked.

“Which requires thorough knowledge about your enemy. And the more powerful the enemy, the harder it will be to obtain anything useful.” Hifumi replied.

The leader shrugged “Which only means that the small fish have to try harder.”. He moved his piece.

Hifumi looked conflicted “But would it really be wise for the small kingdom to fight, no matter what? If there is no way of winning, wouldn’t it be the fairest to the army to not send them into a battle that they can’t win?”

“Who says that the battle can’t be won?” Ren asked.

The strategist didn’t seem to have an answer to that. She made a move instead.

“Besides...” Ren said as he moved his next piece “If the small kingdom wouldn’t act, in the end they would be dominated by the larger empire.” he leaned back in his seat “Which poses the age-old dilemma: Is it better to fight and lose or to not fight at all?”

Hifumi grimaced when she mover her next piece “There would be no point in shogi, if you wanted to avoid a fight.”. She sighed before she said “And that’s what the Phantom Thieves will need to do too.”

“Things are looking bad for us. The only question is how we want to handle it. Do we want to continue to hide and wait for them to find us or do we want to fight back?” he leaned forward in his seat “Maybe by the time we hear that broadcast, things will change again but I at least want to know where those bastards are hiding and pulling their strings.” he moved his piece.

Hifumi placed a finger on her chin in thought before she made her next move “Knowing the enemies location would be a good start. I assume that you will make use of Oracles skills to acquire that information, which United Future hopefully won’t notice.”

Ren nodded as he moved his next piece.

“And if we assume that we are able to find the location of their hide-out… How will we proceed from there?” Hifumi asked.

“Then we weigh our options.”

Hifumi pondered before saying “My loyalty will always lie with the Phantom Thieves, so if there is anything that I can help with, please let me know.”

Ren nodded “Will do.” he flashed a grin before he said “Checkmate.”

Hifumi didn’t even need to check the board before replying “Making false claims is considered a deadly sin among shogi-players.”

“I know… But you have to admit that it would have been funny if me, the noob, suddenly beats the grandmaster.” when Hifumi continued to look unamused he added “Ya know, with all the little fish and big shark-analogies we just-”

“I understood.” Hifumi stated. She continued to look serious for a moment before she giggled lightly “I guess that that’s another side of shogi that doesn’t hold up to real life. Bluffs.”

Ren stepped into the hallway and knocked on the door to Yusukes and Mishimas apartment. He was about to turn away and check other places when Yusuke opened the door. He was wearing a loose white tunic that was dotted with various paint-stains. In the hand that he hadn’t opened the door with, he was balancing a color-palette and a paintbrush.

“I see you’re working?” Ren asked.

Yusuke shook his head “Rather occupational-therapy.” he stepped aside and motioned Ren to come in before he led the way to his bedroom. In front of the window stood his easel that held the canvas he was currently working on.

When Ren looked past it and out the window, he noticed how different the view was compared to when he looked out the window into the busy street. The sight form Yusukes window offered view over an old park, that probably hasn’t seen visitors in decades. Nature had claimed back what was hers, as bushes had started to grow through and over old benches that once had been there for visitors to sit on. There wasn’t much else to see since the night had fallen but when Ren looked at the canvas again, he figured that Yusuke was trying to capture that exact scene. “It’s fascinating how different the world can look on two opposite sides of a house...”

Yusuke nodded as he took his place beside his easel again “After the events of today, I felt like I needed to remind myself that the world can be beautiful too.” Yusuke said, honestly sad “It’s ironic how that requires to look at places that haven’t seen a single human soul in ages.”

“Well that’s gonna give me trouble falling asleep tonight...” Ren uttered.

The artist put aside his palette and brush “I assume that you haven’t come here to chat about my art?”

Ren leaned against the large closet “Just wanted to check up on you...”

Yusuke chuckled “How very thoughtful. Although it remains nothing but a gesture since there’s not a lot we can do at this point. My emotional state will change nothing about that fact.”

“I would like to think that not everything is lost.” Ren replied.

“As everyone expects of you as our leader.” Yusuke said. “But is there really something that can be done in out situation? Can we really keep on fighting against windmills that keep getting larger and larger?”

“We’ve fought many a windmill but when is the right time to say that the one in front of us is the last?” Ren asked.

Yusuke pondered for a moment before saying “Maybe the public already told us that it was time to stop.” he looked at his painting when he continued “We have helped so many people over the last months. All those villages that we aided by defeating shadows only to then be slandered by cheap tabloids, made to destroy the legacy that we’ve built.” he furrowed his brow “What use is going on, when all of our victories will just be dragged through the dirt by someone else?”

Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest “We’d still know what we’ve done to help.”

“A noble thought, yet in the end dying as an unsung hero will not be fulfilling.”

“Is that what you’re looking for? Becoming a legend?” Ren asked with a smirk.

Yusuke shrugged “I will admit that I have thought about the imprint I would leave on this planet once I should be no more. It’s a terribly vain desire yet it is one rather common in the art-world. While I have moved past my wish to have my artworks hanging in the most prominent spots, I do take pride in the work that we have accomplished as the Phantom Thieves and the thought of United Future hinting that they continue where we have left off is outrageous.”

“Nothing wrong with wanting to be remembered.” Ren shrugged “The only question is how you go about to achieve that.”

Yuske chuckled “By the way you talk, I’m starting to think that you already have something in mind.”

“Nothing specific yet. For now I just wanted to check how everyone felt about it.” Ren replied with a smirk “So what will it be, Yusuke? You wanna clear our reputation and maybe even become legends?”

The artist chuckled before nodding “You have my katana, Joker. I will not stand by and wait for United Future to destroy the lives work that we’ve worked so hard on. The people deserve to know, who United Future really is. And the people deserve to know what the Phantom Thieves truly stand for.”

Ren smiled and nodded “So it shall be.”

Ren stepped out into the hallway again and cast a peek into the living area, where Ann was still sitting, this time around with Shiho and Mishima. She found his eyes across the eating area and the entry to give him a helpless shrug, which was the signal for Ren to really check on Ryuji this time. So far, he had left everyone he talked to so far in slightly higher spirits but something told him that Ryuji would be more of a challenge. If Anns deduction was correct, then Ren had never seen Ryuji in a state like he was in now. It was hard to imagine, since they seemed to have shared everything over the last years. He had always felt pretty confident, that he knew the impulsive blonde but apparently there was something that he had kept for himself for the very hard times.

Under normal circumstances Ren would have refrained from knocking when he heard Ryujis heavy breathing through the door. He carefully knocked before slowly opening and entering. Ryuji had his back turned towards the door as he was beating a stuffed duffle-bag, that he had hung from the ceiling-lights.

“Ryuji…?” Ren uncertainly addressed him.

The blonde stopped and turned around to look at him “Yo.” he said before he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand “Wanna have a go to?”

There was something in Ryujis demeanor that Ren was unable to interpret. He was angry but he also looked… sad? On edge? As to avoid staring at his face too long, he nodded and walked up to the makeshift punching bag and raised his fists. He was immediately reminded of their talk in the front-yard of LeBlanc2, when Ryuji had told him to punch him in the face so he would feel better. From the first time that they’ve talked shit at that abandoned house they both had wanted to raid, there just had been something about them that instantly clicked. As he landed the first hit he thought how that could have helped him a few hours ago too. But what was bothering Ryuji so much? Normally he would be the first to jump into action to clear their name. Ren wasn’t used to his face being this serious. Normally the blonde would have egged him on and shittalked him, telling him to grow a pair and to finally punch like someone with muscles would. When Ren landed hit after hit, he only saw him look out the window with a stern demeanor, lost in thought. After he completed his set, he stepped aside.

Ryuji stepped up to the bag without a word and started delivering hooks and jabs without hesitation. Ren wondered whether he was mad at someone but then he figured that he would have told the person in question. And if he would have been mad at him, he probably wouldn’t have offered him a go at venting to his punching bag.

The blonde didn’t lose his focus when he asked “You already have a plan, right?”. He grunted when he delivered a quick triple combo to the bag.

“Yeah. I’ve already talked to Futaba about it and we want to-”

Ryuji cut him off “I don’t need to hear it. I’m in.”

“Oh.” Ren said, a little surprised. “Okay… I’d still tell you about it, when the time comes….”

Ryuji shrugged “Sure, whatever.”. He still seemed off.

“Is everything okay?” Ren asked.

He nodded “Yeah.” he scratched his chin before eventually saying “Look, whatever your plan is, I’ll help you.”

Ren was perplexed by Ryujis sort-of evasive answer. “You don’t look okay though...” he decided to poke further.

The blonde grimaced when he looked for the right words. He uncomfortably looked out the window before he quietly asked “Have you ever woken up one morning with the feeling that something bad is about to happen?”

“What?” Ren asked, a little perplexed.

“Like.. something that gnaws at you from the inside and won’t let you breathe…” Ryuji explained. There was something deeply unsettling in his brown eyes when he looked at Ren.

“Is that why you and Ann aren’t sticking together right now…? Because I assume that you haven’t talked to her about it...”

He shook his head.

Ren furrowed his brow “And what was that about killing yourself before United Future comes to find us?” he uncomfortably scratched his head “Dude… should we be worried?”

Ryuji waved it off and shook his head “Come on, you know that I didn’t mean it. This whole thing with United Future just pisses me off.” he grunted before giving the bag another hit to let out his frustration. “And now I’m not just pissed and angry but I just can’t shake that damn feeling that something bad will happen.” his shoulders slumped when all his anger disappeared for a minute and left nothing but helplessness “I… was thinking about asking you to order Ann to stay here, if we’d need to go outside...” he started, staring at the floor.

“And you really think that she would listen to that?” Ren asked in return.

“That’s why I would have asked you to give the order. She’d have to listen to you.” Ryuji replied.

Ren grimaced. Getting caught between the fronts of the two blondes couldn’t end well, especially since he knew both of them well enough to know that it wouldn’t end peaceful. Even with Ryuji apparently deeply worried about Ann getting hurt because of some inexplicable gut-feeling that he had all of a sudden, he was also sure that Ann would never just agree to staying behind, probably even for the same reasons because she would want to protect him from possible harm too. They’ve fought beside each other their entire life and she would never agree to not stand by his and the rest of the Thieves’ side when it came down to this. “You know that she’d never do that, even if I tell her to.”

Ryuji sighed “I know… I just think that if something should happen… I’d rather it would be me...”

“I think I’d do the same.” Ren replied. “But I have a feeling that Ann and Makoto would say the same too, so that would probably lead us nowhere...”

Ryuji sighed “Ugh… I always thought it was awesome that she was such a badass.”

Ren reached out and patted him on the shoulder “You should hold on to that.” he smirked “Your relationship would probably be very different if she wasn’t.”

Ryuji snorted “Yeah.”. He looked out the window and into the darkness once more before saying “So it’s settled then, huh? All of us are going in?” he looked at Ren again with an iron determination in his eyes “You said that you have a plan to take those bastards down.”

“Well… I don’t know about taking down…” Ren uncertainly scratched his head.

Ryuji shrugged “Whatever. Anything that doesn’t involve us waiting for our deaths in fear.” he reached out and slapped him on the shoulder but it didn’t feel as uplifting or even as hearty as it usually did. “I’m with ya. ‘til the end.”

Ren had to gulp. An uncomfortable feeling spread in his stomach when he forced himself to reply the gesture. Why was everyone talking about staying with him until the end? And was that feeling Ryuji talked about contagious? “Just… please talk to Ann, okay?”

For the first time since they knew each other, Ryujis face looked pained when at the mention of her name “Yeah… you’re probably right.” he sighed.

Ryuji promised to check on Ann after taking a shower, so Ren decided to leave him be for now. He took a deep breath before he walked into the next door only to find his safe haven sitting at the table, cleaning her revolver.

“You’ve been quite busy, I hear.” Makoto said as Ren dropped down on their bed.

“I don’t feel like I’ve done much but I’m still pretty drained… emotionally.” Ren sighed as he stared at the ceiling. “What about you?”

Makoto looked out the window and onto the brightly illuminated street. Some of the guards had already started taking down the makeshift-stage “Sis and I went over some evidence...” she let out a frustrated sigh “but we couldn’t find anything. Akechi must have been one of the only people who had a direct connection to their higher-ups...”

“We should have kept that bastard with us...” Ren muttered.

“I doubt that he would have led us somewhere useful...” Makoto replied as she wiped down the gun with an oily cloth. “What about the others?”

“I put Futaba up to a task. I wanna see where that broadcast comes from so we get at least one lead...” Ren said.

Makoto nodded “I suppose that’s the only thing we can do for now.” she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before asking “What about the others? Everyone was rather shaken...”

Ren sat up and leaned back on his arms when he looked at her “Everyone was thinking of something different. Ann is tired of fighting, Morgana was grasping for straws, Haru wants to clear her fathers name, Hifumi feels like we’re overpowered, Yusuke is angry about how they use our accomplishments for their message and Ryuji is… worried? And I feel all of that… At once.”

With a skilled flick of the wrist, Makoto flipped the drum back into place before she put the revolver back into its holster, that was hanging from the chair that she was sitting on. She got up and sat down beside him “It’s not over. Sis and I won’t rest until we find something that we can do.” she reached for his hand “We’ve… also looked into a possible escape from the country all together.”

Ren looked at her in surprise “Wha-… How?”

“Sis has pointed out that with our combined skills, maybe we could fix up a boat to get us away. Should we really end up being public enemies, who will never be able to have a place here… it might be for the best.”

Ren gulped. The thought of them just leaving the entire country had never even crossed his mind. Not just was it far too dangerous to set out into the ocean with no idea where to go, something also felt like it bound him to this place. “No… that’s far too dangerous. And besides: We shouldn’t be the ones to have to flee this country. United Future is to blame for that entire shadow-bullshit. They deserve to be the ones on the run with nowhere to go.”

“I know...” Makoto squeezed his hand “I think so too. But as of now, they seem like they’re much too big for us. What if whatever plan we come up with just won’t work? I.. don’t want to think about the situation where we don’t have another choice but to put all of our eggs in one basket or rather a very unsafe boat but maybe we shouldn’t ignore this route for once.”

Ren dropped back down on his back and stared at the ceiling “None of this is fair...” he muttered.

Makoto laid down beside him, her hand still holding his “I know.” she whispered. “But… no matter what will happen and whatever we will decide on doing: I’ll be with you. Forever. For now, we will treat this like any other operation: We stick together and work something out.”

The leader shifted his head so he could look at her before he reached out with his free hand to cup her cheek “Yeah. Let’s stick with that for now.”

He adjusted his arm when Makoto nestled up to his side and continued to stare at the ceiling. Would they really be able to treat this like any other mission? Because now, after he talked to almost all of them, everyone seemed to have their own motives. So far there really only ever was one common goal. He shook his head when he suddenly felt something in his stomach. A deep and unexplainable fear, that started to grow in his gut and gave him trouble breathing. He suddenly understood what Ryuji was feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how obvious it was, but I've tried to make this the scene in the Velvet Room, where Ren goes around and gets everyone back on track when they're locked up in their cells. How fitting that the location here is the Velvet Room too. 
> 
> So far, the Thieves only ever had one goal in mind when going up against an enemy but now that they know that United Future was involved in so much, everyone has their own priorities and reasons for wanting them to pay.
> 
> Their situation still remains the same but at least Ren has managed to lift camp-morale a little. Hope you enjoyed this little chapter of character-interaction as much as I did. 
> 
> On another authors note: I feel like I've finally moved past the low that I always have right before writing an arc, when I know how I want it to end but then don't know how to get there and then feel disheartened (Hah, like the last chapter!), especially since this has to be the arc where it all comes together, but now I finally feel like I got some decent ideas and have the concept in my head and I'm sooo excited to finally put everything together. There's been some choices that I made where I'm really looking forward to seeing your reactions (That also includes the long-awaited backstory of Ren, which is coming next tuesday, just so you know ;D) Rambling over.


	83. The Mysterious M.S.

Tuesday, 6 days until the broadcast:

Futaba stepped through the door of the Crossroads with wide eyes. The shady ambiente, the decadent red and pink interior, the neon lights at the back of the bar.. It was the kind of bar that she imagined yakuza-meetings going down and where shady deals were made. The bartender dressed in a colorful kimono and the toupéd hair was like a cherry on top of a mysterious and intriguing new location.

“You keep on bringing new people.” Lala said upon mustering the orange-haired hacker in the baggy pants and loose sweatshirt. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I wanna live here...” Futaba muttered as she looked into the booths with the cushioned benches.

“She doesn’t...” Ren assured Lala before saying “This is Oracle. She’s our tech-person.”

Futaba clacked her heels and saluted the bartender “Yes sir!”

“Wouldn’t have thought..” Lala gave her an impressed nod before saying “I’m afraid the Crossroads isn’t known for its use of technology. Everytime one of my neons dies I cry for a week.” the bartender said while pointing at the colorful light-decoration. “I assume you’re not here because you want to pimp my bar?”

“Afraid not.” Ren said. “We’ve been talking to Eiko and she referred us to you when it comes to… special shopping lists...” he said the last words while leaning over the bar with a hushed voice.

Lala raised an eyebrow “Is that so? Well, I have my contacts.”

“And that’s exactly what we need.” Ren said. “That guy who held the speeches yesterday, he left something here with what you’ll be able to receive a broadcast next monday. Since we’re avoiding crowds for now but still are kinda intrigued on that broadcast and especially where it’s coming from, Oracle will need a few things...”

Futaba jumped in and slammed a list onto the bar “To be precise, I will need this, this, this and this.” she said as she pointed to the individual bullet points. “Oh, and maybe...” she pulled a pen out of the pocket of her pants and scribbled another point onto the list “.. one of that too.”

The bartender chuckled “I like people who know what they want.”. Lala reached out and took the list “You’re in luck, my special guy comes tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll be able to come up with all of these items this week.”

“Perfect.” Ren said “Thanks, Lala.”

“Care for a drink? It’s on the house.”

While Ren would have normally declined a drink in the middle of the day, he felt that their unique position was almost begging for every possible opportunity to ease the burden a bit “Yeah… hit me.”

Futaba jumped onto one of the barstools before asking “Can you make a sober-special like Eiko does?”

Lala chuckled “Everyone has their own secret recipes but I’ll make you my Dedicated Driver.”

“I’ll take it!” Futaba slapped the bar before she turned to Ren “Can’t believe how cool this place is. It’s like Eikos but the different colors… It looks so mysterious… Like a stripper could jump out any minute.”

“You have a weird definition of mysterious...” Ren smirked.

“I think I wanna run a place like this when I grow up...” she said as she took in the bar.

“Sojiro would be so proud.” Ren replied.

“Oh, probably not. I’d put a lot of computers onto the tables and I would only mix anti-alcoholic drinks.”

“So you’re thinking about an Internet-Café.”

Futaba rolled her eyes “Not a Café. An Internet-Bar.” she envisioned “Without alcohol though.”

“Sounds like people will be disappointed. Since ya know.. there won’t be alcohol and the internet doesn’t exist anymore...”

“Then I’ll bring it back online.”

“That’s a huge task but I’d say if anyone is crazy enough to at least try, it’s you.”

“Just imagine: Even with no alcohol, how can you be disappointed with computers around? You wouldn’t have to hope for your companions to be entertaining. You can look for your own entertainment.” she looked at the ceiling dreamily “God, the old times must have been nice.”

Lala-chan placed two glasses on the bar. One tall with a pink drink in it and one whiskey-tumbler with a cube of ice and 2 ounces of whisky. “I hope this will do for ya, missy.”

Futaba giggled before she turned to Ren “This even has a funny straw in it too!”. She was beaming as she took the first sip before giving a thumbs-up.

“So have you seen that speech yesterday?” Ren asked as he nipped at his drink.

“Wasn’t there but left the door open to listen.” Lala replied. “That guy was buttering us up...”

“Yeah, sure sounded like it...” Ren said. “He’s from the same organization that is hunting us at the moment. Which is why it came as surprise, that he was making us look like the good guys.”

“Well, he must have done his homework. If he would have said anything against you guys, I would have driven him outta here with my own two shotguns.” Lala angrily replied, knuckles cracking.

Ren had to grin “We did suspect that he’s tailoring his speeches. How’s the situation been, ever since Okumura? Were the people at your joint less positive towards us?”

Lala shrugged “There’s probably been a few more doubters around but I was quick to shut them up. Even if I didn’t know the entire story from Ohya and Kayo, New New Shinjuku will always remember what you’ve done.”

“Thanks. That’s good to hear.” Ren stirred his drink.

“But I noticed that a lot of people started to become unsure. On the one hand, some of them already had positive encounters with you and you helped them but then newspapers over newspapers pop up and claim that you are evil.. I’d say that people want to believe in you but get disheartened by all the negative press. Ohya and Kayo are trying to hold against that but they don’t have as much reach as those other papers and since you guys had to go into hiding, there wasn’t much new to report either....” the bartender sighed “And the people who have always been suspicious and disapproving of you feel confirmed.”

“Stupid United Future...” Futaba muttered.

“And that deal that United Future offers?” Ren asked.

“Sounds mighty shady to me. We haven’t heard a peep from these people and now they suddenly pretend like they want to protect us?” Lala grumbled.

“Eiko said that it sound like you’ll still take it.”

Lala sighed “I’m afraid that that’s how it will be. Truth is that ever since the last bombings, most of our bar-owners are scared that it could hit us next. Eiko and I have tried to point out that maybe we’ve already been on their list but were taken off of it because of our rather unique security-concept but they would hear none of it. In the end, we will have to go with whatever the majority says we do because that’s the system we decided on. That this guy pointed out the danger of falling victim to a bomb-attack just hit the nail on the head for those who have already been worried.”

“Smart.” Ren scratched his head.

“For what it’s worth, I will vote against succumbing to them. New New Shinjuku has been governed by a single man for far too long. We’ve fought for our independence and I don’t want to give it away so easily. But in the end, we are a democracy.”

“That’s about to turn dictatorship...” Ren muttered as he knocked back the last drops.

“That’s what I’m fearing too.” Lala muttered before asking “So will the Phantom Thieves do something about that?”

Ren slid off his bar-stool “Patience, Lala. Patience. We’re checking our options.” he looked to Futaba, who passionately sucked the last drops of her drink “You ready to go?”

She wiped her mouth before looking at Lala “That was amazing, I will recommend you. 5 out of 5 stars.”. She hopped off her chair and saluted before following Ren outside.

Friday, 3 days until the broadcast:

“You know, it’s nice that you want to keep me company down here but you could at least help a little...” Eiko sighed when she was the only one standing behind the bar as Haru, Ann, Shiho and Makoto sat at the bar, looking a mixture between gloomy and bored.

“Funny.. that’s what I used to say every time when we were on dish-duty together.” Ann replied, her chin propped up on her hand as she lazily looked around the bar.

Eiko stuck out her tongue “So you’re just sitting here to rub that in my face?”

“No...” Haru sighed “It’s just getting really tiring to stay upstairs all the time...”

“You know what wouldn’t be tiring?” Eiko asked before answering her own question “Helping me put up the christmas-decoration.”

“It’s not even december yet.” Makoto pointed out.

“So what? Is there really a time that’s too early for christmas?” Eiko asked.

“Everything between January and November.” Shiho replied to vehement nodding from Ann and Haru.

“Well, as I said: My house my rules.” Eiko shrugged.

“Fiiine...” Ann sighed “Maybe it would help taking our mind off of things.”

“Great. I found a box of garlands in the cellar.” Eiko pointed.

“Oh, we’re not going down there!” Ann exclaimed.

“Serious?” Eiko groaned.

“Have you forgotten about your prisoner again?” Haru asked.

“Oh right… Fine, I’ll get it for you but the rest will be your work.” Eiko reluctantly agreed before walking down into the cellar.

“I feel even less productive than during our time that we’ve been waiting for new word from Okumura Industries...” Makoto sighed.

“So what have you done back then to kill the time?” Shiho asked.

“Killed some Shadows….” Ann replied.

“Well… I assume that’s off the table for now...” Haru sighed.

“This area seems to be rather safe. I haven’t seen any shadows roaming around too close out of the window...” Shiho noticed.

“We did eliminate a lot of their nests in this area during our active days.” Makoto explained.

“I would like to whip up some shadows again… I feel like blowing off some steam and that punching bag that Ryuji crafted is just not doing it for me...” Ann sighed.

“Well don’t you dare live it out on my interior.” Eiko threatened as she placed a large box on the floor beside the bar “Now you guys play Eikos little helpers and spread some magic.” she gestured to the box before stepping behind the bar again to continue polishing glasses.

Makoto was the closest to the box when she slid off her chair and flipped open the lid. The other girls rounded up beside her.

“I don’t mean to offend but this has to be the most tackiest christmas-decoration.” Haru pointed out as she pulled out a green garland with fake-snow-tips.

“Hey, you don’t need to love it!” Eiko protested “I’m just trying to do something nice for my patrons here!”

“Didn’t you say that most of your patrons were too drunk to notice anyway?” Makoto asked before she decided that it would be best to go to work when she caught Eikos laser-glare.

The girls were about halfway done with attaching the garlands to the ceiling and the lights when they heard the door open. As the footsteps started to grow louder as the unknown customer walked down the stairs, the four Thieves quickly scrambled down their ladders and chairs to hide in one of the booths.

“Can I help you?” Eiko asked with a raised eyebrow as she scanned the stranger with a package under his arm.

“Lala-chan sent me here. I’m supposed to deliver something to Oracle?” the guy replied.

Eikos tone changed immediately “Oh! Yeah, you can put it on the bar I’ll make sure to give it to her.” 

“Uh… okay...” the guy said before leaving again.

Eiko signaled to the others that the air was clear. Ann and Shiho were the first to approach the mysterious package.

“Those must be the parts that Futaba needed.” Makoto observed.

“That was fast.” Haru noted.

Ann took a seat again when she sighed “I still don’t know what to expect from that broadcast.. Like.. will we really see the one guy that’s been making our life hell for the last months? I wonder what he looks like...”

“If United Future is really that large a corporation, is there really only one person on top who pulls the strings?” Haru wondered.

Eiko forcefully put a glass down on the counter before saying “Okay, can we make this place a United-Future-free-zone? You have no idea how many people I hear every night talking about them and their stupid plans.”

The girls bit their lips before Makoto dared to ask “And… what are they saying?”

“Some say that this is finally the moment that we’ve all been waiting for, where a new society will be built and that United Future is the savior of humanity. Others say that they wouldn’t object to safety and others say that now that the Phantom Thieves are gone, they need to start looking out for themselves… Some have already hated you since forever so they’re welcoming United Future with open arms.”

Haru sighed “It’s sad to hear that people feel forced to comply with United Future just because we aren’t there to support them anymore.”

“What’s really sad is that everyone gets their panties in a knot at the thought of their new-found savior waltzing in and magically making all their problems disappear. Like, how? As if they’d be able to do that.”

“Well, they were responsible for the shadow-infestation. Who knows what else they will be able to do...” Haru pondered.

Eiko bristled “I’m pretty sure that if they were able to magically make all the Shadows disappear, it would be the top of their list to brag about.”

Shiho shrugged “That’s probably true...”

“It’s like… people are literally waiting to hand the reigns to someone else so they don’t have to care anymore.” she rolled her eyes when she caught Makotos raised eyebrow “And I know it’s ironic that I’m the one who saying that since – you know – my past...”

“It just shows how far you’ve come as a person, Eiko-chan.” Haru beamed.

Eiko sighed “I guess. But now everyone seems to want to go the other way.” she huffed “It’s like I’ve done all of this developing for nothing...”

Haru reached out and patted her hand “I’m sure that it wasn’t for naught.”

Sunday, 1 day until the broadcast:

Over the week, the anxiety of the Thieves had gradually grown. After getting all of her gadgets on friday, Futaba, Sojiro and Sae had spent the entire saturday on the roof to rig one of the satellite-dishes that had already been there to later intercept the signal that they would hopefully be able to trace.

After the set-up for “Sub-Operation Interception” - as the hacker had started calling it at the beginning of the week – was completed, the only thing left to do was making the last preparations for “Sub-Operation Watchparty”. Futaba, Hifumi and Makoto had gone to the biggest bar of the settlement, where the broadcast would be viewed the next day, to set up a camera that would enable them to watch the broadcast from the comfort of their home.

In the living room of their hide-out were Ren, Yusuke, Ryuji and Ann. The leader of the Thieves was connected to Futaba via their ear-pieces.

“Okay, so if you put that module, that I’ve given you earlier, into the TV-set then we should be able to get a connection.” Futaba announced in his ear.

“Roger that.” Ren said before he turned around to look at Yusuke who – like the others – was sitting on the sofa “Yusuke, the module, please.”

The artist looked at him in confusion “I don’t have it.”

“Then where is it?” Ren asked.

“I gave it to Ann.” Yusuke replied.

“Ann?” Ren shifted his focus to the blonde, who was slumped in Ryujis arm while browsing through an antique fashion-magazine.

“Huh?” Ann looked up from her read “Oh, yeah… I think I put it into Ryujis pocket.”. She reached into the pocket of Ryujis hoodie and pulled out a small data-stick. The second blonde didn’t pay it any attention. His focus was on another magazine, that they had found in a compartment of the coffee-table.

Ren sighed and shook his head. After their rather disturbing talk almost a week ago, the blonde had been in a better mood the next day. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to Ann and ask how things were now but given how they were acting around each other again, he figured that everything was back to normal. Except for those rare moments, that Ren noticed Ryuji looking at Ann with a conflicted grimace whenever she wasn’t looking. Somehow that look alone was able to give Ren a queasy feeling in his stomach too. He reached out and took the device from Anns hand with a sigh “All of you are such great helps...”. But everyones attention was on something else again already.

“Okay, I’m plugging it in now.” Ren announced to Futaba as he pushed the module into the right slot on the back of the flat-screen.

“Took you long enough.” Futaba said. “Now turn it on.”

“Turning on the TV.” Ren said as he pressed the button.

“Oooookay. Trying to connect the camera now...” Futaba muttered in his ear.

After a few moments of silence and a black screen, Futabas face appeared on the TV full-screen.

“Whoah!” Ryuji called out when he saw it.

“I take that Ryujis yelling means that it works?” Futaba asked Ren.

“Yup, we can see you.” Ren confirmed.

“Futabas face looks very bloated from this angle.” Yusuke uttered as he leaned forward.

“I heard that.” Futaba yelled into Rens ear. “And can you see this?”

On the screen appeared Futabas middle finger.

“She heard you.” Ren explained to Yusuke before he directed at Futaba “I’d say it works without delay.”

“Good.” Futaba said as she climbed down from the table she had been standing on. She pointed to the bar, where the TV that the United Future-representative had left behind was standing and waiting for its big moment. “You got a good angle?”

“Yeah, should work.” Ren said. “Where did you attach it?”

“A rafter on the ceiling.” Futaba replied. “I thought that that way we won’t run any risk of someone blocking the view.”

“Smart.” Ren replied.

“Okay, I’d say that we wrap this up, now that everything is working.” Futaba gave another wave to the camera “Over and out.”.

Ren turned off the TV before turning to the other 3 “We’re all set.”

“This will be like a huge TV-event.” Ann grinned “It’s sad that we won’t have popcorn or something...”

“Who knows, maybe we won’t want to eat anything anyway after we heard United Futures plans...” Ryuji muttered.

“To be honest, I’ve already been having trouble keeping down my food over the last days.” Yusuke said “There’s just too many things going through my head.”

“Well, let’s hope that tomorrow we’ll know more.” Ren said.

Monday, day of the broadcast:

The living room was packed when at sundown all the Phantom Thieves started to pile up and find their seats in front of the TV. While this could have been one of those heartwarming family-moments, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone had their own fears about what might come to light with this broadcast. The one who was on edge the most was Futaba, given that her tech needed to work without much of a trial beforehand. She was sitting a bit away from the others with Prometheus in her lap, checking the signal to her rigged satellite while a map and a pen was resting beside her to then narrow down the signals location.

“So this is it, right?” Ryuji asked into the round.

“The broadcast should start any minute.” Makoto said, tensed up.

“I’ll turn on the TV.” Morgana said since he and Shinya had the closest seats.

After a brief bustling, excited murmuring from the bar could be heard while the screen remained black. Another crackling sound came from the TV but this time it didn’t seem to come from their own but rather the one in the bar. Not long after, a male voice could be heard.

“Welcome and thank you for taking part in todays broadcast.” a man seemed to greet the viewers. “You have been visited by one of our representatives over the last week, who has informed you about the benefits that United Future can offer you and your settlements. But now, to bring our great vision closer to you: Let me introduce the man who will steer our country towards a new future!”

The voice and most likely the speaker himself too changed when the friendly and upbeat tone was replaced by a deep and smooth voice “Greetings.”

A sharp pain stung Rens head. The voice sounded pleasant alright. Maybe trustworthy. But why did it send a cold shower down his spine?

“Futaba, why’s there no picture?” Ryuji asked.

“I don’t know!” Futaba exclaimed “I can’t focus on two things!”

“Futaba keep on working with the satellite! What’s most important is that we get closer to their location!” Makoto interrupted “We have the audio, that’s more important for now.”

The voice in the TV continued talking “I want to thank all of you for the interest that you’ve shown for our vision and for dedicating your time by deciding to listen to us. For too long have we been living divided, separated in our different settlements, scared of the attacks of other people and not to forget the Shadows that threaten our very existence.”

“That YOU released!” Ryuji yelled at the screen before Ann got him to calm down again.

“Let me paint you a picture of a new future!” the speaker continued “A future where we won’t need to count on vigilantes. A future without evil but with Order!”

“The way he says it sounds scary...” Shinya muttered.

“We have been living from day to day for far too long. It’s been 50 years since the first Shadows attacked and we were forced to fight for survival, not just for a few days, but for the rest of our lives. Our aparents and grandparents had to make new connections, learn new abilities and make do with whatever we could find. Our ancestors had to move from living in luxury to not knowing where to stay the night and how to feed their families. But I say that it’s time to lay these times to rest because after every time of recess, there follows a time of reconstruction. And I say that this time starts now. If we work together, we can rebuild a prospering society where we won’t have to fear for our lives. We can be the ones who start building a brighter future for the generations to come!”

A surge of applause erupted in the bar as the Phantom Thieves intently stared at the still dark screen. Ren squeezed his eyes shut. Why did this voice drive a chill through his bones? And why did it sound so familiar to him and apparently only him?

The screen suddenly flickered to life in front of them, revealing the inside of the stuffed bar and the broadcast on the old TV-screen. The speaker who had just motivated the people to put their trust in him and this idea for the future was sitting at a table with his hands folded. His head was bald and on his nose sat a pair of slim glasses with yellow shades. His pointed chin was accentuated by a shaped and trimmed goatee.

“That is why I humbly ask you to put your trust in me, Masayoshi Shido. And together, we shall steer our country towards a better future.”.

Another sharp pain flashed through Rens head when he suddenly heard the voice of his mother in his head _“You are talking about blackmail and even murder. Masa, you can’t be serious!”._

Makoto and Sae exchanged a look before the younger Niijima said “M.S.. Masayoshi Shido.”

“Now we have a name.” Sojiro muttered with his arms crossed.

“What’s with that stupid bullshit about building the future!” Ryuji exclaimed “They were the ones to wreck it in the first place!”

“And now they will be able to “rebuild” it the way they want to.” Sae added.

Ryujis fists were balled when he punched into a nearby pillow “Fuck this.”

Makoto turned to Ren only to find him staring at the screen, where Masayoshi Shido was still sitting at his table with a stoic gaze. “Ren?” she carefully asked when she noticed how narrowed his eyes and how deep the ridges in his forehead were.

“It’s him….” Ren muttered, more to himself than anyone else, before he turned to Makoto and the others “I… I know him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-Dun-Duuuun!
> 
> The reveal of the mysterious M.S. wasn't a surprise to all of you smart readers but it was to the Thieves. And especially for Ren. You all know what's coming on tuesday. I'm almost a bit scared now, since you've been looking forward to Rens connection to Shido for sooo long now. I hope it won't disappoint. And I hope that you'll keep reading once that cat is out of its bag because I have a lot more (potential) surprises coming ;) Seriously though, thanks for sticking around so long and for all you regular commenters for commenting so much. Reading the comments after each chapter just makes writing this all the more fun and I couldn't feel more honored that you deem my story worth commenting on chapter after chapter :) See you on Tuesday for probably the most asked-for chapter ever!


	84. Ren

6 years ago

Ren Amamiya had always been an active kid. While his parents both helped out in different areas in their settlement he was the most happy when he got to help their neighbor, who was running a farm of both animals and vegetables. His parents had always had a good connection to the friendly neighbors and so especially the farmers kind wife had taken a liking to him from very early on and had no objections to handing over some tasks to him, that he had never neglected a single day. Helping out wherever help was needed was somewhat of their families guideline to live by. While neither of his parents had a pertinent education in something useful to the settlement, the Amamiya-family had always stood out with their flexibility and their improvisational talents. Yamato and Sayaka Amamiya were liked by everyone, not just because of their dedication to help but also for their ideas to better the settlement when the current mayor decided to turn a blind eye to the peoples problems once again.

A different character who wasn’t as liked as the Amamiyas was Masayoshi Shido but one of the first lessons that Ren had learned from his father was to never go with the general publics opinion. And so it happened that when Masayoshi Shido came to town around the same time that new elections needed to be held, Yamato Amamiya was the first one to invite the stranger who described himself as a man with a vision, over to dinner. A 13-year-old Ren was too disinterested in politics to actually care about what the strange man who must have been as old as his parents and who already was completely bald had to say about the future but both his parents seemed to be fascinated by their guests ideas and visions, so much even that they assured him of their vote after one dinner.

But Shido soon found out what the full Amamiya-support meant, when Rens father decided to offer to help with putting up an entire campaign for him. Evenings of friendly banter and writing speeches followed before eventually the official candidacy of Masayoshi Shido was announced to the public. Since Yamato was a trusted figure among the people, he was sure that he would be able to convey Shidos message and his ideas even better. And so the two Amamiyas opened their path into politics, at the side of the mysterious and a bit hard to read Shido.

And so Shidos speeches in the market place become somewhat part of the dialy rythm of the small town. One day, Ren was helping the farmers wife carry some of her produce to the market when they passed by a makeshift-podium that Shido was standing on, giving a speech on how to improve the future and how people needed to wake up and act. Beside the podium was Rens mother, who was also talking up people, trying to interest them in staying a bit longer to listen to Shidos rambling.

“I don’t know about that man...” the farmers wife quietly said when she and Ren had put enough distance between themselves and the podium.

“What do you mean?” Ren asked.

“I can’t really put it into words. I just wouldn’t want him as our next mayor.” she shook her head “I know that what we have now isn’t ideal but there’s just something about that Shido...” she adjusted the crate in her hands before saying “You know, there’s so many people who have tried to convince your parents to go into politics but they never agreed. It’s a shame really, that they’re using their talent and intuition to back someone else instead of just running for office themselves.”

Ren looked up at her “You would like my parents to become mayor?”

The woman smiled “Of course. A lot of us would welcome that. They always look out for us and they put in so much work without anyone needing to ask. They are the kind of people that care about others without thinking about themselves first. They think about the community first and isn’t that the best trait to have for a politician?”

“Hm...” Ren pondered for a moment “I guess it is.”

Their neighbors words continued to go through Rens head until it was time for dinner. Even though she was working all day, his mother still always made it home in time to get dinner on the table by 7. Ren had never really thought about it, that some people weren’t as dedicated as his own parents. He just didn’t know anything else. For once, his father wasn’t home on time though.

“You should start eating, Ren, before it gets cold.” his mother pointed her spoon at his bowl.

“What about dad?” he asked.

“I’m sure he’s still working with Masa. He’ll eat when he gets home but I’m sure he wouldn’t want us to wait up for him.”

“Is it because of the election?” Ren asked before taking the first spoon of stew.

“More and more people decide that they want to run for office.” his mother explained. “And with every new contestant it gets harder to bring across your own message. Your father is probably helping him with coming up with a new strategy to capture the people.”

“Why aren’t you running too?”

His mother looked at him in surprise. She was grasping for words for a few moments before she said “Well.. not everyone can be mayor. There’s already too many contestants in the race anyway.”

“Ayame said that a lot of people would vote for you.” Ren replied.

His mother smiled “That’s nice of her to say. But I don’t know if me or your father would be cut out for that position.”

“She said that you’re exactly the right people for the job. So if anyone can run, why not you too? You care about what happens here.”

“Ren….” his mother smiled at him “Your father and I care about the future of this town and that is why we decided to support Masayoshi. His ideas might not sound promising to everyone but in the long run, we need someone who actually wants to expand and better the situation. But your father and I think that he’s worth supporting and that’s why we put so much energy into talking to the others to get them to understand the point.”

“Hm….” Ren pondered, unable of answering anything to that.

His mother reached out and ruffled his hair “But you don’t have to worry about that. Politics are complicated to understand, even as an adult.”

Ren reluctantly nodded and continued eating.

Over the next week, Ren barely managed to see his father. Every dinner, he and his mother were alone and during the day Ren was helping on the farm while his father seemed to spend every waking minute with Masayoshi Shido, or "Masa" as both his parents had started referring to him rather quick. Even as a kid who didn’t have to worry about politics, as his mother had told him, he still noticed how tense the atmosphere got. Where at first only the current mayor and Masayoshi ran for office, now 3 more contenders had thrown their glove into the ring and the space in the main-square was limited and the discussions among the candidates got more and more heated which in turn also impacted his mother and most likely also his father.

It was late at night and after another dinner with only his mother, when Ren heard the front door opening and two sets of footsteps entering the living room. He slipped out of bed, sneaked up to the door and pulled it open a crack to see what was going on.

His mother was sitting on the sofa in the living room and both his father and Masayoshi stood in the doorway. His father looked upset while Shido just had a face of stone as always.

“You won’t believe what they dared.” his father fumed to his mother. “They messed up our stand and our stage! They’re attacking our campaign!”

“That’s horrible.” his mother replied, shocked. “I’ll help you rebuild everything tomorrow!”

“Forget about the rebuilding, we can’t just let this slide!” Yamato Amamiya replied.

“Do you know who did it?” his mother asked.

Shido stepped into view before saying “It must have been one or not even all of them. They have been throwing dirty looks all week, trying to upset me and throw me off-guard.”

“But if you don’t know for sure...” his mother pointed out.

“No, it has to be them. I’ve always had the feeling that they’re just running to mess with Masa but now we have the proof.” his father talked himself into a rage.

“Even if it was them, what are you intending to do?” she asked.

A cold shiver ran down Rens spine when he caught the dangerous glint in Shidos eyes when he said “I say that it’s time that we teach them a lesson and show them what it means to mess with us.”

While Rens mother turned more and more doubtful, his father stood by Shidos side, nodding vigorously. “What are you talking about?” she asked eventually.

“I say that we send a message."

"What kind of message?" his mother wearily asked.

"One of them runs a small shop of oddities, isn’t that right? Maybe it's possible that he forgot to kill the fire completely before going to be? And that seamstress has a daughter. If she were to run away, she wouldn’t be able to continue her campaign, right?”

Ren noticed how his mother stared at the man, speechless with shock.

Shidos eyes were piercing when he continued “If none of that helps, there’s always the possibility to let candidates disappear for good. I have made some connections in other settlements, who might be up for he job if the reward is intriguing enough.”

Rens mother stared at him, aghast “You are talking about blackmail and even murder. Masa, you can’t be serious!”

Even his father seemed a bit uncomfortable now as his gaze nervously darted between his wife and Masayoshi.

An uncomfortable silence spread before Shido eventually chuckled a scary laugh “Of course I’m just joking.”

“Well I didn’t find this funny one bit.” his mother said as she got up. “It’s been quite a day and Ren is sleeping next door. We will help you rebuild your stand tomorrow.”. It was obvious that she wanted him to leave.

Shido caught up to that “Of course.” he said with an icy voice. “I will see you tomorrow.”

His mother cast a worried look at his father until she heard the door close. “Yamato, we can’t continue to support him.” she said with a shaky voice.

“Now, now, he wasn’t serious about this.” his father tried to calm her down. “We were both just angry about it all.”

“No… there was something in his eyes. He wasn’t joking.” she vehemently shook her head.

“Sayaka..” his father walked to her and took her in his arms.

“I don’t feel good about this anymore...” Ren heard his mother whisper. “We have to pull back as his assistants..."

His father patted his mothers back before saying “Look… he might have chosen some wrong words tonight but of course he wouldn’t do anything to the other candidates.” he tried to reassure her until she reluctantly started to nod and take deeper breaths again.

Ren carefully shut his door and sat down on his bed. Until now, he just hadn’t known what to do with Shido but after what he just heard and how his mother had reacted to it, he found him a little scary too. He crawled under his blanket and fell asleep with the scary glint in Shidos eyes in front his inner eye.

Both of his parents spent the next day on the market place, working on the rebuilding of the campaign-stage, while Ren was working at the farm again. Only for dinner did the family find together again but Ren saw that both of his parents were tense and bothered by something. He knew them well enough to know that there was a discussion brewing but they would never start it in front of him. So after dinner he pretended to go to the living room to play when in fact he sat down right around the corner to listen to his parents’ hushed voices as they did the dishes together.

“Yuna said that he was talking about forcing smaller settlements to join?!” his mother said with an uncommonly shrill voice. “We don’t have an army?! And why would we want to force our allies to join us?”

“I… don’t know, Sayaka..” his father replied, clueless.

“Is he just hungry for power? And I can’t forget what he said yesterday night… There’s something seriously wrong if a person proposes measures like these!” his mothers hand shot out and grabbed his father “Yamato, we have to pull back from this before the others start to believe that we think like him.”

His father only ground his teeth as he stared into the kitchen sink.

“I know that we thought that his ideas could benefit the town but it’s going too far. The dangerous ideas that he is spouting now have nothing to do with what he told us in the beginning.” she shook his hand “You can’t tell me that you’re still supporting everything he says?!”

He shook his head “I don’t.”

“Then we have to tell him that. I don’t want the others to think that we agree with his ideas for the future of this town.”

Yamato sighed and nodded “You’re right. We’ll need to tell him.”

When Ren walked to the market wit his father the next morning, he could tell that he was anxious. He would have liked to ask if it had anything to do with their conversation with Shido two nights ago but Ren knew that the focus of the discussion would quickly shift to the fact that he had not just been up past his bedtime but had also eavesdropped on what his father would call “adult-conversations”. It had been a time where Ren hadn’t realized how suggestive that sounded. The closer they got to the city-center, the louder and tenser the entire atmosphere got. Inbetween the different market-stands where five different stages and banners, each of them calling upon the others to vote for someone different. Ren had always thought that their village was rather small but all of a sudden he felt like he was walking through the old Tokyo – at least how he imagined it must have been when millions and millions had lived there. People were yelling although it was unknown who they were yelling at. His father reached for his arm and guided him through the masses until they had reached the market-stand of their local seamstress/mayoral candidate.

His father knelt down in front of him and said “You wait here, okay? I just have to talk to Masayoshi about something.”

“About you not supporting him anymore, right?” Ren couldn’t hold his tongue.

His father looked angry before he let out a defeated sigh “I suppose that we were quite loud the other day...”

Ren nodded.

His father sighed again and patted him on the shoulder “You don’t have to worry about it, okay? I’ll just go over, have a quick talk with him and then we’ll be on our way again.”

Ren was good enough at reading people that he could sense his fathers unease the closer he got to the actual moment where he would need to tell Masayoshi Shido that the Amamiyas wouldn’t back his candidacy any longer. He tried to give him an uplifting smile “You can do it.” he said before patting him on the shoulder in return.

His father chuckled before he got back to his feet. He gave him a last nod before he turned around to walk towards the broken stage and Shido, who was standing beside it, angrily glaring at the people passing by.

The younger Amamiya watched how his fathers stride got less and less confident with each step he took.

“So your parents aren’t gonna side with baldface over there any longer?” the seamstress’ daughter, who now had to run the stand while her mother was off campaigning, asked. She was about 3 years older than him and seemed to find everything boring except for gossip. Up until Ren was 10 years old, she had also been his babysitter on occasions, so they knew each other well enough.

Ren recalled Shidos propositions and figured that she probably wouldn’t find it boring, if she got abducted. He forbade himself to say it out loud though and just shrugged “Seems like it...”

“I honestly didn’t get it anyway...” the girl named Hanako replied and toyed with her hair. “Your parents are the kindest people in this dump and they’re deciding to back the new guy with the crazy ideas?” she shook her head “If they had just decided to run themselves, my mom would have never even had the crazy idea of running. She doesn’t even want to be mayor.”

“She doesn’t?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow “She sure seems to enjoy acting like it...”

“Oh haha.” the girl rolled her eyes “She just decided to run because she couldn’t stand that guy over there and his weird speeches.”

“Are they that weird?”

“Duh, he’s been standing here for two weeks and keeps rambling on about the same shit that we need to improve this town to be better and so other towns would want to join us and our town would grow….”

“What’s so bad about that?” Ren decided to ask.

“Well, for one, nobody cares about pocketing some other settlements.” the seamstress’ daughter replied “Everything’s working fine the way it is and noone really wants to change that.”

“My mom said that Shido looks at a greater picture.” Ren muttered.

The girl snorted “Yeah, a freaking dark greater picture that is…” she sighed “Seriously, what good will come from intimidating other settlements, that you’ve been on friendly terms with before?”

“But how do you know that he will intimidate?”

She raised an eyebrow before flicking her head in his direction “I know that you’re good at reading people. Look at him and tell me that he will be a kind and generous leader.”

Ren reluctantly followed her orders. His gut was already telling him that Hanako was right but he still pretended to look at Shido for a while, who was angrily arguing with his father who seemed to try to deescalate the situation. He sighed “But why would my parents support the evil guy?”

Hanako sighed when she reached forward and patted him on the head “Because your parents try to see the good in absolutely everyone.” she gave him a few more forceful pats when she added with a grin “You think any other parent would have let me look after their child?”

Ren sighed as he pulled his head away to flee from her painful affection. There really had been times when he wondered just how much his parents must have hated him to make Hanako his babysitter. But on the other hand, he probably must have been the only kid in his village that had been allowed to stay up until midnight by the age of 7. Not because Hanako had felt generous and wanted to let him play longer but rather because she didn’t want to sit and wait on her own and therefore needed Ren to keep her company and listen to her rambling about boys.

“I’d honestly say that your parents have been caught up in this weirdos charm. He knows how to talk but maybe we’re just not the right people to listen.” Hanako said when she noticed Rens still bothered look.

“Why do you think that?” Ren asked.

Hanako shrugged “Because we don’t have a problem with how things are. Sure, it’s boring as hell here but we’re safe and if there’s anything that we can’t have here, then we know that other settlements close by have it.” she leaned back in her creaky chair “What’s more to want, really?”

“So if we had it worse, then more people would vote for him?”

“That’s my guess...” Hanako replied. “He seems like he wants to build an empire.” she leaned closer to him to mutter “And looks like a complete control-freak at that...” before she sat upright again “If we would have been scared for our safety and weren’t able to protect ourselves, I’m sure that a lot more people would be inclined to join his domination-plan.”

Ren sighed and turned his head to where Shido and his father were still having a discussion. They weren’t shouting but he could tell that the conversation was heated. Both him and Hanako continued to watch their talk in silence until eventually Yamato Amamiya walked away, the angry glare of Masayoshi Shido at his back.

Upon arriving, his father forced himself to a polite smile when he addressed Hanako “It’s good to see you, I hope Ren didn’t give you any trouble.”

Hanako smiled with the smile that she would only give his parents whenever she wanted them to think that she actually was a caring babysitter while patting Rens head again “Oh, he was the most adorable little jerk, as always.”

Rens father scratched his head before motioning to Ren “Okay, we should be going. Say hello to your mother for me.”

“Will do!” Hanako smiled.

Ren raised his hand and waved “Bye Hanako. Don’t get abducted.”. He ducked away from the whack on the head that his father was about to deliver to him when while Hanako just stuck her tongue at him.

“You can’t just say that, Ren!” he nervously said as they made their way through the market and towards their house. “That was a confidential conversation!”

“I know… sorry...” Ren replied with a sigh. “So how did he take it?”

His father was clearly arguing with himself whether he should drag his son into this drama before he sighed “Not well. He was very upset and said how disappointed he was in us for not seeing the great future that he could create...”

“Would it really have been that great?” Ren asked. “Hanako said that he wanted to force weaker settlements to join us...”

“Well...” his father was struggling for words “I would like to tell you that Hanako must have misheard something but in the end I have to admit that maybe it was me who has...”

“So what now? Will he still run, even though probably noone will vote for him?”

“I don’t know, Ren.” his father shrugged. “That will be up to him but I also told him that your mother and I will from now be of the opinion that we no longer support his vision.”

“That’s why he didn’t seem happy...” Ren said. “Everyone says that you should be the one running for mayor though.”

His father chuckled before shaking his head “I don’t know. I think that I’ve had enough of politics for now. If this has shown me anything, it’s that I should overthink my people-reading skills.”

Ren patted his arm “I think you’d be a great mayor. But maybe you’d need a running mate who’d be able to read people...”

His father cast him a raised eyebrow before he said “And let me guess, that would be you?”

Ren grinned “Maybe not. People would think that I’d only have the job because I’m your son. Especially since you’d already have to put mom in charge of finances and that stuff. I’d probably be your secret advisor that stands behind your curtain and whispers stuff to you.”

“Suuure...” his father replied with a smirk before ruffling his hair.

“I could be your secret service, preventing assassination-attempts on you!” Ren proposed.

“You think that I’d run danger of someone assassinating me?” his father asked.

“Because you’d be such a great mayor.”

“Of a small town.”

“Yup.”

“You’ve got a wild fantasy...” his father muttered. “If something were to happen to us, would you know where to go?”

“Huh...” Ren pondered “That’s true! I’d need a safe-house some place where noone would know me. Which would be hard, considering I’m the advisor to the worlds best small town mayor.”

“I’d know a place.” his father replied. “So remember the name Sojiro Sakura. He’s an old friend of mine and he’d be sure to take you in. And there’s no way that people would know where to look for you because you’d have to find him yourself first.”

“Perfect!” Ren grinned. He tugged at his sleeve when he noticed the thoughtful look on his fathers face. “Hey dad, don’t feel bad about Shido. I didn’t realize that something was off about him until a few days ago either...” Ren tried to cheer him up.

His father chuckled “Well, that makes me feel a little better at least.” he sighed when they came to stand in front of their house “For now I might be granted a few days of grace but I’m sure that your mother will never forget the time that I brought home a slightly questionable visionaire..”

Ren had to chuckle “She'll make use of that one a lot...”

“Can’t wait...” his father sighed with a small smile before they entered the house.

The next morning Ren was helping out on the neighbors farm again when he involuntarily caught wind of the latest gossip when the farmers wife chatted with another woman over the fence.

“So this morning, he just left. Paid for his room at the earliest this morning and just.. up and away.” the other woman attempted to whisper but failed.

“Well, there wasn’t really much for him to do since the Amamiyas revoked their support too. Who was going to convince the people of that “message” of his, when noone wants to listen?” the farmers wife replied with a shrug.

“Well I’m just glad that he’s gone. He’s brought so much bad energy to the place.” the other woman said. “Now that all the others will probably revoke their candidacy too, we’ll probably just keep the old guy but at least we’ll know that things work out the way that they’ve used to...”

“You’re right...” the farmer sighed “For now, everything works the way it is so we don’t need to think about any new and complicated system.”

The two women waved good-bye to each other before the farmers wife turned back to help Ren with picking vegetables.

“So Shido left?” Ren asked.

“Seems like it.” she replied. “And that’s for the better. There is and hopefully never will be a situation where this world needs politics the way this man wants to do them.”

Ren decided to nod and believe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you have it. A glimpse of Rens past. But hold on, you might say: What's with the timeline? Futabas backstory took place 3 years ago and that was right after Ren moved in with Sojiro! Well that's because this event took place a while before they died. Rens parents fell for the wrong politician before eventually realizing what he stood for and pulling the break in time. But the times have changed and while people back then weren't scared enough, now they are. Was this the moment where Shido decided to go a different route and to sow fear first?
> 
> And because Ren only got his codename in Morganas chapter, this one is simply called Ren. 
> 
> Well, I'm pretty damn nervous about what you're going to say about this. You were probably expecting the story of how Ren lost his parents and that Shido had something to do with it but no. It's just the story of how they fell for the wrong guy and how life went on after that.


	85. Start-Up Difficulties

The Phantom Thieves sat and stared as Ren recapped his first encounter with Masayoshi Shido.

„So Shido has already tried to enter politics 6 years ago!?“ Makoto asked, surprised.

„Well, yeah… but not very successful..“ Ren replied.

“The coincidence...” Sojiro rubbed the bridge of his nose “… that your parents and you have met Shido before...”

“But what changed?” Haru wondered. “From what you’ve just told us, noone wanted to go along with his ideas.”

“The situation.” Ren replied. “I hate to say it but Hanako was actually really smart because she figured it out. Back at my hometown, noone really wanted to change anything but now.. people are scared of bomb-attacks and more shadow-attacks and that’s what he uses.”

“So both things that he caused.” Ryuji growled. “God, that guy pisses me off.”

“You said that you lived in a rather small town. Maybe he’s addressing bigger settlements now because the chance of people being unsatisfied is higher and therefore it’s likelier to find people to support him.” Sae said.

“Maybe.” Ren replied. “But what I can say for sure is that he’s a completely different man from what he used to be 6 years ago. He’s gotten more trustworthy.”

“Back then, did he ever mention United Future?” Sae asked.

Ren shook his head “Not that I remember...”

Futaba gaped at Ren “Your parents have prohibited that Shido started his political career!”

“I don’t know about that...” Ren scratched his head.

“Maybe they haven’t prevented him but rather caused him to follow a different strategy.” Sae pointed out.

Makoto walked over and turned off the TV before she sighed “No matter his motives, it probably won’t help us much with this situation….”

“Still… This is one heck of a coincidence...” Ryuji muttered.

“Can we talk about that speech he just gave?” Morgana threw in. “And everyone seemed to believe him too.”

“Well, to be honest, his ideas didn’t sound all too bad...” Haru had to admit. “If we didn’t know what we know, maybe we would welcome this idea too.”

“He isn’t the only one who’s talking about uniting settlements either. Back at the factory there was a guy who dreamed about everyone working together again and supporting each other. But he sounded a lot more… nice.” Mishima said.

“Well, we didn’t learn a lot more from this than from the other guy.” Sojiro sighed. “It still seems like he wants as many settlements as possible to join him to start an unknown “new era”.”

“But if he’s already sitting on a lot of power, why is he doing all of this to try to get the people on his side? He could just waltz in with his army and take everything by force, right?” Ann asked

“Maybe not, since Akechi had to blow up their gun-supply to cover up the crime.” Ren replied. “Besides, the more people he can convince with this strategy, the easier it will be for him to force those into submission that don’t choose to cooperate this time around. If he gets 50% of the larger settlements on his side, then he can mobilize them too, put embargoes, bully them in other ways, etc...”

Makoto sighed before she turned to Futaba “Any luck on the signal?”

“Weeell...” Futaba was circling something on the paper-map. “It’s coming from somewhere in Tokyo.” she got up and placed the map on the coffee-table. “To be more precise: Somewhere around the harbor.”

Yusuke leaned forward and looked at the map in front of them “Not a place where you’d expect some grande scheme to go down...”

“Well, he is constantly talking about steering a country...” Mishima pointed out.

“As if it was as easy as steering boat...” Sojiro bristled.

“But couldn’t that be just the location where they’ve set themselves up for that broadcast?” Morgana asked.

“I don’t know if it would make much sense to build up an entire broadcasting-set somewhere far off from your actual location. It’s a lot of equipment that they’d probably wanna guard.” Ren uttered.

“Besides, if Shidos representatives are roaming around and mobilizing people, maybe this won’t be the only broadcast they held.” Makoto pointed out.

“The setting looked elegant enough too, so why not stay there alltogether too?” Futaba shrugged.

“Then we should assume that their entire operation is run out of the Tokyo harbor.” Sae concluded.

“It’s probably for the best that they aren’t settling in the old halls of United Future...” Ren muttered. “And now that the name is out, they’ve already made sure that noone would go there to check. And even if, apparently they’ve already wiped the place by the time we showed up there..”

“Soo...” Ann started “now we listened to him and with no word did he mention the Phantom Thieves. Isn’t that a good sign? Like… he’s not looking for us anymore?”

“He’s probably given the order to Akechi to handle the whole business, as he had when he hired me. I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t want to waste time with looking for the teenagers that mess with his plan… At least that’s how politicians used to act before too...” Sae replied.

Ann deflated in her seat again with a sigh.

Haru looked to Makoto and Ren “So now we know the rough location of where the broadcast had come from. But what are we supposed to do with that information?”

Makoto looked to Ren, who still seemed a bit fazed by the fact that he and his parents had crossed paths with Shido before and maybe even impacted the way he acted. “Ren?” she asked.

Ren shook his head to get his mind back on track. He couldn’t lose too many thoughts on this now. He had to think ahead and not dwell in the past. “Right...” he said as he gathered himself but he didn’t feel able to give some capturing and uplifting speech on how they could defy Shido when he couldn’t get rid of the image of his mothers shocked and maybe even scared face when Shido had pointed out the option of them just getting rid of the competition. A week ago, when Sojiro had talked to him about how all of this must have been fate, he had felt good and daring again, like the world couldn’t hurt them but now all he saw was his mothers and fathers distressed face and the gut-feeling that he’d had, that something was off about that person. He had planned to give some cocky speech about how they had nothing to lose and that they were the only ones who could do something against it but the entire vibe was gone now because he was reminded of those that he had always forced to stay in the back of his head. Those that he had never talked about until now. 

“Ren…?” Makoto repeated as she reached for his hand when she noted that something was off.

“Sorry...” Ren forced himself to shake his head again in another attempt to get back in the right mindset “Just hadn’t anticipated to run across that guy again.” he nervously chuckled before he took a deep breath.

Sojiro took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder “Maybe you should take a minute, kid. I’m sure an hour won’t make a difference.”

“Yeah… maybe...” Ren muttered before he walked out the room with the worried looks of his friends on his back. In that moment, he felt like a failure. He had always been the one to help the others past their problems but couldn’t seem to get his own in order. His feet carried him to the staircase and up another two flights until he was on the roof. He took a deep breath and let the night-air fill his lungs. The bustling in the street beneath him made for a comforting monotonous sound that was just enough to not make him feel like he was trapped with his thoughts. But then, why had he come here, really? On his own? He hate being alone with thoughts after all because those were the moments that their faces would come up again. His kind and loving parents who had been taken from this earth far too soon in an accident roughly three and a half years ago now. He sighed when he walked to the edge and sat down to let his feet dangle down and just forced himself to concentrate on the noise.

After some time, he was too lost in the zone to realize how the door opened up behind him.

“Yo.” Ryuji said when he sat down beside him.

“Hey.” Ren reluctantly said as he opened his eyes. “Are you here to tell me to get my shit together?”

“Nah…” Ryuji replied as he looked down at the street with him “I figured since you’re always listening to our shit, maybe it’s time for you to give us yours.”

Ren gave him a weak smile before answering “Weird way to put it...”

“You okay, man?” Ryuji asked.

“I think… but then also not..” Ren replied with a furrowed brow. “It’s kinda weird. I don’t know why seeing Shido upsets me so much.”

“Maybe it’s cause you’ve been bottling all that stuff up.” the blonde replied “You’ve never really talked about your parents before. Maybe remembering that event with Shido messes you up because it made you think about them too.”

“I never really liked thinking about it too much...” Ren replied.

“Hey, I get it. It’s much easier to listen to other peoples problems instead of taking on your own but eventually that stuff starts haunting you. And at the worst times too.”

“I take it you’re speaking out of experience again?” he asked.

“Ya really think I would try to act smart if I hadn’t been there myself?” Ryuji asked in return.

Ren sighed and shook his head “Sorry… this is probably the worst time for me to get carried away… All of you are uncertain of our future and I seem to be stuck in the past all of a sudden...”

The blonde shook his head “Come on, don’t think about that now.” he rubbed the back of his neck “I know I haven’t been a huge help in the last week with acting so strange and all… But you’ve still been there for me and stood through that emo-phase. I’m sorry for not having your back.”

“I don’t blame you. I haven’t told you but not long after, I think I realized what you’ve meant. It’s funny how one week ago I thought I was one of the few stable people left.”

“So now you aren’t. Who cares?” Ryuji shrugged “Fuck that. Did you really think that you’d get away as the sane one in this group of fuck-ups?” he nudged him in the side “You’re the one who always tells us that it’s okay to feel lost. Maybe you should tell that to yourself too.”

Ren smirked at him “Are you giving me a taste of my own medicine?”

The blonde shrugged “I honestly didn’t have a plan when I came up here. I just thought that I’d check up on you first to check if you feel like punching something.”

Ren chuckled before shaking his head “Nah… I don’t really feel like dislocating your jaw right now...”

Ryuji patted him on the back with a smirk. “That’s okay. You know where to find me.”

“You said that you wanted to check up on me first?” Ren asked.

“Yeah. Makoto is waiting inside. I mean… if you wanna spill your heart to me, I’m down for it but maybe she should know too.” Ryuji shrugged.

Ren returned to pat him on the shoulder before saying with a grin “Maybe you’re right. Not that I wouldn’t want to “spill my heart” to you, you know, since I love you and all.”

Ryuji made a face “Dude, gross. Like, seriously, who says that out loud? I mean, I’m honored and shit and you’re like a brother to me but...”

Ren snorted before grinning at him “Seriously though, thanks. You’re right, I’ve been running away from thinking about my parents for more than 3 years now.”

“I guess you’re not the first one to do that but over 3 years must be a record.” Ryuji admitted.

“I don’t know if I should be proud.” Ren smirked.

Ryuji gave him another slap on the shoulder as he got back to his feet “There’s other things you’ve done to be proud of.” he said “I’m gonna leave you to it. Just know that all of us are standing behind you. And don’t hesitate to ever rely on us if you need someone else to talk, ya hear me?”

Ren nodded with a smile “Thanks. For real.”

Ryuji gave him another smile before turning around and leaving the roof-top, leaving Ren to sit alone with his thoughts for a few moments until Makoto carefully approached to sit down at his side.

“Hey.” she cautiously said as she looped her arms through his. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m having a weird day.” Ren sighed as he looked up at the sky “I’m starting to think that I might have problems.”

Makoto rested her head on his shoulder before saying “I think it’s safe to say that we all do.”

“Yeah but I was always trying to be the sane one and the rock for everyone. Turns out I just did that so I wouldn’t have the time to think about my own traumas.”

“Then maybe it’s time to start thinking about them.” Makoto offered.

“Yeah… maybe…” Ren muttered before casting a look at her “If it didn’t sound so damn hard...”

“Hmm…” Makoto pondered before saying “Why don’t you just tell me something about them?”

Ren took a deep breath. So far, talking about how their neighbor had broken the news to him back then at the tree was the first time he had ever lost a word about his childhood. “Well, my dad was probably the most kind-hearted person to ever walk the earth. If we would have gotten robbed, he probably would have felt bad for having to tell the burglar that he shouldn’t take our things and would have sent him on his way with a lunch-box as reimbursement.”

Makoto had to giggle.

“But he was also really intelligent. Like… he knew how to get things done and he wouldn’t rest until he achieved whatever he had set his mind on something. Our mayor wasn’t the fastest guy and sometimes it would take ages until he would send help and that’s when my father would step in. And even if the guys sent from the mayor knew what they were doing, my father did an equally good job as them, sometimes even without any further knowledge on the topic.”

“He sounds like an amazing person.” Makoto said.

“He really was.” Ren nodded “He was always thriving to make peoples lives better. Everyone would have liked him as mayor but he never wanted that job. I think he preferred to operate from the shadows.”

“A little bit like us.” Makoto noted.

Ren chuckled “Huh, I guess.”

“What about your mother?”

“She probably must have been a saint of a person to endure my dad.” he chuckled before saying “I’m joking. My mom and my dad were couple-goals. She was about as much of a local hero like him. They even met while helping someone else.” Ren explained “She was about as invested in all the towns business as he was and she still made it home every evening to serve dinner by 7. It was insane. Noone in that town had a bad word to say about her and she had lived there her entire life.”

“Everyone living in a larger settlement knows what an achievement that is.” Makoto said.

Ren smirked before looking down at the street again “I miss them every time I forget to think of something else." he muttered. “Probably really unhealthy but I just didn’t want to go down that hole to process that they really aren’t… here… anymore. It kinda helped that I almost immediately left town after it happened, so I at least avoided all the worried and sad faces of the neighbors, feeling obligated to ask how I was doing. Sojiro must have felt that I didn’t want to talk about it. I just… told him the bare minimum and he just gave me a room. We.. barely ever talked about it after that and then I met Futaba and we started other adventures… It was good because I felt like I could keep myself busy with something else and didn’t get the opportunity to think about my parents too much.”

Makoto nodded as she took his hand.

“Now that I say it, I feel kinda bad because it sounds like I just used Futaba and all of you after that as some weird project to not think about my own stuff…”

“I’m sure that everyone knows that you care. Just like your parents cared about everyone around them. It seems that it runs in the family.” Makoto smiled.

“It seems that it does.” Ren replied. “I’m sorry… this is probably the worst time for me to start bringing this up. I’ve managed to hold it down for over 3 years and now it’s welling up at the worst time imaginable. Everyone is waiting downstairs to talk about what to do about United Future and I’m… out of order.”

Makoto squeezed his hand and shook her head “Don’t worry about that. Boss is right, whether you take a little breather or not won’t make a difference and everyone will understand.” she sighed “I’m… really sorry too. I left you alone with the entire situation, when I could have helped talking to everyone too. You took everyones worries on you like you always do and I just holed up with Sis.”

Ren shook his head “You’ve put in some work too, so don’t feel bad.”

“I know but I still should have supported you emotionally.”

Ren pulled away his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders instead “But you already do. You have no idea how calming it is to see you when coming home.”

Makoto tilted her head so that she was looking at him “It is?”

Ren nodded before putting a kiss on her forehead. “My parents would have loved you, just so you know.”

Makoto smiled “You think so?”

“Yeah. Although I have to be honest and say that they probably would have loved everyone that I would have dragged home. My mom wasn’t too optimistic because of my big mouth. In a loving way though.”

Makoto giggled.

“She tended to forget that I had that from my dad. So he would keep my hopes up by saying that someone on this earth would eventually like me for it, like my mom did with him.”

“Well now you found her too.” Makoto smiled with burning cheeks.

Ren squeezed her shoulder “Yeah.”

They continued to sit on the roof and watch the people down below pass by before Ren eventually figured that it was time to go. He didn’t feel like he had told Makoto all that much but somehow even just telling her what kind of people his parents had been already managed to change something in him. As if he wasn’t feeling as alone and caged anymore. “Thank you.” he eventually said.

Makoto sat up and looked at him “What are you thanking me for?”

Ren smiled “For everything really. For being my safe-space and my anchor and… just everything. And for proving my dad right.”

Makoto smiled back at him before she leaned closer and planted her lips on his.

As the two walked back to the staircase, they found Ryuji sitting and waiting at the bottom.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Think so.” Ren said as he and Makoto walked down to level him “Although I think I could use a bit of inspiration.”

Ryuji was faster to catch on than Makoto “Ya sure?”

“Just don’t use your fist.”

The blonde grinned when he slapped him across the face before grabbing him by the shoulders and staring him into the eyes “Now go down there and give them the most heroic speech that you’ve ever given, leader.”

Ren took a deep breath and nodded before slapping him on the shoulder. Beside them, Makoto buried her face in her hands in disbelieve.

When Ren, Makoto and Ryuji walked back into the living room, everyone got out of their seats to look at him with relieve on their faces.

“Well this is awkward.” Ren pointed out in an attempt to lighten the mood before saying “I’m sorry for rushing off like that. I… guess I won’t have to tell you how shitty it is to lose someone but seems like I’ve buried some stuff for a long-ass time.”

Ann shook her head “No, we’re sorry too. You’ve always listened to us and our worries and problems and we’ve never even considered asking about yours.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to anyway.” Ren replied. “But.. thanks.”

Ann gave him a smile when she said “And no matter what you want to do against Shido and United Future, we’re with you all the way. It's for your parents now too, right?"”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Ren was close to tears as he looked into all the faces of his friends, his family. To his right, Makoto took his hand while to his left Ryuji put a hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and had to smile when he felt his old self returning to him “Well, I was thinking that we take back our name.”

Everyone was silent for a moment before Futaba eventually asked “Huh?”

“United Future likes to throw themselves into our pot, acting as if we’ve paved the way and now they’re taking over after we’ve vanished. I say it’s time to set the record straight and make it clear that we are alive and kickin’ and do not condone what United Future stands for.”

“And how do you intend to bring that message across?” Yusuke asked. “Using the newspaper won’t be of much use in a situation like this.”

Ren smirked “Then maybe we should make use of their own equipment.”

Futabas eyes grew wide “That’s why you wanted the location of the signal! You want to take over their communication-network!”

“Exactly.” Ren said.

“Genius!” Futaba clapped her hands.

“A risky move to make for the sole purpose to uphold your pride.” Sae noted.

“True but while we’re online, why don’t we just hang out all of their dirty laundry?” Ren replied. “People will surely have to think about their decision, as soon as they know that the shadows were their fault in the first place.”

Behind Ren, Ryuji started to chuckle.

“A sabotaged campaign… A classy maneuver.” Yusuke chuckled too.

“So wait… you just want to invade United Futures base, hijack their broadcast and tell people the truth?” Makoto asked.

“You make it sound easy.” Ren replied. “I’m pretty sure that it’s already going to be a challenge to find that studio and get enough time in it to master the equipment.”

Futaba raised her hand before pointing out “It’s not like we can just go there and start a broadcast. If noone turns on the TV-sets, then noone will see it.”

“Can’t we start them remotely from there?” Morgana sighed.

“What do you think this is? The future?” Futaba asked in return. “If noone turns on the receivers, sending a signal will be for nothing.”

“Hmm…” Makoto pondered “That would mean that we would need to hijack one of their announced broadcasts to be sure that people are actually listening.”

At that moment, the door flew open and Eiko marched in, her hands thrown in the air when she said “Well, it’s official now! We’re joining United Future. Among a bunch of other settlements from our patrons. In a week we’ll have another speech from Mister bald-head on what will be next for us and all those other settlements that decided to join along.”

Ren grinned when he turned to look at the others “And that’s our In.”

Yusuke chuckled “How incredibly convenient...”

“So that’s our deadline?” Futaba asked “One week?! To find that place, get access to the tech and then set up a show for the people?”

“We’re really doing a show?” Ann asked, confused.

“No...” Makoto sighed and shook her head.

“Futaba’s right, we’re on a tight schedule.” Ren agreed. “Which is why we should probably get this show on the road by tomorrow and write our speeches along the way. It’ll be easier to concretize our plan as soon as we see what we’re dealing with too.”

“Ugh… and I was just starting to get used to our new place...” Futaba mumbled.

“We’ll be back again.” Ren replied.

Futaba got to her feet “I’ll start packing my stuff then...”. With that she disappeared into her workshop.

Sae folded her arms in front of her before saying “Since this is my first operation with the Phantom Thieves, I would like to know if all of us will be coming?”

Ren shook his head “Not everyone. Just the core-group will be going.”

The older Niijima nodded “In that case I would like to join you too. While we might not oppose Shido himself, I still feel like there is unfinished business between me and United Future. If I can be of any help at the scene, I want to give it.”

Ren and Makoto exchanged a look. When she gave him a nod he nodded too “Very well. Then it will be the core 8 plus Sae.”

Ren looked into the group “We’ll leave tomorrow morning. I think it would be best to take Saes van. We’d be able to hide in the back better than on the open loading space. It might also be just a tad more comfortable.”

Sae nodded “Good idea.”

Ren looked to the others “Mishima, Sojiro, Shinya, Hifumi and Shiho, you’ll stay put. As long as you keep a low profile, you should be safe up here. Eiko and her girls will continue to cover you, if anyone should come asking, right?” he asked with a look to the barkeeper.

Eiko nodded “Of course. I’ve also made it clear among the others, that it will never come up that we’re harboring someone in here.”

Makoto nodded “Thank you, Eiko.”

“Just be careful, okay?” she asked. “That guy looks creepy af.”

Ren nodded “Will do.”

Eiko still looked worried when she looked to the others “So you’ll still be here tomorrow morning, right? I’ll make sure to be up to see you off, okay?” she nervously tugged at her ponytail “I really need to check on the bar downstairs now...”

Makoto gave her an encouraging smile “It’s okay Eiko. We’ll say good-bye tomorrow.”

The barkeeper looked a bit relieved when she nodded before she hurried out the door.

“Oh, Eiko wait!” Ren suddenly called out after her. When she turned around to look at him, he said “Could you get Ohya to come up here for a moment. I can’t really go out right now and she won’t be up by the time we’re leaving tomorrow...”

Eiko nodded “Sure. I’ll send someone.”

Makoto cast him a questioning look “What do you want with Ohya?” she asked.

Ren smirked “I think it’s time to bring back the Phantom Resistance for one last issue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rens parents haven't come up so far for a reason: he pushed the memories of them down because he didn't want to think about them either. But now with Shidos past and his parents being linked, he was forced to tell the others and to remember. Lucky for him, all of the Thieves are able to relate. 
> 
> And so the next operation of the Thieves is hatched: To take back their name and to tell the truth about United Future. And thanks to their signal-intermission, they now know where they have to start looking.


	86. Country Roads

When Ren and Makoto walked into the kitchen the next morning, they were surprised to see the entire troupe up and eating already. Or rather poking at their food.

“Oh come on. Just because it wasn‘t Haru who cooked breakfast for once, doesn‘t mean it‘s bad.” Sojiro tried to lighten the mood with a joke but none of them really reacted to it.

“How did your talk with Ohya go?” Yusuke asked. By the time one of Eikos girls had smuggled Ohya up to them, the others had already retreated to their rooms to pack up for their departure.

Ren sat down and grabbed a cup of tea “We didn’t talk much. I just told her that we’re leaving and asked her to spread the word that people should stay near the TVs in a week.”

Ryuji grinned “We’ll make a show to remember. They’ll see.”

Futaba sighed “Why are all of you forgetting the huge hurdles on our way there? What if we won’t find out how to use their equipment?”

Ren smiled when he reached out and patted her shoulder “Maybe because we know that we got the best hacker with us?”

His sister snorted.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Tokyo...” Yusuke mentioned after a longer pause.

“I remember how hot it was...” Makoto sighed.

“Well, I can assure that this time around that won’t be a problem.” Sojiro said.

Ann had to smile at the memory “I wonder if that lake, that we went swimming in, is frozen now.”

“Probably not. It’s not that cold yet.” Sae replied “But the first snow can’t be far away.”

“I hope you packed enough warm clothes.” Haru reminded everyone with a smile.

“Yes mom.” everyone replied together.

Sojiro raised a finger “Now you better be grateful. While I was up and cooking breakfast, Haru was making lunchboxes for all of you.”

“Yes, dad.” came the next reply.

Sojiro sighed and collected the empty dishes.

Not long after, Eiko stumbled into the kitchen, looking disheveled and tired but stressed nonetheless when she let out a deep breath “Ooof, thank god you’re still here. I was afraid I missed it.” she slumped down in a chair at the table.

“Missed what?” Yusuke asked.

“You leaving of course. You’ve been living under my roof for over two weeks now. You’re like my children and I’m a proud mother who watches them leave into the big and dangerous world.” Eiko accentuated.

“This has to be the fastest coming-of-age-story ever.” Ren muttered.

“And we already have a mom. Or rather two.” Futaba said before pointing at Haru and Makoto “Sweet mom and stern mom.”

Makoto flinched. It was pretty clear that she was the stern mom. “Why stern?”

Futaba shrugged “You need to ask? You’re stern in a nice way though.”

“Okay…?” Makoto tried to take it.

“That would make me the stern aunt.” Sae concluded.

Futaba turned around and mustered her before nodding “Yeah, that’s about right.”

“Nonetheless, this is a strange family-tree that you have. One of your mothers is also the girlfriend of your brother.” Sae thought aloud “And let’s not talk about the obvious elephant in the room of two of the respective “children” being married...”

“You’re married?” Yusuke asked Ann and Ryuji.

“….Yeah.” Ryuji replied, obviously confused but then he recalled the state that Yusuke had been. Drunk and beaten, he probably had had different things going on in his head by the time that they had gotten home.

“Still can’t believe it.” Eiko said before yawning.

“When did you go to bed last night?” Hifumi asked.

“I dunno… probably three hours ago?” the barkeeper replied “Someone got to make the money, am I right?”

“Thanks for getting Ohya on such short notice.” Ren said.

“Pfsh.” Eiko waved it off “Easy. She might not be as easily tempted by a drink anymore but she was out the door super fast when she heard that it was you who asked for her.” she smirked “Have you sent her working on her next piece?”

“Maybe. Although it probably won’t have much to do with the quality journalism that she’s gotten used to over the last weeks.” he stirred his tea “We just need the word spread again.”

“Well, you can coun’t on me to spread it too.” Eiko grinned “Already worked with the whole myth once, right? Getting the people to watch the TV one night can’t be that hard. Especially with drinks involved.” she winked.

“Maybe don’t fill them up too much. They still need their wits about them for what we’re about to tell.” Makoto uttered.

“Right. Would suck if they threw up all over your bar when they realize who they were about to support.” Ryuji said.

“Ew.” Eiko made a face. “They better not.”

When Ren looked at the empty bowls and cups he got up from his seat “I think it’s time to go.” he said.

The others nodded as they got up too.

“Do you need help with your luggage?” Mishima asked.

Ren shook his head “I think we’ll be fine.”

Hifumi looked to the others before saying “We’ll still walk you to the car. It’s early enough, so noone will notice.”

Ren felt that he couldn’t argue with that. There was a weird atmosphere hanging over the kitchen. It reminded him a bit of their farewells before the assault on Kaneshiros bank. Were they really running towards their death once more? Was it really the right time to play cocky and defend their honor by pulling off some lunatic scheme? Ren squeezed his eyes shut for a moment when his chest started to tighten up again. He cast a look at Ryuji. Had his bad feeling a week ago meant something? Or had it just been a phase, that he had conquered by now? He decided that it was too late to call off anything and decided to follow Makoto to their place to get their backpacks.

Makoto was wearing her go-to combat-outfit once again. He realized that it’s been a long time since she had worn it. Tight black pants, fitted black turtleneck and a black leather jacket. Fitting for the winter she now wore black gloves and a black knit-beanie as well. Would he have preferred for Makoto to stay behind too, so that she would stay safe? Maybe it was selfish of him but he needed her by his side to keep a clear head and to bounce strategies off of. Was that selfish? Or did he just put smart decisions above caring for Makoto? The scar in his gut started to tug again. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the weather or because of the uneasy feeling he started to feel all over. He shook his head. Makoto was a vital part of the team and there was no way that she would stay behind. They were a finely tuned mechanism and had each others backs, just like Ann and Ryuji worked best when together. Maybe it would have been more dangerous if Ann stayed behind because who would cover Ryuji then? He let out a low-key sigh when he realized that he was just grasping for straws and that it was no use anyway. If anything happened to anyone of them, it would forever be his fault because he had come up with the crazy plan of seeking the confrontation instead of just looking for a shabby boat and trying to survive on the open sea until they hit some kind of land again, like Makoto and Sae had proposed.

“What’s wrong?” Makoto asked. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed that she had shouldered her bag and turned around to look at him. Her revolver was safely stored in the holster that was strapped around her thigh.

“Nothing.” Ren shook his head “Just lost in thought.”. He put on a smile when he looked at her “You look great.”

Makoto blushed slightly before saying “This feels a lot more like my comfort zone.”

“I liked that dress too.” Ren smiled.

“It wouldn’t be very good for fighting though.” Makoto replied before she stepped up to him and leaned closer to his ear “But if everything goes well, I believe it would be a reason to celebrate.”

Ren smiled “I’d think so too.”

Makoto smiled at him when she raised her arms and wraped them around his neck “We’ll be back to cramped sleeping spaces for now.” she said as she traced her finger down the back of his neck “So… I just wanted to tell you that I love you.”

Ren smiled and tried to wrap her arms around her, although it proved difficult with her backpack on her back. “I love you too.”

“And please don’t hesitate to tell me, if you start to feel sad again.” Makoto said.

Ren nodded and put a kiss on her forehead “Will do.”

“Thank you.” Makoto took a deep breath before she reluctantly let go of him again.

Ren sighed “Time to go on an excruciatingly long car-ride.”

“I don’t even know how far away we are from Tokyo...” Makoto sighed. “I hope that Sis and Futaba figured out our way beforehand.” she said as she walked towards the door. She cast a last look at their apartment in the hope that it wouldn’t take long for them to return to it.

“It’s your sister we’re talking about. I wouldn’t expect anything less from here than maximum preparation.” Ren said as he picked up his backpack and wrapped his gun-holster around his hip. He reached for Makotos hand before she opened the door. “Ready to go, Queen?”

She nodded with a small smile “Let’s go, Joker.”

As the two leaders stepped outside, they found the hallway stuffed with everyone standing in it. Most of them were geared up while the others just had thrown on some coats to go outside.

“Everyone got their stuff?” Ren asked. He noticed that Haru carried a large cooling box alongside her backpack. Futaba had packed her excess-gear in a large plastic bag, which she had apparently pushed into Ryujis hands. On her back was her traveling backpack and her leather-case holding Prometheus she was clutched to her chest.

Ren had to admit, they looked like a badass group of Thieves. Armed to their teeth with both combat weapons and guns, stylish outfits and a certain look of rebellion. Was it really the right moment to feel cool though? This was probably the most important mission of their lives after all.

“Let’s get going.” Sae said as she walked up to them. She raised an eyebrow when she caught Futabas grin “Is something the matter, Oracle?”

Futaba pointed her finger at the two sisters, who almost wore identical outfits “Nah, it’s nothing. I just thought that it’s good that you two have different hair-colors.”

Sae and Makoto looked at each other before both started to smile “Good choice.” they told each other at the same time.

“God, you have no idea how wholesome it is to see you interacting like normal sisters and not like robots.” Eiko uttered.

Makoto shot Eiko a look but in the end she already knew that there was some truth to her words.

There was an awkward silence as the group collectively walked towards the garage that Saes van was parked in. When everyone had thrown their backpacks into the van, they continued to stand and look at each other in silence. None of them really wanted to address the risk of them not returning. Back with Kaneshiro, they had actually spent an entire evening worrying about the outcome of the operation. Had they just grown more numb to the danger that they ware about to walk into? Had it become something natural to them, to just pull off some crazy plans, that they stopped worrying about what might happen to them, even if dying was a very likely option? Even the ones who would stay behind just had a bothered look on their faces but there was no stern threat from Sojiro. Maybe all of them just knew that it had to be done. Maybe they had gotten used to the constant ups and downs, where after a short time of innocent fun their whole world was turned upside down once more. Only this time, it didn’t concern just one of their team-mates. This time it was for all of their futures. And the future of everyone else too. So backing down now would cause a lot more damage than every damage that they’ve prevented so far combined.

“This is it.” Ren eventually broke the silence.

Sojiro nodded “You take care, alright?”

Ren nodded “As always.”

“And you better make it back.” the old man just couldn’t hold it back but everyone seemed a bit grateful for it.

“You guys hold the fort for us.” Ryuji said.

Eiko groaned before she went to each and everyone of them to crush them into a hug “You kick that guys ass, okay? And then return. In once piece.” she ordered.

Makoto nodded “We’ll try.”

“We’ll be watching 6 days from now.” Hifumi said.

“Right.” Mishima nodded “And until then, hopefully Ohya will be able to spread the word.”

“She always finds a way.” Ren smirked. He took a deep breath and looked at the others “You guys don’t have too much fun without us, okay?” he tried to joke.

Ann gave Shiho one last hug when she whispered into her ear “Take care, Shiho.”

“You too, Ann.” she replied while patting her back, unable to ignore the gun strapped to it underneath her coat.

Sae nodded before saying “We have a long drive ahead of us. We should get going.”

The rest of the Thieves nodded before they started piling into the back of the delivery van while Sae and Makoto climbed into the drivers cabin. Makoto waved at the others as Sae drove the car out of the garage and into the side-alley. As they passed by the guards, Makoto realized how long it had been since they had left the settlement the last time. “You know the route?” she asked Sae.

Her sister nodded “Futaba and I took a look at the map. Getting to Tokyo should be easy. After that we’ll have to improvise and see which streets are still accessible.”

“Should we really approach the harbor by car? Won’t we run danger of being spotted?” Makoto asked.

“I wouldn’t advise on driving up there directly either. But if we can ditch the car close by, we might be able to use the last light to check out the area and find a place to lay low and observe over night. And with the sun going down so early, the less distance we have to cover on foot, the more time for reconnaissance.”

Makoto nodded “Good idea.”

“So is this how Phantom Thieves’ operations usually worked?” Sae asked as the van bumped over the cracked pavement.

Makoto looked out the window and said “Mostly. But even though this is probably our biggest coup yet… it doesn’t feel like it. Our plan is to invade our enemies headquarters and hijack a broadcast, revealing our faces to hundreds or maybe even thousands of people. And somehow it still feels like we’ve put a lot more thought – especially about the consequences – into each and every mission before that.”

Sae was silent for a moment before saying “It certainly does feel like a “Nothing-To-Lose”-situation, that we’re in.”

“But there’s always something to lose.” Makoto replied.

Sae raised her shoulders “That’s correct. Although in this case, there’s probably a lot more to be lost for a huge amount of people if we wouldn’t do what we’re about to.”

Makoto grimaced “Is it really right to compare that?”

Sae took her eyes off the road for a moment and looked at Makoto “It’s the trolley-problem, basically.”

Makoto sighed.

“Would you be willing to sacrifice a few people to save many?”

Makoto cast a look over her shoulder to where the rest of her family was sitting in the back. Was she? Would she be able to sacrifice herself to help the others in succeeding with their plans? Or would she be able to make the decision on when to leave someone behind, should the event occur? She gulped when she realized that she probably wouldn’t. “If the few people are the people in this car… I don’t think I could.” she replied, fully aware that she probably let her sister down with that heartfelt decision.

But Sae just nodded “I figured as much.”

“You did?”

“And maybe I am starting to understand.” she said.

Makoto shifted in her seat when she said “All of our operations so far, we’ve been drawn into them for different personal reasons. And now it feels like each of us have their own.” she recalled Ren listing up everyones feelings and motivations after talking to them. “Are we really acting because we want to protect people or are we just too proud to let United Future claim that we’re the same as them?” she sighed “I don’t even know anymore.”

“But you are acting.” Sae replied. “And even if it’s just for a personal grudge, by doing so you will still tell many people the truth about United Future and their involvement in the Shadow infestation.”

The younger Niijima had to admit that she was right. Even if they just wanted to stick it to Shido, they would still tell the truth along the way. She looked out the window and watched the fields pass by.

It was dark in the back of the van as the others sat in silence.

“I spy with my little eye...” Yusuke started out of the blue.

“Seriously?” Ann sighed when she noticed the throw-back to their time in Jinbochos dungeon. “Why do you only want to play this game when there’s just one option?”

“I was merely trying to lighten the mood a bit. I can’t see your faces right now but judging from the atmosphere, you all seem tense.” Yusuke replied.

A huge bump in the road caused all of the sitting Thieves in the back to lift off the floor before rather unpleasantly crashing down onto their butts again. A groan ran through the group.

“Is everyone okay back there?” Makoto called out from the front.

“I think I cracked my ass…” Ryuji groaned.

“Isn’t it supposed to be cracked though?” Morgana asked.

“Well now it’s cracked twice.” Ryuji complained.

“You’re so vulgar, Ryuji.” Morgana chided. “There are ladies with us.”

“I feel him though...” Futaba muttered.

“Wait what?” Ryuji asked, panicked all of a sudden “I thought that was Anns hand on my leg!”

“Ew, Ryuji! What the hell?” Futaba shrieked “I was talking about how I feel you in like… the mood way! Not that I’m literally touching you! You think I’m a creep?”

“How should I know? It’s dark!” Ryuji argued.

“I’m sitting one seat away from you. I think.” Futaba argued back.

“Then who’s sitting to my left?” Ryuji asked.

“Hello there.” Ren replied in a low voice.

“So basically another creep.” Futaba said.

Ann sighed “I bet Makoto and Sae have other conversations up front.”

“Unlike us, they also see bumps in the road ahead of time.” Haru said.

“It’s kinda depressing to not be able to see anything.” Ann said. “But I guess it’s warmer than riding in the back of the truck.”

“That too.” Haru admitted.

“And are you seriously implying that you’d rather sit up front with the good girls?” Futaba asked.

Ann sighed “No…. I know my place...”

“One of us. One of us.” Morgana and Futaba chanted.

“I have no idea how long we’ve been driving...” Morgana eventually said. “Where do you think we are right now?”

“Probably somewhere in the middle of nowhere...” Ren replied “But at least it feels like we’re on a relatively smooth street so seems like we’re on track towards Tokyo.”

“And towards that bastard Shido.” Ryuji muttered.

“And probably all of United Future.” Futaba said.

Ren reached out in the dark and attempted to put an arm around Futabas shoulder “We’ll finish what your mother started.” he said.

“Yeah.” Futaba reluctantly replied “We’ll tell everyone what she couldn’t.” she sighed “Let’s just hope that we won’t end up like her. We’re walking into their base of operations again. And this time it will probably still be active. And they will try to kill us too. I can’t do that to Sojiro… he shouldn’t lose two people to United Future...”

Ren squeezed her arm before saying “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You shouldn’t single me out!” Futaba objected. “We have to make sure that all of us will leave. Together.”

“Of course.” Ren replied. “And we’ll do what it takes to achieve that.”

“Okay.” Futaba seemed more appeased with that. Ren felt her leaning against his shoulder.

“I just hope that I won’t fail you when it comes to hijacking their setup...” Futaba mumbled.

“Worrying about it already won’t help though. We’ll just have to let it come to us and see what they’re working with.” he smirked even though he knew that she wouldn’t see it. “They can’t have that much high-tech-stuff, right?”

He could feel Futaba raising her shoulders “Who knows? To be honest, nothing would surprise me with them. Maybe it’s even tech that I’ve never seen before. We saw Saes setup at the casino. They have to be at least equally well equipped in their headquarters.”

“We’ll take a look at it and we’ll find a way. We always have so far.” Ren squeezed her shoulder again.

“Yeah.” Futaba replied before adding “Hey Ren?”

“Yup?” he replied

“I really hope that this is your arm on my shoulder.”

The Thieves in the back lost track of time as they continued to sit in the dark and wait for their arrival. After a quick break to stretch their legs and to almost blind themselves by stepping out into broad daylight again, they continued driving with Makoto behind the wheel and Sae in the passenger seat. A while later, the group in the back noticed how they started to drive slower and how the communication between the two Niijimas started to increase as the older one looked at the map and tried to navigate for her sister, who was looking for passable streets. Eventually Futaba joined them by standing up and looking at the map through the small window between the drivers cabin and the loading space as the van continued to slowly roll through the empty streets of Tokyo.

As Makoto kept her eyes peeled for streets to turn into that wouldn’t be blocked by debris or other stuff, she couldn’t help but notice how fewer people seemed to be in the streets. She wondered how Jinbocho was faring. There already weren’t many settlements directly in Tokyo but the area seemed even more dead than it had back when she had used to live in the city. “Hey Sis?” she asked eventually.

“Yes?”

“Have you ever heard something from Jinbocho again?”

Sae shook her head “I have to say that I wasn’t exactly keen on hearing from them anyway. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. Everything just looks a bit more… dead.” Makoto replied “I was just wondering whether Kobayakawa still thinks that staying in the city was the best way to go.”

“It’s never been a good idea to begin with. First that empty school-building and then Jinbocho… I never quite understood why he was so fixated on staying in Tokyo instead of just moving out.”

“I could imagine that he was afraid of doing manual labor if they would have had to build new houses for them to survive.” Makoto replied.

A small chuckled escaped Sae before she said “Perhaps.”. She raised her hand and pointed to the next corner “Try the next street over there.”

Makoto did as she was told but immediately hit the breaks when she was able to peek around the corner, much to the rest of the passengers dismay. She could hear them tumbling around in the back.

“What was that?!” Morgana whined but Makoto didn’t register it when her eyes were fixated on what was roaming a little further down the street that she had been about to turn in to.

It didn’t take long until Sae and Futaba noticed it too.

“A shadow?” Sae asked as she tried to analyze the wavering huge creature that was walking through the streets.

“A huge one at that.” Futaba added.

“But in broad daylight?” Makoto asked.

“It’s winter. Maybe they’re doing the opposite of hibernation...” Futaba offered half-jokingly.

Sae was looking at the map again, checking for a new route “Assuming that this is the only obstacle, this would be the fastest route.” she checked the sky “And we’re already losing light.”

Makoto grimaced “Driving past it will cause it to attack for sure.” she looked to her sister “How far is it to the harbor?”

“I wouldn’t recommend going all the distance on foot.” Sae replied and showed her the map. Futaba had drawn a larger circle around the area around the harbor. “Futaba and I have calculated that it would be best to ditch the car somewhere around this distance. It’s still a bit until then.”

Makoto sighed as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. The single shadow soon got a companion but she couldn’t be sure whether they were communicating with each other or not. They did seem to be aware of each others presence at least.

“What’s going on?” Ren eventually asked when he appeared beside Futaba.

“We’ve got company...” Futaba groaned.

Ren grinned when he spotted the shadow “Seems like someone will have to take care of it.”

Sae cast a look over shoulder with a raised eyebrow “Does that mean that you have a silencer for your gun?”

“I was thinking of a little more close-quarter.” Ren replied.

Sae was about to argue when both of the shadows suddenly jerked their heads up to look into an alley to their left. After a few moments, they started moving in that direction.

Ren sighed “Well that was anticlimactic...”

“There’s no time to waste. Makoto: Drive.” Sae said.

Makoto stepped onto the pedal and soon they passed the side-alley into which the shadows had disappeared.

“I wonder what’s caught their attention so suddenly...” Futaba wondered as Ren disappeared from the window again.

“Who knows what they have seen.” Makoto shrugged.

“What’s most important is, is that they aren’t after us.” Sae added. “The road looks clear. We should be at our destination soon.”

The Phantom Thieves in the back were itching to get out of their dark box when the car stopped after another short while of driving. They were better prepared this time for when Sae opened the door, they covered their eyes before they eventually adjusted to the already setting sun outside.

When everyone was geared up again and after Makoto parked the car in a garage that they had found, they stood and looked at the thinning number of skyscrapers in their surrounding. They weren’t in the city-center any longer.

“We need to get going. There’s still a bit of ground to cover if we want to find a place for the night where we can observe the harbor.” Sae said as she adjusted her backpack before opening the map in her hand “Welcome to Tokyo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the Thieves are off to their biggest mission yet but somehow everything seems a bit different as they drive off into unknown territory.


	87. Shidos Ark

The group of nine was walking through the abandoned streets of Tokyo as the icy wind blew in their faces. The more the sun disappeared, the colder the air got.

“The last time we walked through the city like this, we were sweating like crazy...” Futaba said with shattering teeth as she pulled her coat shut.

“Oh, I wish we could go back to those times...” Ann whined.

“You were complaining about being too hot back then...” Yusuke uttered before receiving a mean glare from Ann.

“The last time we walked through the city like this, we thought that Medjed was our biggest problem.” Haru said.

“That seems like such a long time ago when it’s been less than half a year...” Morgana said.

“I wouldn’t want to jump into that pond now..” Yusuke said.

“You also didn’t back in summer.” Ryuji replied, his fists shoved into the pockets of his coat.

“I rather wanted to watch the spectacle from dry lands.” Yusuke replied.

“Coward.” Futaba replied before saying “It would have been worth sitting first row to watch Ren and my epic win.”

“Just because you jumped at us!” Ryuji objected.

“Still winning.” Futaba grinned.

“Whatever, we won the rematch.” Ann shrugged.

“Yeah, because Makoto had to step in from the sidelines.” Futaba argued.

Ann smirked “Because you were nervous about a bikini.”

Sae and Makoto were walking up front when the older Niijima turned to her younger sister with a raised eyebrow “Do I even want to know?”

Makoto brushed a strand of hair out of her face before saying “It seems like we weren’t trained enough to win pool-battles.”

“I suppose not.” Sae nodded.

Ren was walking in the back with Morgana. He felt like someone was about to jump at them any moment now, even though they still had to be at a reasonable distance to the harbor. He felt like they were being watched but he tried to tell himself that there was no way that United Future set up guards all over the city.

“What’s wrong, Joker?” Morgana eventually asked.

He shook his head “Nothing. I just don’t know what to expect as soon as we find a place to stay the night.”

“That’s why we’re on our way there. So we have enough time to figure it out.” Morgana said.

“I know.” the leader sighed. “Maybe I’m just starting to go paranoid.”

“These large streets and huge houses can be intimidating.” Morgana had to agree. “But if anyone is able to pass them without being spotted, it’s the Phantom Thieves.”

Ren looked at the kid. Unlike Shinya, Morgana had been present during all of their operations. They had gotten him into so many risky situations and he probably had shown the least fear of them all, when it had come to their decision to go after United Future. “Hey, Morgana?” Ren decided to ask.

“Uhuh?” the kid replied.

“Have you ever thought that it would have been nicer if you just had… a normal childhood?”

Morgana pondered for a moment before shrugging “Not really. What’s a normal childhood anyway? Shinyas didn’t seem to be normal either.”

Ren found that he couldn’t argue with that.

“Maybe I already had a normal childhood before I… forgot.” Morgana said. “And why would I want to have a boring life when I could also be a hero with you guys?” he looked up at him and smiled.

Ren had to smile “You still think that we’re heroes?”

“I mean, we’ve set out to uncover the evil deeds of an evil corporation that wants to subdue humanity!” Morgana dramatically said.

“When you put it that way...” Ren said before grimacing “I guess that’s another way to look at it. You probably have the purest heart of all of us, you know that?”

Morgana loked at him with a furrowed brow “Why would you say that?”

Ren raised his shoulders. Should he really destroy the kids optimism and tell him the truth? He sighed before saying “Because to some of us, that’s not the only reason to do it. Maybe it’s even nothing but a very small bonus to what we actually want to do.”

The kid was confused “But… what are the other reasons then?”

The leader shrugged “Maybe we’re tired. Or because we need to avenge the people that have been affected by the shit that they’ve done. Or for really selfish reasons because we don’t want our mark that we’ve left on the world connected with them.”

“So… you’re not even thinking about how this will protect humanity from making a mistake?” Morgana asked, slightly disappointed.

“I’m sorry….” Rens heart hurt when he looked at the sad Morganas face but he didn’t want to lie to him either. He wasn’t exactly proud about it but he figured that everyone at least shared Anns sentiment of just being tired of fighting all the time for almost a year now. And now after noticing that most of their problems stemmed from the same organization, that was unlikely to stop giving them trouble, fighting back and taking them out first was the only way for them to just start living again without having to hide their faces all the time.

Morgana was quiet for a moment as he looked at his family. While they were bantering and joking now, he could tell that all of them were sad and tired too. He took a deep breath before looking back to Ren “It’s okay.” he said “Then I’ll be the one to remind you of just how many people we’re helping with what we’ll do.”

Ren couldn’t help but be surprised. He reached out and ruffled the kids hair “You’re really not an ordinary boy, are ya?” he asked. There had to be truth to the saying that a childs heart was the purest. Why else would a boy take on the role of their moral-compass for now?

Morgana grinned back at him before saying “And as soon as we’re not Wanted anymore, we’ll do so much fun stuff again!”

Ren smiled “It’s not long until christmas.”

The kids eyes lit up “Oh right!” he smiled “Do you think that Boss will cook something insanely good again?”

“I sure hope he does.” Ren smirked. “But he always manages somehow, so I’m pretty sure.”

Morgana smiled at the pleasant idea before saying “So let’s get this over with quick, so we can all take a breather again.”

Ren nodded “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Daylight was fading more and more when Sae stopped them before turning the next corner.

“Turning this corner, we should be able to see one of the gates of the harbor.” Sae explained after another check on the map.

“Sounds like a job for me.” Futaba announced before popping on her night-vision goggles and peeking around the corner. She saw large metal gates, observed by armed guards. A large plaque on the side of the gate announced the area as the Tokyo Harbor - visitors entrance.

“What do ya see?” Ryuji asked.

“A gate with guards.” Futaba replied “Seems like there’s a huge parking lot behind, so not a lot of cover for passing by unnoticed...”

“In other words you’re saying that going in that way would prove risky.” Makoto said.

“If we don’t want to make a scene, then No.” Futaba replied. “But I don’t see a lot. It would definitely help to get some higher ground to get a grasp of the whole area.”

Sae nodded “We don’t want to get inside today anyway. Let’s find a place to stay for the night.”

Ren looked around them to find a decent spot for a hide-out. They were still a bit away from the harbor but a few steps down the road in the other direction, there was a three-story office-building. “What about there?” he pointed before checking his back when another gust of icy wind blew an empty can across the street.

“Looks fine.” Ryuji shrugged.

“We should go and spot it out to see if we get a decent view of the area.” Yusuke said.

The others nodded. Noone needed to be told to keep it down, now that they were close to their enemies. Ann, Ryuji and Haru drew up their hoods for extra protection, since they were the ones with the most recognizable hair. After reaching the office-building in question, they sneaked up to the back, where Morgana went to work to unlock one of the windows.

“Let’s just hope that the way to the top is free this time.” Futaba muttered as she climbed inside.

“I’m really not in the mood for climbing an elevator-shaft again...” Ann replied as she followed “I’d be dead. My fingers are too frozen to grasp anything...”

After everyone climbed in, Ren took out a flashlight and turned it on. They were standing in a large office. The desks and everything on them had a thick layer of dust laying on them. Since they were at the back of the building with no chance of anyone spotting them from the harbor, he pointed that flashlight through the room to get some orientation.

“There’s got to be hallway past that door...” Makoto muttered when she saw the glass door on the end of the room.

“And in hallways, there’s stairs.” Morgana concluded.

Ren looked around him when a cold gust of wind blew threw the room. A few of the windows had cracks and small holes in them. “Let’s hope that the windows are intact up there. Can’t really make a fire to keep warm...”

Ren and Makoto were the first to check the hallway. While at first they only spotted elevators, after a bit of investigating it was Makoto who found access to a staircase. With a bit of extra climbing and larger strides, they were able to reach the top of the stairs relatively easy. After gaining access to the open-space-office that was facing towards the harbor, the Thieves worked together to build a barricade out of room dividers to shield their source of light from the windows and potential patrols as well as to provide a bit of shelter from the biting cold that still seeped in through the windows and created a chilly draft.

When they were done and dared to turn on their lantern, they had built a rectangular room out of stacked room dividers on three sides, creating almost like a cave for them to hide in and rest. Futaba placed one of her motion-sensors by the stairs to alarm them if anyone should come up. Since the elevator-doors were closed, they felt that they would hear if someone were to force them open. As all 9 of them squeezed into their burrow, Haru started distributing food from her large box, that she had carried around their entire travel. They sat around their lamp in silence and ate their food before Morgana eventually said “I wonder what the others are doing right now...”

“Probably eating something warm while sitting somewhere warm...” Ryuji muttered.

“I’m sorry. I tried to find some containers that would store the warmth but I couldn’t find anything...” Haru apologized.

“What? Oh, no, no!” Ryuji was quick to exclaim “That wasn’t what I was trying to say!”

Ann nodded “Seriously, if it wasn’t for you, we’d have nothing to eat right now...”

Haru shook her head “I’m sure if I weren’t there, then someone else would have thought of it.”

The others exchanged looks among each other before everyone had to raise their shoulders. “I really don’t know who would have...” Ren eventually said.

Haru smiled “Well, then I’m happy to help.”

Yusuke blew at his hands and rubbed them together to create some warmth “To think that I considered sleeping in conditions like these as normal a few years ago...”

“And what would you do so you wouldn’t die?” Ann asked.

Yusuke pondered for a moment “Well, mostly people were kind enough to offer a blanket at least. Now, sleeping in barns was far more comfortable in general because there was straw to sleep on but the straw would also keep you warm. Attics on the other hand...”

“That sounds rough...” Ryuji had to admit. He realized how lucky they have been to not grow homeless during the winter time.

“I remember my mother and I owned sleeping-bags for a while but then we traded them in for food.” Yusuke recalled before shaking his head “It feels like a long-gone era.”

“And we’ll be back home with the others in no time.” Ren tried to lighten the mood as everyone glumly looked down.

Ann nodded “Right. So what’s our next step, Joker?”

Ren put his bowl aside before saying “First Futaba, Makoto, Sae and I will check out the area, see if we can find any possible locations for the big hide-out.” he looked to the others “The rest of you try to get some sleep. We won’t fit in here together anyway, so let’s do shifts.”

The others nodded before they slowly started to disband. As the 4 observers left the cove, Haru started collecting the bowls and storing them in the box again.

Ryuji yawned before tucking his hands into his coat again “You heard them… better catch some Zs...”. He reached over to his backpack to pull out a sleeping bag.

“Yes. Who knows what will happen tomorrow.” Morgana agreed before unpacking his blanket and curling up on one of the short sides of their hide-out.

Ann and Ryuji followed by taking off their thick jackets to squeeze into one sleeping bag that they then topped off with placing one of their coats on their legs and the other on the upper parts of their bodies. Both of them had the hoods of their sweatshirts drawn over their heads to store the heat as they closed their eyes with their arms wrapped around each other.

Haru looked at the two blondes and had to smile. Staying warm using each others body-heat seemed like a great idea. When she was done with packing up their dinner, she pulled out the blanket she had brought before casting a lost look at it. As embarrassing as it was, she had never really been in a situation where she had to sleep in a cold room in a makeshift cave. She looked at Yusuke, who had taken out his notepad and was doing a quick sketch of a curled-up Morgana.

Yusuke noted Haru helpless look as she seemed to be struggling with deciding on how to best find a place of rest in this cold and hard environment. He put away his notepad before saying “Might I give some advice?”

Haru looked at him with wide eyes before smiling “I would appreciate that.”

Yusuke nodded before saying “To reduce the amount of contact with the cold floor, especially since you only have a blanket, I would actually recommend sitting.”

“Oh… okay.” Haru said as she adjusted her seat so that she was leaning against one of the room dividers with her legs outstretched. 

In the meantime, Yusuke had unpacked his own sleeping bag before an idea came to his mind “Body heat is highly effective too. If you don’t think of me as rude, I would propose that we join forces. Or rather blankets, in this particular scenario.”

Haru could feel her cheeks burning before she nodded.

Yusuke smiled when he moved to place his unfolded sleeping bag on the floor for both of them to sit and stretch out their legs on. He looked to Haru “Now if we use the blanket to cover our fronts, we should be able to stay decently warm.”

Haru had to smile when she moved in to sit beside him. She spread the blanket across both of them before moving closer so that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder and leg to leg.

“Now tuck your end of the blanket under your legs. The tighter the better.” Yusuke instructed while he did the same. He could already feel the warmth of both of their bodies mixing underneath the blanket.

Haru had to smile when she felt herself getting warmer, protected by the slightly insulated sleeping bag beneath them and the blanket on top to keep the warmth in. After being cold for their entire walk here, as soon as her body started to heat up a little, she realized how tired she was. A small yawn escaped her before her head tilted over to rest on Yusukes shoulder. She wasn’t even disturbed by the lantern that was standing in the middle of their hideout when her eyes fell close.

Ren, Makoto, Futaba and Sae walked up to the windows and each pulled up some chairs to sit down before Futaba pulled out her goggles.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with...” she muttered as she scanned the area from a different angle now.

“According to the map, the harbor is quite large so I’d say what’s most important for now is to pinpoint possible headquarters or other outposts of theirs.” Sae said, stoically looking out into the night. Almost all the light was gone by now.

“Hmm….” Futaba pondered. “Well, there seem to be two guards at the gate at all time. Wonder if that’s the only access?”

“I doubt it. There’s most likely different entrances for guests and tourists as well as deliveries, cargo, workers...” Sae pointed out.

“So if there’s guards standing in the parking lot with no buildings in sight, then it would be safe to assume that the others will have guards too.”

“They might not be using the entire harbor for themselves but making use of the already existing gates is a logical move.” Makoto pointed out.

“Oracle, do you see any buildings?” Ren asked.

“Well, near the parking lot there’s a few smaller huts, maybe food, toilets? But it’s all dark there…” she turned her head to look at another part of the area. “I mean… all of the buildings are dark except for those little guard-posts...”

“They can’t be all asleep yet, can’t they?” Ren muttered.

“There’s some container-offices straight ahead of us but again.. empty.” Futaba said.

“Maybe they’re operating in the dark as much as we are?” Makoto offered.

“There would have to be at least some light somewhere, right? I mean, daylight's almost completely gone now...” Futaba asked in return,

“And you’re sure that the signal could only have come from in there?” Ren asked. “No other area?”

Futaba shook her head “No, it has to be from in there. I wasn’t able to pinpoint it very well but the area was the harbor.”

“We believe you.” Makoto calmed her down “Why don’t we just look a little more, maybe they’re hiding a bit farther in?”

Futaba nodded before scanning a bit further. She was almost at the waterfront when a piercing light blinded her through her goggles, causing her to quickly take them off with a loud groan “Argh, too much light...” she said with her eyes squeezed shut.

“Yeah, we see it...” Sae said with wide eyes.

“Something just lit up like a christmas tree...” Ren muttered as he looked at the wall of little dots of light, that had just come on at the other end of the harbor.

Futaba slowly dared to open her eyes to look at the cause of her pain. What had appeared so dreadful in her zoomed night-vision-view. She changed the mode of her goggles to inspect the source “Now what the hell is that?”

“It’s the entire cruise-ship...” Makoto gasped.

“That’s their hideout?” Ren snorted.

“That also makes gaining access more complicated...” Sae muttered. “Futaba, do you see anything that would indicate that the signal has been coming from the ship?”

Futaba scanned the roof “Well, I don’t see much but it’s possible that they used the tech of the ship. There has to be a satellite-dish and more on that roof. With the right tech-guy, it couldn’t have been much of a problem.”

“Given how huge that thing is, I’d say that it’s likely that all of them are living there.” Ren uttered.

“But just how many are “they”?” Makoto asked. “Look at all those lights on in the windows.”

“I’m aware...” Ren sighed “That doesn’t make things any easier...”. He cast a look out the window to his left only to stare into utter darkness.

Futaba let her binoculars wander across the ship until she eventually was looking at the pier again. A narrow bridge was extended at the front quarter of the ship, guarded by another set of guards. After a more thorough check she said “So far I only see one entry-point and you won’t like it.”

“I assume that one’s guarded too?” Makoto grimaced.

“Yup… And the bridge is pretty out in the open, so no way of sneaking up to it either.” Futaba replied.

“We also don’t know if they have patrols guarding on the ship too. For now, we have to assume that they are taking every security-measurements.” Sae pointed out.

“I’d say that picking a cruise-ship is a pretty good move already.” Ren muttered. “Gathering all your supporters on Noahs arc...”

“You think that’s what Shido thinks like?” Futaba asked.

Ren could only shrug “I have no idea what that man thinks...”

Futaba slumped back in her seat before handing her binoculars to Makoto “So what now? This isn’t looking good.”

Ren had to agree with her “It’s definitely less then optimal.”

“Even if managed to sneak into the harbor, we would most likely be unable to enter that ship.” Sae said “While I might have had United Futures sympathy at one point, they might not think so anymore, so simply walking up to them would be dangerous too.”

“It’s also unclear if people know any of our faces.” Ren said. “And they probably won’t let anyone onto that ship without some kind of invitation.”

“There’s an anchor in the back. We could do it like the cartoons and climb the chain into the ship.” Futaba offered half-seriously.

“Why not do it in style and use grappling hooks, like secret agents?” Ren joined Futabas fantasy.

“You have equipment like that?” Sae asked.

Makoto shook her head “No. They’re just joking.”

“Oh...” Sae said in disappointment.

Futaba slumped into her seat and sighed “Then how are we going to get in? The other side probably won’t look much different.”

“It seems like that one bridge is the only access-point.” Sae said. “It’s a swimming fort.”

Makoto pondered for a moment before saying “We don’t know if there’s something different during the daytime. Maybe there’s a separate access for cargo or other deliveries? Their provisions have to come from the outside.”

Ren sighed and massaged his temples “As much as I would like to jump into action straight away tomorrow, we might need to observe their cycles during the daytime too.”

Sae nodded “I agree. It might be jarring but I believe that we have a good vantage point to observe their actions.”

Makoto nodded “Then it’s agreed.”

Futaba got up and stretched her back “I’ll go and sit watch over there, where it’s dark.”

The other three nodded before the hacker wheeled off her chair.

Ren got up and zipped his jacket close before he put on the gloves that the girls had gotten him back at that market.

Makoto immediately sensed his intentions when she asked “Where are you going?”

Ren shook his head when he threw a look over his shoulder and out the left-hand window once more “I just need to step away for a moment.” he said.

Makoto and Sae both gave him a raised eyebrow when he walked away.

He carefully took a step over Futabas motion-sensor as to not unnecessarily stress her. After a climb down the stairs in the dark, Ren reached the window that Morgana had so skillfully unlocked before and climbed out. The wind was whipping and tugging at his coat as he made his way to the side of the house that he had been drawn to cast occasional glances at ever since they got here. Even though the house was dark, he still felt that something was wrong. Exactly like when that gust of wind had blown something across the street. Or that other time, he had had that weird feeling that someone was watching his back, shooting imaginary daggers at them.

He walked up to the building and stopped a few steps away from the main-entrance as he looked up.

“Do you wanna come out or do you want to continue acting like the crazy stalker that you are?” he called out into the night. He wasn’t even sure whether he would make a fool out of himself by calling out into nothing.

A few moments of silence passed before he saw motion on the top floor, when a dark figure climbed out the window and onto the fire-exit. Elegant and almost eery-looking, the figure slid down the ladders until he eventually dropped down onto the ground without making a sound. A shadow that only stood out thanks to his light-brown hair and crazed eyes, that now hit Ren with their full force.

The Crow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of enjoying the aspect, that this time around, the Thieves are actually more tired of fighting than everything else, and that the main-reason for them to do this is just to finally get their peace and freedom when it will actually have such a much bigger impact on the entire country, once the word is out. The entire theme this time is that the Thieves now have different motives behind going along with the plan, with Morgana being the only one who really seems to put the "greater good" above everything else. 
> 
> And for you little niche-group out there, enjoying some YusukexHaru-moments: Here, have one. 
> 
> True to the Original, Shidos base just had to be on a cruise-ship too but this time the Thieves will have a problem with getting on. So far, there doesn't seem to be a good point to enter without being spotted, especially since they haven't even found a way to get into the harbor yet. Time is ticking!
> 
> And the most important question I saved for last: Did Akechis surprise-entrance catch you off-guard? ;)


	88. A Questionable Proposition

Ren and Akechi continued to stand and stare at each other before the detective suddenly came flying at him, grabbing him and pinning him against a nearby wall, his lower arm firmly pressed against his throat.

“Are you aroused by this?” Ren wheezed through gritted teeth “Cause I‘m not.”

“You have some guts to come here, you know that?” Akechi seethed, his face only inches away from Rens.

“Action and Reaction.” Ren replied, the air in his lungs getting thinner and thinner.

“You can not be this stupid to think that you have even the glimpse of a chance of surviving.” Akechi growled.

“Do I hear some… worry?” Ren tried to act cocky but it was getting harder and harder to do… anything really.

Akechi laughed in his face with the laugh that noone believed “Don‘t be ridiculous.”

Ren was about to reply something with a thin voice when the pressure on his throat suddenly gave way and the body of Akechi slumped to the ground in front of his face to reveal Makoto, who must have whacked him over the back of the head with the butt of her revolver.

“Are you hurt?” Makoto asked, alarmed.

Ren took a few deep breaths before shaking his head “I’m good.”

“What were you thinking?” Makoto was aghast.

“I had a feeling...” Ren scratched his head. “I would normally question why you follow me when I say that I have to “step outside” but I guess I have to thank you now.”

Makoto scoffed “You never use that term so I knew that something was off.”

Ren swooned theatrically “You know me so well.”

Makoto sighed and looked down at the unconscious Akechi “He’s been following us?”

“I don’t know.. I had a feeling that something was off ever since we got out the car.” he shrugged “But I suppose we can ask him as soon as he comes to again.”

“That means we’re going to carry him upstairs?” Makoto asked reluctantly.

“He looks light enough...” Ren replied.

Makoto sighed as she bent down to grab his ankles as Ren took him under the arms. “What if he’s wired to someone else? We’re right around the corner from their headquarters after all..”

Ren grunted as they started moving together “Then they hopefully think that he’s moved in to make a move on us.”

“I don’t like this at all.” Makoto cursed “What is he doing so close to base anyway? Shouldn’t he be supposed to be looking for us?”

“I mean… he found us...” Ren replied.

“I can’t believe that you noticed that he was nearby and didn’t tell anyone.” Makoto glared.

“I know and I’m sorry.” Ren said as the two worked together to drag him through the window.

By the time Ren and Makoto carried Akechi into their office-hideout, all of the Phantom Thieves were awake and on high alert. Everyones eyes went wide when they saw who was limply dangling in their arms.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed. “What is HE doing here?”

“He followed us?” Haru was alarmed.

“He’ll get the chance to answer all of these question himself.” Ren said as he and Makoto carried him to the single office next door, where they put him down in a chair before tying him up.

Makoto took a deep breath as she stretched her back when Ren and her stepped out into the hallway again.

“I’ll stay inside and keep an eye on him.” Ren said as he stretched his shoulders.

She nodded “Okay. But be careful.”

“He’s tied up.” Ren replied “Not much he’ll be able to do like this.”

Makoto reluctantly nodded.

He reached out and touched her upper arm “Thanks for saving me.” he said, looking into her eyes.

She just nodded “Just please tell me next time when you think that something’s wrong.”

Ren nodded “Will do.” he moved in to give her a kiss before saying “You should try and get some sleep.”

“I will.”

“Your sister seemed pretty upset.” Ren said when he recalled Saes aghast and angry face after they had carried in Akechi.

“A lot of things that Akechi had told her were lies. She won’t be able to forgive him easily, if at all.” Makoto replied.

“Understandable...” Ren replied.

Makoto took a deep breath “Say something, if you need help, okay?” she asked.

Ren nodded before kissing her on the forehead “Sure. Good night.”

When Ren took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs on the other end of the table, a flashlight placed standing upright on the table between them to illuminate the room, he couldn’t help but stare at the unconscious Akechi. His head was slightly tilted forward but his facial features were still recognizable. Now, with all of his facial muscles relaxed, he didn’t look as evil as he normally did when his face was contorted into the most nightmare-inducing expressions. Why had he told him that it was stupid to come here? Or was it just loathing?

Ren continued to try to make sense of Goro Akechi until he eventually started to stir in his seat before noticing that he was tied up.

“I see you’re awake.” Ren said.

“Are you having fun?” Akechi asked, not looking up at him.

Ren had to chuckle at how Akechi decided to start the conversation exactly alike, only today the roles were reversed. “Oh how the tables have turned.” he philosophized “I have to say it’s a lot nicer being in this position.”

Akechi looked up and their eyes met. He looked panicked and angry like a caged animal that was unable to fight.

Ren leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest “You don’t look so happy.”

“Cut the crap.” Akechi snapped.

“Now, now. You had your fun with me, now let me enjoy the moment a bit.” Ren smirked “I already refrained from throwing water in your face to wake you up, which would have been so much crueler given how fucking cold it is.”

“Why, thank you.” Akechi replied bitterly.

“I understand you though. It’s much more fun to be on this side of the table.”

Akechi sneered at him and pulled on his restraints.

“We do know how to tie knots.” Ren said. “But I see that you’re getting tired of our catching-up.” he leaned forward in his seat and stared at the brown-haired man “Does United Future know that we’re here?”

Akechi snorted and leaned back in his seat, a malicious grin spreading on his face “And why would I tell you that?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll send you back to that ship in tiny little boxes.” Ren replied.

“Do you really think I care?” Akechi spat. “Do you think they would?”

Ren tilted his head “I… thought so, yeah.”

Akechi started chuckling maniacally “Your view of the world is so naive, it’s making me sick. Even if you actually had the balls to kill me, they wouldn’t care.”

“Funny you should talk about balls. You can’t seem to kill me either.” Ren replied.

Akechis face twitched.

“You’ve had the chance to kill me twice now and you failed both times.” Ren elaborated “Back at the casino you kept repeating how you enjoyed my company – while holding a gun to my head, mind you – until Sae showed up and interrupted your plan. And now? You could have just shot me out of the window or simply strangled me without saying a word and yet here you are…”

The detective glared at him with blazing eyes when Ren leaned forward.

“You don’t want to kill me.” Ren concluded.

“If you’re so sure about that, why don’t you untie me and find out?” Akechi replied.

Ren chuckled “No thanks. I’m quite fine with how it is.” he turned serious again when he said “But come on. Just admit that you don’t hate us. I’ll be able to sleep sooo much better the next time I get to rest.”

Akechi leaned towards the table as much as his restraints allowed and glared when he said “Oh quite the contrary. I hate everything about you and your excruciatingly air-headed friends who walk through this world as if the power of friendship can solve every problem it has.” he spat. “It pains my soul that a group of idealists and children was able to take down two major pillars of United Future and what I hated even more is that I had to spend 9 months of my life with following the trail that you idiots have left behind. Do you think I care about all of your pasts? Do you have any idea to how many stories about you I had to listen to? People going on and on about you coming in and saving them from their problems within hours, describing the outfits that you had worn down to the smallest details? You think that failing to kill you two times is a lot? You have no idea how often I wanted to put a bullet in my head when I saw peoples eyes lighting up when I asked about you.”

“Wow…” Ren replied “There’s.. a lot of hate there.”

“I had to listen to peoples ramblings for months without ever coming closer to your location. And I had to pretend that I care! It has taken half a year for me to find you and then I finally had you in my grasp only for Sae Niijima – the most uptight person to ever walk the earth – to switch sides and drive off with you right under my nose, leaving me behind like an idiot!”

“Sae isn’t exactly pleased with how you played her either.” Ren replied.

Akechi sneered “You think that you’re so clever and the only one doing the right thing.”

“Hold your horses there, you tried to kill me.” Ren replied. “Don’t come crawling with that perspective-shit.”

Akechi smirked “Oh but it is. You’re here because you want to end him too. But if I had killed you, he would already be dead. To think that I was so close to finally get to him, get an eye-to-eye-conversation with him alone...”

“Who are you talking about?” Ren asked.

“Shido.” Akechi said it like a curse.

Ren raised an eyebrow “What?”

Akechi smiled “Are you willing to listen to my perspective now?”

The leader sighed “Fine. Where’s this story coming from, that you actually want to kill your boss now?”

The brown-haired detective snorted “Let’s just say that Sae-san and I both have some daddy-issues.”

Ren raised his eyebrows “Your father… is Masayoshi Shido?”

“I would congratulate you, if I didn’t know that you’d act so incredibly smug about it...” Akechi stated.

“Was I such an annoying prisoner too?”

“Yes.”

Ren shook his head “So wait, wait, wait… You’re Shidos son. And you work for him but deep down you hate him?”

“He doesn’t know who I am either.”

“And since when do you know?”

“My entire life.” Akechi replied. “My mother never got over the fact that he wasn’t interested in us. She died trying to get his attention when she should have just accepted that she had been nothing but the stress-relief for a night to him.” he grimaced.

“Damn… I’m really sorry...” Ren said.

“Don’t patronize me.” Akechi growled.

“No, I mean it. That sounds like a tough childhood to have.”

Akechis face twitched with uncertainty. He seemed unsure of how to react.

“So how did you end up working for him?”

“My mother and I have always been entangled with United Future so I was born with connections.” Akechi replied “Solve a few cases and then stumble upon the Phantom Thieves and you suddenly get hired by the top dog to track them down. But that order, of course, goes through many different smaller dogs.”

“So we would have been the case that would bring you closer to Shido.” Ren concluded.

Akechi nodded.

“But if that was all you wanted… Why not just lie to Shido and say that you killed me?”

“There’s this thing called pride. And what would I have done if you had actually shown up at their doorstep?” Akechi snorted.

“That would have gotten awkward...” Ren had to admit “But what have you told them then? You lost your partner too.”

“When I realized that Sae-san never arranged a meeting, I figured that something was wrong.” he replied “And so I decided to disappear too and take matters into my own hand.”

Ren was surprised “So… United Future was never looking for us?”

Akechi shook his head before a smirk appeared on his lips “What? Were you scared?”

“It would have taken a lot of weight of our shoulders, if we had known...” Ren replied. “How did you know where you would find us?”

Akechi shrugged “I guess my instincts aren’t a myth.”. A surge of confidence seemed to flow through him when he cockily leaned back in his chair with an arrogant smirk on his face “But now we both seem to be stuck.” he theatrically said “I’m your prisoner and there’s no way for you to get onto that ship without an invitation.”

Ren rolled his eyes “Just spit it out. What do you want?”

Akechi smirked “A cooperation.”

Ren snorted “Like the one we already had? I think I’ll pass.”

“A new one.” Akechi said “I’ve laid out my cards for you.”

“You already claimed that once, remember? When you said that you wanted to help us escape?”

“You might be reluctant now but in the end, you won’t have a choice.”

“There would have been a choice back with Sae too, if you hadn’t pressured us into doing something stupid.”

“And yet here we are again.” Akechi replied with a smile “My initial plan was to kill you to get closer to Shido. Now that that plan has failed, thanks to you suddenly reminding Sae Niijima that she had a heart, I will need to look at other opportunities too.”

“So… you won’t kill us. But this time not because you can’t find it in your heart but also because it wouldn’t benefit you?” Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe it’s time for me to look to the infamous Phantom Thieves for help.” Akechi sighed.

Ren snorted “I’m sorry. Can you say that again? I think I didn’t hear you right.”

“You heard me loud and clear.” Akechi growled.

“Well, that’s kinda adorable and all but you’re still you and I’m still not that stupid, no matter how often you claim otherwise.” Ren crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Then enlighten me, what is your plan to take down United Future?” Akechi challenged.

Ren hesitated for a moment before saying “Shido’s doing a broadcast in less than a week. We want to hijack that to get out the message that United Future is the one behind the Shadow-infestation and to clear our name.”

Akechi chuckled “Adorable.” he shifted in his seat “And what do you plan to do with Shido?”

Ren shook his head “Nothing. We ruin his reputation and make sure that he doesn’t get to build whatever dictatorship he wants to build and be on our way again to live somewhere in peace and quiet.”

“And do you really think that he will just decide to stop after you’ve ruined his lifes work?”

Ren sighed before saying “If he’s anything like you, probably not.”

“Exactly.” Akechi replied.

Ren massaged his temples “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but – and I can’t stress enough, how hypothetical all of this is – what would your plan be?”

Akechi shrugged “There’s not a lot to it. I wouldn’t even call it a cooperation but rather a quid pro quo.”

“You did call it a cooperation before, but whatever...”

“If you let me go, I can get you on the ship undetected and you go on with your plan. When you hijack the broadcast, I can use the chaos to reach Shido and have a little heart-to-heart with my father.”

A cold shiver ran down Rens spine when Akechi said the word “father”. “You might call it a quid-pro-quo but all I see is a stab in the back waiting to happen. What would keep you from just selling us out as soon as we’re on the ship? You’d get your audience with Shido through that too and we wouldn’t even get to continue breathing.”

Akechi chuckled “Well, I suppose that’s true. But you don’t really have another chance but to trust me once again.”

“God, I hate you.”

“I can assure you that the feeling is mutual.”

“See, now with you telling me that you encourage us to do something against Shido and United Future, I’m kinda doubting myself because if this turns out like our last encounter, then that would mean Shido is actually the good one.”

“I think you know enough about him to know that this can’t be true, whether you believe me or not.” Akechi replied.

“Yeah.. I think I do.” Ren sighed “Say… You said that you grew up with United Future. Does that mean that you grew up on that ship?”

Akechi shook his head “No. This floating tub of luxury was the idea of Shido, when he decided to reach for power by appealing to the wealthy first.”

“Cause before that he was trying his luck in the smaller settlements.” Ren concluded.

“Correct.” Akechi replied “He’s been rather new to the top back then.”

“And who was in charge before him?” Ren asked.

“Shido senior.” Akechi replied. “People were suspecting that he made a pact with the devil because he was staying alive for so long with no intention of dying. He’s been there since the shadows took over after all.”

Ren leaned forward in his seat “So you know why that happened?”

Akechi raised an eyebrow “I know that I’m running danger of stroking your ego again but you seem to know a bit about my father now. And if you know one of them, you know all.”

“So power.”

“Yes.” Akechi nodded. “Shido senior was about to lose the vote by fair means so he decided to fall back onto his emergency plan.”

“The shadows.”

“They were meant to cause a little trouble and upset in the population. And he and his scientists would be the only people to know how to get them under control and out of their lives again. Or at least that was the plan. I suppose you can guess that it didn’t go that way.”

“So all of this… it really was nothing but a power trip?” Ren asked, disbelieving.

“Am I shattering your world-view?” Akechi asked. “It was about time for you to see that this world is nothing but a mess crawling with bad people.”

“So all these years your grandfather kept United Future going, planning to take over 50 years later?”

Akechi shrugged “Old habits die hard. And he passed all of those on to his son to fulfill his legacy.”

“Now if Shido just had a son of his own.” Ren sighed theatrically.

Akechi snorted “Oh he is far too self-centered to share anything in his life, least of all spotlight.”

“And now you want to extinguish that light.” Ren replied.

“Exactly.” Akechi replied. “So do we have a deal?”

“Are you pressuring me again?”

“It was you who said that you have less than a week. And I won’t be able to give you the grande tour of the ship once we’re in.”

“Marvelous.” Ren sighed. “You have to admit it’s kind of hard to trust you after our… troubled past.”

“Would you feel better if we made a pinky-swear?” Akechi loathed.

“Not since you don’t seem too serious about it.” Ren replied.

Akechi leaned back in his seat and grinned “The way I see it, it’s entirely up to you and your friends. I will kill Shido. All that’s left to decide is whether you want my help to get onto the ship to clear your name or not.”

Ren raised an eyebrow “You’re acting like you’ll just walk out of here in a minute. You seem to forget that you’re tied up.”

“I told you that my focus has changed.” Akechi said “You want Shido do disappear too, don’t you? If you let me go, you wouldn’t even have to dirty your hands.”

Ren furrowed his brow. This was getting too confusing. And he couldn’t make this decision on his own. He pushed himself to his feet “Sit tight, okay?”

“Amusing.” Akechi rolled his eyes.

When Ren returned to their makeshift quarters, noone was sleeping.

“So?” Ryuji asked as he climbed to his feet “Did you get anything out of him?”

“Did he tell you how we get in?” Futaba asked.

Ren nodded “Actually, he did.”

“So how will we do it?”

“With… help from Akechi.” Ren carefully said.

There was a long silence as everyone stared at him with wide eyes.

“Okay, WHAT?” Ann was the first to exclaim.

“Akechi can get us in.”

“Yeah, so he can sell us out again!” Ryuji called out.

“Yeah. What other reason could he have?” Morgana asked.

“I think he wants to use our plan as a distraction to kill Shido. Who’s also his father.” Ren said.

Everyone was looking at him like he had gone crazy.

“Excuse me, what?” Sae asked. “He’s saying that he’s Masayoshi Shidos son now?!”

“Unwanted. Shido doesn’t know him.”

“How convenient for his story...” Yusuke pointed out.

“For real? We caught that bastard and he’s still lying to us?” Ryuji growled.

“No.. guys… I don’t know. I think I believe him...” Ren replied. He looked to Makoto, who was just standing and staring “Makoto?”

She shook her head “He tried to kill you. Twice now. He’s played us before, Ren! How can we ever trust anything he says? He also tried to make us believe that my sister was beyond saving. And now he claims that Shido is his father and that he wants to kill him? This is a far more ridiculous story than the first one he’s told us.”

Sae nodded “Makoto is right. Why was he observing us and trying to strangle you just now, only to now propose working together again? There has to be another way onto that boat.”

“Well, maybe there isn’t.” Ren replied. “Because while I do understand that we should take everything Akechi says with caution, his statement that we need an invitation to get onto that ship sounds pretty plausible.” he looked into the round “And maybe the reason why noone has found us yet, except for him, was because noone except for him was looking for us.”

Sae looked surprised “What?”

“He said that when he realized that you turned coat, he went off the grid too to solve the thing himself.”

“And how are we supposed to check if that’s true?” Ann asked.

“I don’t know!” Ren said, unnerved. “I don’t fucking know, okay? But I also don’t know how to get onto that ship otherwise. If Akechi really isn’t playing us again, then we can get onto the ship and do our thing while Akechi does his and we leave among the chaos. If Akechi is lying out of his ass and sells us out as soon as we walk in, we’re busted and the show is over. If we let Akechi leave without trying to get in, he’ll kill Shido but who knows what that will help us. And if he’s been lying and we don’t do anything, nothing will change.”

Ryuji groaned “All of this is so complicated!”

Morgana looked into the group. Everyone was bothered but most of all was their leader, who seemed to be torn between the two fronts. He took a step forward and said “If you think that we should trust Akechi with this, then I will too.”

Ryuji furrowed his brow before saying “Well I won’t. He’s played us once and he’s playing us again.”

“I have to agree.” Yusuke said “Fool us once, shame on him but fool us twice, shame on us.”

Futaba was chewing her lip before reluctantly saying “I… think I’m with Morgana on this. If Ren trusts Akechi enough, then I will too.”

Ann nodded “Me too. I trust Ren.”

Ryuji looked at Ann “You can’t be serious! Did you forget who that guy is?!”

“I didn’t. But apparently we don’t have another choice.” Ann grimaced.

Makoto looked at the growing tension with unease. “Guys...” she started “This isn’t going anywhere. I don’t have a good feeling about trusting Akechi but after what we’ve seen today, I’m afraid that we won’t be able to proceed without help from someone acquainted with the location.”

“So what do you propose?” Yusuke asked.

Makoto sighed “I know that we should make decisions unanimous, especially in a situation like this but I would be willing to go along if the majority should vote for trusting Akechi. We shouldn’t make anyone feel pressured. This could be a matter of life and death after all.”

The others looked to the ground. Ryuji eventually took a deep breath “I mean.. I don’t wanna die but I also don’t want this trip to be for nothing. So I’m okay with Makotos proposition.”

Ren balled his fists. All of this was going in the wrong direction. They shouldn’t have to be divided on a topic as crucial as this. None of them should go along with anything that they weren’t 100% sure on, especially since it could mean their death. But this situation wouldn’t allow for that. And all of the team-mates that were ready to trust Akechi did so because he said he did. If Akechi betrayed them again, it would be his fault alone. And that mistake would cost of all of them their lives. He gulped. They didn’t have time for this. Akechi was right, them hijacking the broadcast to give a speech was cute and if Shido didn’t die, he wouldn’t leave them alone after that. As much as he hated to admit it, they needed Akechi. At least the Akechi that would actually stay true to his word. If that version of him even existed. He squeezed his eyes shut before saying “You really want to put this to the vote? Is everyone okay with that?”. When one after the other everyone started nodding, Ren took a deep breath and said “All in favor of trusting Akechi to me. All against trusting Akechi to Makoto.”

As already proclaimed, Futaba, Morgana and Ann walked to Ren while Yusuke, Ryuji and Sae stood with Makoto. The only one left standing in the middle was Haru.

“Haru...” Ren said before shaking his head “I understand if you don’t want to work with him.”. Haru had an entirely different connection to Akechi after all. He was the murderer of her father, who was already planning on killing the next. He expected the vote to be over when Haru folded her hands and spoke up:

“I will never be able to forgive him for what he did.” she whispered while looking at the floor. “But I also want United Future to pay. And I want the world to know, that the Phantom Thieves had nothing to do with my fathers death.” she walked to Ren.

“Haru...” Ann whispered as she reached for her hand “Are you sure?”

She nodded “If Akechi is the only option to get in and to achieve our goal, then I think that we need to do it.”

Ryuji furrowed his brow “What if he’s selling us out again?”

Haru shook her head “Then we’ll end it in battle with our heads held high.” she looked at Ryuji “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Ryuji was too dumbfounded to find a suitable reply.

Sae ground her teeth before saying “So this is your decision? We trust Akechi?”

Ren grimaced “I can’t believe I’m saying this. But I think we do.”. His stomach was in knots when he prayed to the universe and everything in it that they wouldn’t be proven wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like all of you have been anticipating a big fight-scene (given how much I suck at writing action, I was really surprised about that) but surprise! Ren does a reverse-interrogation and Akechi brings some interesting stuff to light. If he isn't lying. And one can never know with that guy... It's probably obvious but I'm having a lot of fun with Ren-Akechi-Conversations.
> 
> So now there's a new proposition on the table and not everyone is happy about it but it seems like they don't have a choice. With Haru giving the last vote to trusting Akechi, we will have to see what happens.


	89. Your Enemies Enemy Who‘s Still Not A Friend

Another similarity that Goro Akechi and Sae Niijima shared was that they had nerves of steel and so it didn‘t come as a surprise to the elder Niijima, that when she barged through the door to take a look at the now tied-up Akechi herself, he didn‘t even flinch. She sat down in front of him without saying a word. Even though she saw him in a completely different light now, he still was the same teenage prodigy, that had impressed her with his talents at a time when she had thought that she couldn‘t be impressed by anybody. His eyes were still as sharp as ever, even while they were filled with rage now. When he noticed who was sitting in front of him, his demeanor softened a bit, as if he was seeing a trusted person. But Sae Niijima wouldn‘t trust him with anything. Not anymore.

“I see that they have sent the armed forces.” Akechi said. “Have you come to pass judgment, Sae-san?

Sae shook her head “The only reason I’m here is to take another look at you and try to determine what it was that made me sympathize with you in such a big way.”

The detective smiled weakly “Why, I always thought that it was because you saw something of yourself in me.”

“I’m afraid that I might have to agree with you, even though it disgusts me to admit it.” Sae crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair “But what disgusts me even more is that I’ve been played by you.”

Akechi sighed “I will admit that I haven’t been entirely honest with you, even at the moments that I claimed that I was.” he shook his head “But my appreciation for your way of working and thinking was never a lie.”

Sae furrowed her brow before saying “Don’t you dare try to suck up to me now. All this time, I thought that we were partners, that we were working together, when in fact you led a double-life and manipulated me. You’ve been involved with United Future all this time. Why did you even need me to work the case with you? Was this just another power-move of yours?”

He shook his head “I wanted to have you on the case because I really needed your help. Not to tap into resources, but because I needed your brain for this.”

“You wanted to find them to immediately kill them, not deliver them to United Future.”

“Another lie I had to tell to get you to work with me.” Akechi replied “I agree that it wasn’t very elegant. But after never having someone to confide in and to talk to before, I figured that I shouldn’t let that go so easily.”

“Don’t make me laugh.” Sae bristled. She leaned forward and glared at him “I don’t know what you’ve done to make him believe but I don’t trust a word you’re saying.” she seethed. “I’ve worked with you long enough to know that you are equally good at bending the truth as I am.”

“If your argument is that you know me well enough, then you should be able to see that something has changed.” Akechi replied.

Sae furrowed her brow. Was there really? Or was it just because he was tied up to a chair, that he didn’t sound as cocky as usual? “It’s hard for me to see anything but lies whenever I look at you now.”. She leaned back in her seat again “So you are claiming to be Masayoshi Shidos son?”

“It’s not just a claim.” Akechi sighed. “I wish it was a lie but it’s not.”

“But why decide to come clean now?”

Akechi looked at her and gave her a tired smirk “Look at me. I’ve tried to do it the elegant way but I failed. And now my time is running out because as soon as Shido crowns himself ruler, it will be too late for me. So everything I’m out for is good old-fashioned revenge, that I won’t get if I continue to be tied up in here.”

“So you’re trying to bargain yourself free.” Sae concluded.

“Sharp as ever.”

“And all this time.. you only wanted to catch the Phantom Thieves so you would get an audience with Shido himself?”

“The man has always been busy. I’ll admit that it was also my vanity that desired for him to ask for me to come talk to him. And what better reason than being the one to rid him of the Phantom Thieves?”

“And what would keep you from delivering them to him anyway, now that you even want to let us onto the ship?” Sae asked.

Akechi shrugged “Nothing, really.” he paused for a moment before saying “But aren’t you tired of all of this too? Don’t you finally want this to end?”

“I do but I also want to stay alive and don’t die while cursing myself for trusting the wrong people.”

Akechi shrugged. Sae thought that she noticed a trace of sadness when he said “Believe it or not, Sae-san, I always considered you a friend.”

“Likewise.” Sae repeated before pushing herself to her feet again “It’s a shame that it had to end this way.”

“Maybe work and friends shouldn’t be combined.”

Sae turned and walked towards the door “Maybe lies and friends shouldn’t be either.”

While Ren had been exhausted from the long travel and was aware that the next day wouldn’t get better, he still forced himself to a few hours of sleep, even if his sleep was haunted by nightmares of him watching all of his friends being murdered by Akechi, who had returned to looking his normal insane self. Was he leading them into a trap? After all, the only thing that seemed to speak for trusting Akechi was his gut-feeling. But back at the casino, he had known that something was off about him. It was a feeling that had been missing during their interrogation. And still, Akechi made it so incredibly hard to trust him. And also to get other people to trust him. He continued to lay with his eyes closed for a while longer to avoid looking into all the variety of negative emotions in his team-mates faces. Was he making a necessary unpopular decision for the group or would his naiveté walk them right into Akechis and Shidos trap?

“Are you awake?” Yusukes voice tore him out of his meditative-state.

“….yeah.” Ren reluctantly replied.

“I admire you for your ability to rest in a situation like this.” he said.

“I was pretending mostly...”

“I see.” Yusuke hummed.

“What’s on your mind?” Ren opened his eyes.

“I suppose the same thing as on everyone elses.” Yusuke replied.

“Oh. So fear of walking into a trap because of me?”

Yusuke seemed hesitant before he eventually nodded “I suppose that can’t be denied.”

Ren sighed “I can assure you that I feel the same.” he groaned when he slowly sat up “Is it wrong that my biggest worry is how fucking embarrassing it would be if I fell for Akechi the second time in a row?”

“No.” Yusuke replied “I would make sure to remind you of it during our last moments too.”

“Thanks...” Ren replied with dropped eye-lids. “Look… I’d understand if you didn’t want to join. There really is nothing holding you and if at least one of us gets to hopefully live a more peaceful life after this, then I’d be more than happy.” Ren said “So…”

Yusuke looked at him with a curious look before saying “Did you notice that everyone who was against trusting Akechi had someone they cared about on the other side of the argument?”

Ren furrowed his brow when he did the math. “Oh….” he said, when he finally figured it out.

“A plan for my future has already been made and I will not commence with it on my own.” Yusuke was determined.

Ren had to smile while his stomach was revolting with fear. There were so many futures that he could destroy with his plan. But then… there were even more futures on the line if United Future got a hold of power. “… Women… amiright?” he tried it with some gallows humor, although he already knew that Yusuke was probably the wrong person for that.

“That’s what Ryuji said.” Yusuke pointed out. “Which made a lot more sense than you saying it.”

“Yeah….” Ren scratched his head.

The awkward silence between the two guys was interrupted when Ann popped her head into their sleeping-spot “Makoto says that it’s time...” she said.

Ren and Yusuke nodded at each other before both climbed to their feet.

Now that they were able to see the office and the harbor-area under daylight, everything looked a bit different. Not particularly better but at least different. He saw Futaba and Haru sitting at the windows, Futaba with her goggles on her eyes and Haru with a canteen in her hand.

“Any groundbreaking findings?” Ren asked as he approached them.

“Nope…” Futaba sighed “Still just one bridge.”

“I wonder how Akechi plans to get us in.” Haru pointed out.

“Let’s ask him then...” Ren said before he turned on his heel and walked towards the office turned holding cell. “Mornin’ sunshine.” Ren said after he passed Morgana sitting guard and looked at the still tied up Akechi.

Akechi looked utterly unimpressed at his try to lighten the mood.

Ren sighed “Cheer up, buttercup. Let’s talk strategy.” he bent down to untie his legs before pulling him to his feet.

Akechi skeptically looked around him.

Ren caught his eye “I’m gonna be so pissed if I convinced the others to trust you only to walk into another of your traps.”

“Pointing this out just makes it all the more tempting to do it.” Akechi replied when Ren walked him out into the hallway.

“Funny...” Ren replied. When he led Akechi into the office, the others were already waiting by the window. None of them had a happy face when they saw the man who had sent them through so much trouble just a month ago and who they had thought must be turning every stone searching for them together with United Future, when he had actually distanced himself from them too.

Noone said a word to him. When Akechi wasn’t saying anything either, Ren figured that he would have to be the one to kick this off. He was still standing behind their prisoner, his hand wrapped around his still tied-up arm. “You said you can get us in. The only entrance we can see is that one bridge, whose guards probably won’t let us.”

Akechi nodded “They won’t. Me on the other hand...”

“Quit flexing and tell us how we get in.” Ren groaned.

Akechi chuckled “There’s a floating dock that goes around the bow to the other side of the ship. I would be able to lower one of the life-boats at the rear to get you up.”

“And once we’re in, noone would notice that we don’t belong?” Makoto asked.

Akechi shook his head “Shido invites all his supporters that he wants to impress to live there. There’s always someone new moving in, so no. As soon as you’re in, everyone will think that there’s a reason for you to be there. I would advise having an adequate persona ready though, should anyone chat you up.” he looked around “Nevertheless, there is the small chance that someone might recognize you from Miss Okumuras wedding. Lucky for you, enough people in there are faking so it should be no problem to find some wigs and also more… suitable clothes.”

“The sooner we enter, the better.” Sae said “But where will be staying once in?”

“I should be able to arrange quarters for you.” Akechi said.

“All of this sounds too good to be true.” Ryuji muttered.

“I have to agree...” Yusuke said.

Akechi chuckled “Trust me, nothing will be easy. All I can do is set you up with a decent enough cover so that you’re able to roam around as much as any other guest. However, looking for the studio in which they’re doing the transmissions won’t be under the wide publics nose so the investigating will be up to you.”

“They’re your people and you’re telling us that you don’t know everything about this place?” Ryuji asked with narrowed eyes.

Akechi sighed “It’s not like I’ve been around a lot. I was mostly doing field-research, if you can recall.”

Ryuji crossed his arms in front of his chest but remained quiet.

The detective looked around the group “I know that me pointing this out is a touchy subject for all of you but the longer we keep standing around here, the more time we lose. Time that is valuable for both of us.”

“Wait a second.” Makoto pointed out “Assuming that we believe that you’re Shidos son and that you want to kill him: If you do so long before the scheduled broadcast, there will be utter chaos on the ship and we won’t get our chance to do what we came for.”

Akechi looked to Sae “What an observant little sister you created, Sae-san.” he smirked.

“She has become like that on her own.” Sae replied, unimpressed by his mind-game. “And now answer her question.”

“Of course.” Akechi replied “While my plan might indicate otherwise, I by no means will be able to simply catch Shido in the hallway and be done with it.” he shook his head and smirked once more “No, I will use the commotion that you will create with your little act of rebellion. I don’t know a lot about my father but I know that he is impulsive. He’s more likely to break protocol and make a stupid decision when he’s under pressure. And what better way to pressure him than spilling all of his families dirty little secrets?”

“So you’ll get us onto the ship, you do you and we do us and when the time for the broadcast comes, our storylines come together again?” Futaba summed everything up.

“Something like that, yes.” Akechi said.

“You really think that we’ll just leave you wandering around that ship on your own?” Ryuji asked. “That’s your home-turf. Who knows what you can come up with.”

“I don’t know how often I have to repeat myself for you to get it. This. Isn’t. My. Home.” Akechi glared.

“And I. Don’t. Trust. You.” Ryuji glared back.

“Guys...” Makoto reluctantly stepped in. She couldn’t even blame Ryuji for being so overly suspicious of him. Akechi not being trustworthy was the main reason why the group had to break with their rule of unanimous deciding after all.

Akechi looked around the group “My offer stands. If you let me go, I will get you onto the ship. It’s up to you.”

Ren looked to the others and nodded before he cut open Akechis ties with his pocket-knife.

“And so it is.” Akechi said as he stretched his shoulders and rubbed his wrists, where the rope had started to chafe his skin.

“Now if you should try anything funny-” Ryuji took an intimidating step forward but for the fact that Akechi was as much a skinny person as Ren was, he didn’t seem intimidated.

“If I consider trying anything funny, I will do so and there is nothing that you can do about it.” he glared at the others “Let me be clear: I am not your ally and most of all, I am not your friend. Our plans just so turned out to compliment each other and so joining forces is the only logical thing to do but believe me, I’d rather slit my wrists with a rusty nail than listen to your bullshit about friendship, teamwork and love.”

A long silence fell among the group before Ren exhaled “Geez… You’re such a drama queen...”. He clapped his hands “Okay, so now that Akechi has once again fortified how much he hates us, I say it’s time to go.”

“Is it wise to go in broad daylight?” Makoto asked.

“As far as I know, the number of guards doesn't vary.” Akechi replied. “I will enter through the entrance but I’d recommend you climbing the fence somewhere behind the container-offices to the left.”

Sae nodded.

“After that, you make your way to the floating dock and go all the way to the rear of the ship. I will let down the lifeboat as soon as possible.” Akechi continued.

“How long until you’ll be ready?” Ren asked.

“Since I’ll be in much fast than you will, I suppose I can take some time and spot out the situation before coming to get you.” Akechi replied.

“You better not keep us waiting.” Ryuji growled.

“I’ll be there when I’m there.” Akechi replied to the blonde.

“Great...” Futaba muttered.

“Well that was mostly informative, so let’s pack up and get going.” Ren stated. The rest nodded and went to pack their necessities. The additional box in which Haru had carried their provisions in would have to stay behind. Futaba was feverishly trying to pack everything from her second tech-bag into her backpack. Eventually she gave up and ordered the others to open their bags too.

The group of ten was standing in front of the office-building when Akechi and Ren looked at each other. “See you on the other side of the ship.” Ren decided to say.

Akechi nodded “Try not to get caught.”

“We’ll make sure to try.”

The detective sighed before pulling his jacket shut and flattening his hair. He walked off without another word. After he disappeared around the corner, Ren turned to the rest “Alright. Let’s get going.”

The Thieves walked up to the fence and searched for the right spot behind one of the offices. Futabas focus was on the containers, trying to spot cameras but she didn’t find any. Over all, they didn’t see any guards passing inbetween the abandoned containers.

“This seems like a good place...” Ren pointed out eventually.

“So we really put all of our trust in Akechi?” Yusuke made sure as he looked up the metal fence, that was topped off with barbed wire.

“Let’s not call it trust...” Ann said. “You heard him, he doesn’t want to be our friend. He’s only helping us because we’re helping him too, in a way.”

“I say that’s a lot more trustworthy than back then when he pretended that he cared about us...” Morgana pointed out.

Ryuji sighed and looked up the fence “How are we gonna get over?”

Ren put down his backpack and took out his sleeping bag to then throw it over the barbed wire. “Tadaaa.”

Normally, the entire atmosphere among the group was much lighter. Even when they had walked the streets yesterday, there was always someone who was joking. Today everyone was concentrated. Or scared. Or worried. Or all of the above.

Even Ryuji was abnormally serious when he sternly nodded at the fence before walking up to it “Okay. Let’s do it.”. He positioned himself with his back against the fence to offer the others a boost up.

Futaba was the first to step up to the blonde guy “It’s just like when we first found LeBlanc2...” she said with great sadness in her voice.

“Except for we won’t stay here for long.” Morgana said as he climbed ahead.

“Hopefully.” Ryuji muttered as he pushed Futaba until she was able to climb across the padded part of the fence. Beside him, Ren gave a hand to Makoto and Sae. After also helping Haru and Yusuke, Ryuji and Ann were the last on the outside of the fence. Ann was about to put her foot into his hands when he reached for her wrist instead and pulled her closer so that she could hear him whisper. “Promise me to watch your back, okay?”

Ann nodded “You too.”

He grabbed her wrist a little tighter when he urged “I mean it. Please… be careful.”

Ann drew back in surprise when it suddenly didn’t seem to be enough to give the answer that had become their ritual whenever things were about to get tough. The way that his hand was wrapped almost painfully tight around her wrist now was another proof that Ryuji was honestly scared. Was it just because of Akechi? She tried to give him a reassuring smile when she reached out with her free hand to stroke his cheek with her thumb before saying “I will. But same goes for you, you hear?”

Normally things would have been settled after a talk like that. He would feel lighter, for whatever reason, because Ann didn’t need to be reminded to be careful and her reminding him to be careful too would help him get his head in the game. But not this time. This time he felt that nothing he could say would be enough. He only started to realize how hard he was grabbing her when his hand started cramping. He forced himself to let go.

Ann could tell that something was bothering him far beyond what he let on. It was just like over a week ago, when she had to send Ren to talk to him. After that, he had seemed a little less bothered or at least he tried to do a better job of hiding it but Ann knew that something was eating him from the inside and because he wouldn’t tell her about it, it started gnawing at her too. She just wanted all of this to be over so bad, so they could return to their old selves. She took a deep breath and told herself that after all of this, it would be over. They would all be able to live in peace. She leaned forward and put a kiss on Ryujis lips before she put her foot in his hand and pushed herself upward.

As Ryuji was the last to climb over the fence, he took Rens sleeping bag with him on his way down to hand it back to him. While Ren was packing up again, Makoto, Sae and Futaba scanned the area ahead.

“If we stay close to the containers, we should be able to reach the floating dock.” Makoto said.

“There’s guards patrolling but there’s openings and a few opportunities for cover, so we should be able to sneak past them.” Futaba added.

“We should split up. A group of 9 won’t be able to jump from cover to cover undetected.” Sae said.

Ren nodded “Good idea. Sae and Futaba, why don’t you two take the lead? Makoto and I will build the rear.”

The Thieves hugged the container blocks until they were almost at the waterfront. The closer they got, the chillier the breeze got, that tugged at their clothes. It wasn't long until they heard waves crashing against the pier. As Ren peeked around the corner, he noticed a staircase going down to what he guessed would be the floating dock. He looked to the others. Sae and Futaba were anxiously watching too as they tried to figure out the pattern of the guards routes. When another one appeared on the top of the stairs and continued walking away from the ship, Sae and Futaba were the first to hurry down the metal stairs, trying to make as little sound as possible. When the guard remained out of sight, the next group consisting of Ann, Ryuji and Morgana hurried down. After another cycle came Harus and Yusukes turn until eventually Makoto and Ren made a dash, hoping that down there would be enough opportunities to hide. As he and Makoto sneaked down the stairs, Ren tried to get a hold of their surroundings and the positions of the others. He saw Haru and Yusuke squatting behind a crate, waiting for another guard to walk away. Somewhere a little farther down he could see two specks of blonde. There was no sign of Sae and Futaba though. Ren figured that they must have rounded the corner to the other side of the ship already. After finding cover for him and Makoto, he dared to look up, where the enormous hull of the cruise-ship was looming over them. It felt intimidating. Especially when he thought about how many people must be on that ship. There wasn’t too much time to think of it though, for Makoto was quick to drag him on when she saw the next opening after Haru and Yusuke moved to their next cover.

It was a constant stop and go until eventually everyone had rounded the corner and covered the huge distance that was between the ships bow and rear to arrive at the head of the floating dock, where no guard was patrolling anymore and a large pile of boxes offered a good hiding spot from the guards eyes on the other end. The Phantom Thieves couldn’t do anything else but cower and stare up in awe at the huge metal tub, that was floating in front of them. Somewhere much higher up, Ren saw a few of the rescue-boats dangling along the ships side. Rows and rows of windows in the hull eventually led up to a larger window-front in elegant shapes. As he looked at all the small windows, he just hoped that noone had seen and thought them suspicious when they hurried down the dock. But he figured that there would have already been an alarm if someone would have told on them.

“Where is he?” Ryuji cursed through gritted teeth as he nervously looked around.

“He… wouldn’t leave us sitting here, right?” Haru asked. “There would be no sense in that.”

“Maybe it was all just a joke to him and he’s somewhere sitting up there, laughing at us.” Sae bitterly said.

Ren felt like throwing up. Did he already have to pay the price for trusting Akechi? Were the guards already on their way to round them up and deliver them to Shido? He was close to panicking himself when Futaba grabbed his arm and whispered “Joker, look!”

Ren thought he gave himself whiplash when his head shot up to see one of the boats slowly lowering towards them.

“Is that him?” Morgana asked.

“Well… who else could it be?” Yusuke replied.

“Could be a drill or something?” Ann wondered.

After a bit of waiting, the little dinghy came to a halt only a few hands above the water and right in front of their hiding spot. It was indeterminable who was operating the winch up on the ship, no matter how hard he looked. It would sound like Akechi, if that bastard didn’t bend over the railing on purpose to toy a little more with them. Or he was already standing and waiting with a bunch of guards and maybe even Shido himself, looking forward to bragging that he had convinced the Phantom Thieves to walk right into their enemies arms. Again. Ren couldn’t help but be annoyed when he thought of that smug grin returning to Akechis face, as soon as he realized that everything he had told him was a lie. Maybe he really was Shidos son but maybe they had the best of father-son-relationships? But then Ren figured that a young Akechi must have been somewhere around back then when Shido had run for mayor in his old hometown. At least that’s what he tried to tell himself but knowing Akechi, he had probably already been working as an assassin for his grandfather for all that Ren could imagine. And in the end, even if they ended up running right into Shidos open and scary arms, it still was the only chance they had to get onto that ship in the first place. Ren took a deep breath before he looked to the others “I think that’s our ride.” he said.

The others just nodded as they slowly and carefully climbed into the boat. By the time Ren climbed in as the last passenger, the inside was already crowded due to all of them cowering on the floor of the boat to continue to lay low and not raise any attention. Whoever was operating the thing must have seen that they were complete for not long after Ren took his position, the ropes started creaking as they slowly started to move upward. Ren just hoped that they didn’t take the elevator to their death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realized that I've thrown in many cliffhangers lately but I can't help it, it's just sooo tempting especially since it's hard to read Akechi and what awaits them on the ship could really be anything ranging between great and terrible news. 
> 
> Since Sae was hurt by Akechi playing her like that, I felt that she deserved to face him and call him out. Of course Akechi doesn't come crawling for forgivenes but Sae was someone that he admired and cared about, so he feels bad for lying and playing her to a degree too. 
> 
> Ren is struggling with the responsibility on his shoulders, since all of those that decided to trust Akechi did so because Ren decided to trust him. But now they're in it together and noone can tell how this mission will end.


	90. The MS Decadence

The ride up to the deck was excruciating but Ren figured that he wasn‘t the only one who thought that. Even the ones who had decided to trust Akechi – or rather trust in Rens trust in Akechi – looked uncertain as they sat in their little nutshell of a boat, waiting to meet their fate. Under any other circumstances, Ren would have expected Ryuji to groan out loud from all the tension but none of them felt like themselves at the moment. Everyone collectively started to hold their breath when the background on the ship shifted from bland sheets of wilted metal to an elegantly designed railing. Not long after passing that, their ride came to a sudden stop. Ren decided to be the first to stick out his neck to scan the situation.

The deck was empty except for one slender figure standing at the controls in the middle of the balcony.

Either it was because everyone felt the pressure falling off Rens shoulders or they felt safe because his head still remained intact even after daring to look but one after the other, more heads popped up from the boat.

“He didn’t sell us out...” Futaba whispered, disbelieving.

“Yet...” Ryuji muttered.

After everyone made an inelegant dismount from the wobbling dinghy, they met up with Akechi.

“Welcome to the MS Decadence.” he said.

“The name’s a bit on the nose but...” Futaba said as she looked around. Even one of the rear-decks that seemed mostly accessed by staff looked elegant enough.

Makoto shook her head before she whispered to Futaba “No… I don’t think that’s the real name...”

Morgana looked at Akechi “What now?”

“Now your leader and I will organize your quarters.” Akechi said with a look at Ren.

Sae looked skeptic “You want us to split up?”

“I actually propose that you stay out here, together, and lay low until we return. It’s just an organizational issue.” Akechi replied.

Makoto took a step towards Ren and grabbed his hand “Then I will come too.”

Akechi sighed and rolled his eyes “I’m sure that you’ll be able to survive without your lover for a few minutes.”

“I think she’s more concerned for the safety of her “lover”.” Sae replied.

Ren squeezed Makotos hand and gave her a nod “I’m sure it’ll be alright.”

“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” Makoto whispered.

“None of us are.” Ren replied. “But I’d say that we passed a really huge hurdle already with standing up here and still living.”

Makoto reluctantly nodded and let go of his hand.

Ren made a step forward “Lead the way.”

Akechi looked to the others “Try not to cause too much commotion. Normally there shouldn’t be any guards in this area, unless you give them a reason to investigate.”

“How stupid do you think we are?” Ryuji asked, irritated.

“Very.” Akechi replied. “And also very emotional, which is never a good combination.”. He turned on his heel and walked ahead. Ren gave the others a nod before hurrying after him.

When Akechi opened the door, Ren felt like stepping into another world. A world where everything was alright. There was a bright red carpet on the floor and the walls were elegantly decorated with both intricate wooden designs and artwork. For the fact that this ship must have been laying in the exact same position for over 50 years, it was in excellent condition. As Akechi led him through the hallway, they passed by a fancy couple, both of them dressed in the finest threads.

The detective led him to the reception, where a man and a woman in elegant uniforms were sitting. Akechi casually walked up to the counter and leaned against it. The man bowed “Akechi-san, we are happy to hear about your return. Your quarters are untouched, as you ordered.”

Akechi smiled his fake smile when he said “Oh, that’s very considerate of you, I appreciate it.” he leaned over the counter to create a fake atmosphere of friendship “I’m sure that my dear friend over here will experience the same kindness and exquisite service now that he intends to move here too.”

The man nodded along “Most certainly, Akechi-san. Now, if you will just give me the gentlemans name, I will set him up with a suite right away.”

Akechi looked to Ren and an instant glint in his eyes gave away how incredibly annoyed he was by all of this playing nice “You hear that, old friend. A suite.” he put on his facade again when he turned back to the receptionist “The name is Akira Kurusu.”

“Would you like me to accommodate him near your quarters, sir?”

Akechi chuckled lightly and shook his head “Oh, quite the contrary. After traveling with him for a while, I know all too well about his terrible snore.”

Rens eyelids dropped. Was he seriously taking at jabs at him in a situation like this?

The man behind the desk looked uncertain of how to respond in an adequate manner that would not insult the new customer and also give Akechi some satisfaction over his unfunny joke. He ended up placing a key-card on the desk “Here you go, Mister Kurusu. All set up and ready to go. Your suite is located two decks above this one on floor 10, offering a marvelous view of the ocean. Meals will be served in the ships restaurants and housekeeping will come by every day at around 10.”

“Oh...” Ren said “That won’t be necessary. I’ll just clean it on my own.”

The concierge was at a loss for words.

Ren shrugged and tried to give a charming smile “OCD...”

“And a very severe case at that.” Akechi added “It can drive you up a wall. At least it did for me.”

The concierge chuckled lightly before saying “Whatever makes you happy, Mister Kurusu. I will pass on the message. Welcome to Eden.”

“Eden?” Ren asked before slapping Akechi on the shoulder, enjoying the moment while the detective couldn’t do anything against it “I was under the impression that this place is called the MS Decadence.” he laughed “But this one here is always good for a laugh and a joke. Sometimes, I can’t tell when he’s being serious.”

The concierge laughed once more before saying “Enjoy your stay, Mister Kurusu. Feel free to browse the shops on the gallery-deck, if you should ever yearn for new clothes.”

Ren nodded “I’ll make sure to do just that. But first I’ll need to check out that new suite of mine.”. He tipped an imaginary hat before walking away with Akechi.

“If you ever touch me again, I will push you off the highest point of this ship. Harbor-side.” Akechi hissed through gritted teeth.

“Chill out, old friend.” Ren said lightly, feeling incredibly safe in the hallway. “And really? Akira? Where did that come from?”

“I suppose Joker would have made for some strange glances, especially since that name’s in the database now.” Akechi replied. “And I’m sure Akira is a better name than whatever your real name is.”

“It’s Ren.” Ren replied. “And are you insulting my parents?”

“They most certainly raised the most special little snowflake.” Akechi said with acid in his voice.

“Maybe. But what I know for a fact is that opposing your father is in my blood.” Ren shrugged “Not to brag but my dad cost your dad a vote once.”

“I couldn’t care less about your family-story.” Akechi replied as they continued to walk through the hallway.

“What now?” Ren asked.

“We’re hitting the gallery-deck to buy some disguises for your more… obvious.. friends.”

“There’s really shops in here?” Ren asked.

“More than you can imagine.” he sighed.

“You’re known pretty well for the fact that you claim that you’ve barely been here. How long have your quarters been uninhabited?”

Akechi shook his head “I am a part of Shidos intelligence-service after all, so a room has been given to me automatically. And that concierges job is to remember and suck up to people.”

“So a bit like what you used to do.” Ren quipped.

“Hilarious.” Akechi said, leaving no doubt that he thought nothing but.

After riding the elevator for three floors, Ren had to stop and stare at the so-called gallery-deck. Left and right were shops with lights and shop-windows. The pathway in the middle was crowded with people on a shopping trip. Now that he saw the clientele, he figured that the concierge wasn’t just listing all the amenities but actually advised him on buying some clothes more fitting for his new home. Home. Nothing about this place felt homely. It felt uptight and all these people looked far too snooty to be any fun. On the other hand: the Thieves used to be funnier too.

Akechi and Ren did some shopping for clothes and wigs. In every store, someone recognized the detective. Ren wasn’t sure if that really was because of him being part of Shidos Intelligence or because he was some kind of celebrity among them. What he was sure about though was, that Akechi hated acting nice with all his guts.

By the time the two returned to the deck on floor 8, they found the rest of the Thieves sitting in a corner, freezing and waiting. Ren tossed out a few wigs to Ann, Futaba, Haru and Ryuji.

Haru looked confused “Why me?”

“Do you really think that being recognized as an Okumura will help in this situation?” Akechi asked.

“No...” Haru sighed before pulling on a short-haired black wig, trying to stuff her fluffy hair underneath the cap.

“Seriously...” Futaba muttered as she held up a long-haired black wig “So boring… There’s a reason why I dyed my hair.”

“Trust me, those people in there look veery judgmental.” Ren said.

“Aw, so like Sae.” Futaba grinned.

“Speaking of Sae… Will people know about her?” Yusuke asked.

Akechi shook his head “Sae-san working with me was decided by the executives. The people that you will mingle with only care about getting to the restaurants in time and not having to lift a finger for anything. So no.”

Ann sighed as she tried to adjust her wig “How do I look?”

“Weird...” Morgana replied when he mustered Ann with dark brown hair.

“Probably not as weird as me...” Ryuji muttered when he adjusted the sleek black mens wig on his head.

“Nah… you just look like you probably should look...” Futaba shrugged.

“You’re one to talk.” Ryuji replied.

Futaba stuck out her tongue.

“Everyone ready?” Ren asked as he looked at the group of unimpressive young adults. He noticed how a lot of their personality was suddenly missing with Saes silvery hair being the what stood out the most about them. “Let’s go take a look at that suite that Akechi got us.”

Even as a large group passing through the hallway, Ren felt pretty invisible. People seemed so occupied with their own stuff, whatever that was. After finally being able to find their way in the maze of hallways. A click was heard when Ren slid the card through the reader before Futaba pushed open the door, too excited to wait any longer.

“Whoah!” she exclaimed before the others even had the opportunity to enter.

Ren didn’t have anything to add to that. They stood in a spacious living room with two sofas and a cushioned chair. At the wall was a small working area with a desk and another chair. The other wall was a window-front with a view of the ocean many, many levels below them. Leading away from the living room was a bathroom and two bedrooms.

“This is insane...” Ann said wide-eyed as she looked around the tastefully decorated suite.

Makoto closed the door behind them and looked around “Oracle, check for cameras or other privacy-invading devices.”

“On it!” Futaba said and unpacked her gear on the nearby desk.

“How can this be so well-conserved?” Sae muttered as she looked around the room.

“Wealth can accomplish a lot.” Akechi replied. “And Shido wanted to create a bastion where the rich can mingle among the rich. And the people in question were very interested in that.”

“But how do you mean, rich?” Morgana asked. “I thought money isn’t worth much.”

“There is someone very rich among you now, is there not?” Akechi asked in return, making Morgana turn silent.

Futaba held up her finger, pointing everyone to stay quiet for a moment before announcing “We’re in the clear. No strange tech detected.”

Yusuke sat down and inspected the painting on the wall.

“So now that we’re in… what’s next?” Ann asked.

Ren pointed at the two paper bags that he had placed on the sofas “Akechi and I took the liberty to gather some clothes with which we should be able to blend in even better. And that’s what we’re going to do.” he looked around “I’d say that we split up and each put an ear to the ground to get a feel for the place. Oracle, do you think you can duplicate the key?”

“I can try.” Futaba shrugged.

“And do you think that you can gain access to their network?” Sae asked.

“If it’s as fancy as their interior, probably not. But hey, only one way to find out.” the hacker said.

“Just don’t do anything that could compromise us.” Ren ordered.

“I’ll be quiet as a mouse.” Futaba nodded.

“The rest of us will hit the ship and get a feeling of the layout.” Makoto said. “On the down-low, of course.” she sighed “I know the clientele seemed very… different… but no matter what they do or say, we can’t cause a scene. We should also heed Akechis advice and come up with stories in advance on how we got here, in case anyone asks.”

Sae nodded “It would also be wise to not travel in a large group anymore, as to not make it obvious that we belong together. Ideally, we should also time it that way, that others won’t see two different teams entering this place at once, since this shouldn’t be the home of so many people.”

“I doubt that anyone will make a big deal out of it, if they notice.” Akechi said “The inhabitants here mostly care about themselves...”

“Speaking of caring about themselves….” Ren pointed out with a smirk “What was that about you setting us up and then leaving? You’re still here, plotting with us.” he grinned “Akechi… do you maybe even.. like us?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Akechi snorted. “The only reason I’m still here is to make sure that you don’t endanger my own operation.”

“Sure.” Ren grinned.

Akechi grunted, unnerved, before turning on his heels and walking out.

“So much for that...” Ryuji muttered.

Yusuke leaned back in his seat “I have to admit, this morning I didn’t even think that we would end up here.”

“Akechi really stayed true to his word.” Ann said.

“And now it’s up to us to put it to use.” Ren said. “First of all, we need to find out where the area starts to be off-limits for the public. That’s probably the place where we need to start looking for everything equipment-wise.”

Makoto and Sae exchanged a look before the older Niijima said “I was able to snatch a floor-plan of the upper decks. Maybe it would be wise to assign teams to different areas.” she said as she spread out a folder on the coffee-table.

“I call shopping!” Ann was quick to exclaim.

Makoto grimaced “Maybe we should concentrate on other locations for now. After all, how much can we really determine from watching people shop?”

Ann sighed and dropped down on the sofa “Fiiine...”

Makoto pointed at the top of the ship “The pool-deck sounds like a promising location to listen in on the chatter.”

“A rooftop-pool in the winter?” Haru asked.

“More like an ice-skating-rink with this cold...” Morgana muttered.

“It says here that it’s available around the year, so my guess would be that it’s indoors.” Sae uttered.

“Seriously, is this place lacking anything?” Futaba exclaimed. “Several restaurants and bars. A casino and oooh! An arcade!” she tapped onto Saes map “I call dibs on that one!”

“Me too!!” Morgana called out. "Do you think that they have a functioning air-hockey-table?!”

Haru had to giggle at the kids excitement.

Ann leaned forward and scanned the floor-plan “This place is huge and the map only shows the common areas...” she sighed “It’ll take weeks until we’re done with investigating the whole thing.”

“If we even manage to get access to the area off-limits.” Makoto said.

“Let’s keep our focus on what’s right in front of us. Should we really be here tomorrow without having learned anything new, then we might have to consult Akechi again. He’s better connected than he claims to be.” Ren said.

“I knew it!” Ryuji muttered.

“Maybe that’s not a bad thing for us.” Ren looked around “I mean.. that guy at the reception just gave me a room because Akechi said so. In a nice voice. Also, as long as we’re here: My name is Akira Kurusu.”

Morgana looked him up and down with squinted eyes before saying “Hmm… I can actually see that. It’s a fitting name for you.”

“That means that we would have to come up with new names too?” Yusuke asked.

“Maybe it would be best if all of us took on a more normal-sounding code-name for this mission.” Makoto agreed.

Sae stepped up to the coffee-table and looked at the map once again “While taking on new names is a good idea, I suggest that we come up with a strategy on who checks out what. Some of these places are probably better visited right away while others will be more crowded during the evening. If we assign time-slots, then those not out in action can stay here and rest up.”

Yusuke nodded “Good idea.”

“We will also have to think about where the rest of us will get food. The one restaurant we passed by on our way here seemed to have a sitting-order so I assume that there will be confusion if all of us show up there.” Sae added.

Futaba leaned forward and said “Seems like the rest of us will have to stuff themselves at the various buffets around.”

“And they won’t ask questions there?” Haru asked.

“Only one way to find out.” Morgana shrugged.

“Has the receptionist ever asked if you’re traveling alone?” Makoto asked Ren.

He shook his head “Nope. I’m a bit surprised that he gave me a two-bedroom-suite but maybe that’s just the Akechi-bonus?”

“I’d recommend that Ren and Makoto check out the restaurant for dinner. Should they ask, it won’t be hard to argument that you two have moved in together.”

Makoto nodded “Good idea.”

Ren looked at the map “Ryuji, Ann. You wanna check out the pool?”

Ann grinned “You know it.”

“Yusuke and I can check out the lounge in the evening.” Haru offered.

Ren nodded “Sounds good.”

“And Morgana and I will do the Arcade later.” Futaba threw in.

“Yeah!” the kid exclaimed excitedly.

“Alright, alright.” Ren grinned. “But no cheating, okay?”

Futaba sighed but eventually nodded.

“Then I will take a stroll around the ship and see if I can spot something else interesting.” Sae said.

“That’s a good idea too.” Makoto said.

Ryuji got up “So guess Ann and I are up first, right?”

“There’s probably a lot more people at the pool during the day.” Makoto said.

Ann grinned “Okay, got it! Just give me a moment.” she walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Ryuji asked.

“You don’t really think that we can just walk to the pool with our street-clothes, right?” Ann replied.

Ryuji sighed “You’re really going shopping now?”

“Yup.”

The blonde shook his head in disbelieve before eventually asking “Get something for me too?”

Ann grinned from ear to ear when she nodded before almost skipping out the door, but not before snatching the key-card from the little sideboard.

Sae sighed and shook her head.

“Her logic isn’t wrong...” Makoto eventually admitted.

Ren could only shrug and smile “We have to blend in for now. So I guess we should at least pretend to enjoy ourselves like the other people around here do.”

Everyone reluctantly nodded. While normally a vacation on a luxury-cruise-ship would have left all of them at least a little excited about a world that seemed so completely foreign, the situation they were in put a damper on all of their moods. Ren couldn’t help but admire Ann, Futaba and Morgana a little bit to be able to ignore the huge shadow that was looming over them at all times. Or maybe they were just a little better at covering it up. Ren recalled Ann telling him how she was tired of being scared and tired of running as well as Morgana basically saying that he would be the one to keep believing when everyone else wouldn’t. His gut twisted again when he realized that they must feel the same as all of them but they were the ones fighting the hardest to not give in to the despair. Ren admired them even more for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy P5S-release day! Please no spoilers though, I haven't even ordered it yet ;D
> 
> Akechi kept his word and actually got the Thieves set up with a decent cover for them to explore the ship a bit. While they still don't have anything solid for a plan, the first step to finding out more is to investigate the location. And now with the tasks assigned, I think you can guess that next chapter will be more character- than story-heavy ;)


	91. Infiltrating The Elite

“It‘s crazy how cheap all those clothes were.” Ann said as she and Ryuji walked up a flight of stairs towards the pool-deck. “Everyone always said how fancy clothes cost a fortune but not here...”

“Suppose all these rich asses are paying in other ways too.” Ryuji muttered.

Ann was fully aware that under any less abnormal circumstances, Ryuji would have been excited to hit a pool. She forced herself to continue smiling when she said “I‘m a bit excited to find out what this pool looks like.”

“Yeah...” Ryuji absentmindedly replied.

A gust of warm air blew in their faces when they opened the door to the pool-area. Even Ryuji couldn’t help but gape at the glass ceiling that had been erected over the previously open-air pool-deck.

“They built a dome over it?” Ann said, wide-eyed.

“Seems like it.” Ryuji muttered.

“It’s so pretty.” Ann said “It must be beautiful up here at night.”

“Yeah...” Ryuji muttered before he was pushed to the side by someone walking past him. “Hey!” he angrily called out before Anns hand shot out to grab him by the wrist, silently urging him to stay quiet and don’t cause a scene.

But the old man in question had already heard him and slowly turned around to the now not-so-obviously different teenagers. “You were blocking the way.” he replied matter-of-factly.

“And have you never heard of, I dunno, saying something?” Ryuji angrily replied.

The old man huffed before muttering under his breath “Who let these kids in here?”. He walked away without saying anything.

Ann let go of his wrist “We have to keep a low profile, remember?” she pleaded.

“He was behaving like an ass!” Ryuji hissed through gritted teeth.

Ann sighed “Come on… let’s just get dressed and find a good spot to listen in on people.” she started to walk towards the changing rooms.

Ann was the first to exit the cabins again. While the stores on the ship didn’t have anything for her taste, she had settled on a simple bathing suit and a thin bathrobe with a colorful design. She still flinched every time she spotted herself in a mirror. She had combed the wig and draped the hair into a bun before leaving the suite. Dark brown hair didn’t suit her at all, especially combined with her turquoise eyes, that seemed to be even more piercing and obvious now.

As she stepped outside, she scanned the area. At the far back of the pool-deck was a bar with both snacks and drinks. Given that they wouldn’t be able to go to the restaurant for dinner, they would probably have to raid the buffet here to stuff their stomachs. She decided to go ahead and check it out.

Even for a buffet, the food looked fancier than everything she had seen so far. There were delicately decorated mini-sandwiches and little pastries along with other stuff in tiny glasses. Ann would have liked to stuff her purse but she figured that that would be even more suspicious and not the way that people behaved here.

“Having trouble choosing?” a booming voice made her flinch before she turned around with a forced smile. An older man was standing behind her, looking over her shoulder. He was standing much too close.

“All of this just looks so delicious...” Ann said with a forced girly voice.

The man looked her up and down, making Ann grateful for the bathrobe “I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing you around yet...”

“Oh, I’ve only moved here recently.” Ann nervously laughed while taking a small step to the side to create some more distance.

The man eventually ended up looking at her face before he spent an uncomfortably long time looking into her eyes “You sure have some special eyes...” he said in a creepy voice that gave Ann the scary kind of goosebumps. “You must have a foreign heritage.”

“Haha, you got me.” Ann nervously replied before pulling out the first accent she could think of “The name is Ann Windsor.”

“Windsor!” the man exclaimed.

Ann nodded feverishly.

“There’s been Windsors here in Japan during the shadow infestation?” the man asked, surprised. “That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Well… They did keep it on the down-low.” Ann argued with a smile.

“I see.” the man seemed understanding before chuckling “And who but Shido to find a remaining Windsor to bring to this ship? You must have been through a lot but you’re safe now.” the man reached out and put his hand on her arm, slightly stroking her with his thumb.

It took all the power in Ann to refrain from pulling away and punching him.

“What’s going on here?” a pleasantly familiar voice with a dangerous undertone caused the man to pull away his hand again in a hurry. Even with black hair, Ryuji still looked intimidating enough when he walked up to her to demonstratively put an arm around her shoulders.

“I see that you’re not traveling alone.” the man said, a film of sweat spreading on his brow.

“As you said, it’s very dangerous out there.” Ann played helpless.

“Is… is he a royal too?” the man tried to make casual conversation now.

“No.” Ann shook her head when she looked up to Ryuji. She could tell that he was confused but his demeanor remained unchanged. She turned back to looking at the man “We ran away together. So I would reeeally appreciate it, if you kept my identity a secret.” she smiled sweetly “Would you do that for me?”

The man sweated a little more “Of course, of course!”

“That’s so sweet. Thank you!” Ann cooed.

The man chuckled when he said “As soon as Shido comes to power, he will make sure that we get to move into the most luxurious places. Although I’m afraid that you won’t find a castle. Except Kamoshidas, of course.”

Both the blondes tensed up at the mention of the name.

“Kamoshida?” Ann nervously laughed “I've never heard of him. And he has a castle, you say?”

“Well, had.” the man said. “He’s a hero who was giving less fortunate teens a purpose and a job until they ran amok and locked him in his own dungeon.” he shook his head “Ungrateful, I say. He’s only been trying to help them and the families. And what an honor it is to work for the famous Kamoshida too.”

This time Ann didn’t find it in herself to hold Ryuji back, should he run rampant. She would actually join him. But so far he seemed to keep himself under control.

“Apparently the teenagers claimed that he tortured and mistreated them.” the man said before waving his hand dismissively “Todays youth is just weak, is what I think. You don’t become a hero for nothing. I’m sure that Kamoshida was just trying to prepare them for the tough world out there but instead of being grateful, they bit the hand that fed them.” he shook his head “I hope that once Shido is in control, he will be able to do something about that too. That man is a hero and he certainly doesn’t deserve to be locked up in a dungeon by some ungrateful brats.”

Ann couldn’t blend out his words entirely, even though her sole focus was on keeping her body relaxed and not ball her fists. She could feel Ryujis hand holding onto her shoulder tighter as he was struggling to keep his cool too. Kamoshida had broken his leg and damaged his reputation. He had spread lies about Ann and attempted to rape her and she didn’t even want to imagine what he had done to Shiho and so many other girls that he had locked up in his cellar. And this man still treated him like a misunderstood hero who had only tried to help all these poor teenagers.

When both of them didn’t say anything for a while, the man started to chuckle nervously “But I suppose you never had to worry about things like that.” he made a small bow before leaving.

The two blondes were too dumbfounded to say or move anything for a few moments after the man left. Eventually Ryuji turned to her “You okay?”

Ann nodded “Yeah. But I think I lost my appetite.”

“Me too.”

By the time Ren and Makoto left for dinner, the two blondes still hadn’t returned from the pool.

“I’m already starting to worry...” Makoto said as she and Ren walked down the hallway, both dressed a little more fancier in their newly picked clothes.

“I’m sure they’re just enjoying themselves at the pool.” Ren replied. “Although hopefully not too much...”

“Sae said that we should take turns in leaving and they aren’t sticking to the plan.”

“I’m sure that we would have noticed if something had happened to them.” Ren replied.

“Ann seemed to be enjoying the opportunity too much. You don’t think that she forgot about her wig and went for a swim, right?” Makoto talked herself into alarm.

“She’s not enjoying the situation too much, she’s just trying to not be another downer.” Ren harshly replied. “We already have too much of those among us.”

Makoto couldn't help but look surprised about his sudden outburst.

“Sorry…” Ren sighed “I just realized it a little earlier too… I know that I’m not much better. I was close to having a heart-attack when we were on that boat...” he muttered.

Makoto sighed “Maybe you’re right. I’m sure that Ann is aware of the situation...” She reached for his hand.

They walked in silence until they reached the restaurant-entrance. A small table with a waiter behind it was standing in the entrance.

Ren channeled Akira Kurusu and put on a smile when he looked at the waiter.

“Your name, please?” the waiter politely asked.

“Kurusu.” Ren charmingly replied. “Mr. and Mrs.”

The waiter nodded before motioning them to follow. He led them to a table right beside the window front at the bow of the ship, under which they had just passed under a few hours ago. After seating them, the waiter hurried off. Ren only then noticed how red Makotos cheeks had turned all of a sudden. He realized that this was probably the most fancy date someone could have in times like these. “What’s with the red cheeks?” he asked with a grin.

“Mr. and Mrs.?” Makoto nervously replied.

Ren scratched his head. It had just come so naturally to him. “You haven’t told me what you wanted your name to be so I thought that it was easier that way...” he argued.

Makoto looked at him with a smile when she replied “I don’t mind.”

Ren reached out and took her hand across the table. For a moment, the time seemed to stop around them when he saw nothing but her reddish eyes.

“I like what you picked out for me too.” Makoto shyly replied as she looked down at the white blouse and the elegant black dress-pants that he had bought with Akechi on their little shopping spree.

“There was this really pretty dress too, but...” Ren teased. When Makoto scoffed at him, he added “But those pieces had your name just written all over them...”

Makoto smiled before she carefully laced their fingers together.

“This is the most date-like thing we’ve ever done.” Ren smirked when another waiter came around to serve them water along with two fancy plates of soup.

“You’re right.” Makoto smiled. “Not counting the double-date with Eiko, this is actually only the second date we’ve ever been on. And the first one was a picknick in Takemis strange herb-garden.”

“So you’re saying that it wouldn’t have needed much for an upgrade to the first date?” Ren asked.

Makoto laughed before shaking her head “That’s not what I meant.” she squeezed her hand “I enjoyed our first date too.”

Ren smiled “Me too.”. He gently squeezed her hand.

“Fish again?” a lady at the next table complained.

“You know it’s only for a little while longer now.” the man with her tried to appease her.

“I can’t wait to finally get off this ship again. It makes me sea-sick.” the woman complained.

“I know. But you heard the news. They’re at the verge of a breakthrough. Soon president Shido will rule the country and then we’re going to be on top of the list.” the man replied “Meaning we’re going to be one of the firsts who get to claim land.”

The woman sighed “I can’t wait to live in a proper house again. At least the other people here are decent enough.”

“Shido would only surround himself with the highest class of people.” the man agreed. “And those who follow him, will come out on top.” he took a sip of his drink “You will see, it’s only a matter of weeks until he has it all in the bag and starts claiming all the interesting properties. Who knows. If we so choose, maybe we’ll even get a whole town with the people included.” he shrugged.

“One would think that to be adequate, given how much money we hold back for this future of his.” the woman agreed.

Ren and Makoto shared a look across the table. They didn’t dare to say anything and instead chose to eat their fancy dinner in silence.

By the time it got dark outside, the pool-deck was empty except for two undercover blondes, who were laying on a beach-bed and looking into the clear night sky. After their encounter with the strange man, none of them had lost a word about Kamoshida but it was pretty obvious that it upset them both. But then on the other hand, Ann was unable to tell just what it really was that upset Ryuji so much. She hadn’t been able to determine it in days and the more time passed, the more she realized that she couldn’t hold it up anymore. She couldn’t remember a time where they had just layed beside each other without any form of physical contact. And it was killing her. “I can’t do this anymore...” she whispered.

Ryuji turned his head and looked at her “Whaddaya mean?”

“I’m so sick and tired of all of this. I just want this whole thing to be over already. I want us to be us again and not...” she pointed at the distance between them “… this…” it didn’t matter how hard she tried to tell herself that she couldn’t cry. She hadn’t even finished her first sentence when the tears started pooling in her eyes.

Ryuji sat up and looked at her “Ann...”

She shook her head “And I want to know what’s bothering you so much that you can’t even hold my hand right now.”

He averted his gaze when he balled his fists. He knew that he had done a lousy job at covering it up. But if he told her, she would just be worried.

“For fucks sake, Ryuji...” Ann whispered as she sat up and covered his fist with her hand “Please...”

“I didn’t wanna worry you...” Ryuji muttered.

“You failed.” she retorted “So just spit it out. Please.”

Ryuji grimaced once again before he looked out over the pool and said “I think I’ll die here.”

“What are you talking about?” Ann asked.

Ryuji could only raise his shoulders “This will be the grand finale. The All-or-Nothing. If we fail, it’s over.” he explained “And in those situations, there’s always someone that doesn’t make it.”

Ann stared at him with wide eyes “You're not going to die.” she replied, dumbfounded.

Ryuji sighed and rubbed the back of his neck “You don’t know that.”

She shook her head “No, I know. Because I won’t let you.”

“Don’t say that!” Ryujis pained face changed into a frown. “Just… don’t. Please.”. Her dying with him would have been the exact opposite of what he was going for. Hell, if he didn’t care so damn much about her and the rest of his family, he probably wouldn’t be in this situation. But he was. Because he knew that if it came down to it, he would make the decision to think about the others first. And while he was okay with that, he still felt like he had to come to terms with dying in the process.

Ann stared at him with tears streaming down her face now but it was too dark to see.

“I don’t want to die.” Ryuji grimaced “But when it comes down to someone having to make a sacrifice so the others can escape… it’ll be me.”

“No.” Ann squeezed his fist “I won’t leave you alone, no matter what. You hear me?”

“You have to.” Ryuji opposed.

“I don’t.” Ann glared at him.

They continued to stare at each other, both of them too proud to back down.

“You don’t get to decide this for me.” Ann angrily said “You can’t just tell me that you think you’ll die and then tell me to go on when things get tough.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.” Ryuji angrily replied.

They dropped into another stare-off. Even though Ann was crying, there was still no doubt that the emotion in charge was stubborness.

Ryuji was the first to say something again when he muttered “Guess we won’t come to an agreement over this.”. It wouldn’t have been Ann to just say Okay and agree with him after a discussion like this. Because he probably wouldn’t have accepted it either, if the positions had been reversed.

“I guess we won’t.” Ann said. She drew back her hand before climbing to her feet “Let’s go back. We’re already out much longer than we planned on.”

Ryuji nodded and followed her lead back. He raised his head and looked up at the sky. The first thing she had said upon entering was how nice it must be up here at night but now it hadn’t turned out so romantic after all. “So… what now?” he asked after arriving at the cabins. He couldn’t remember a time where they hadn’t solved an argument in the end.

Ann could only shrug when she looked to the changing cabins. The doors and walls went from the floor up to the ceiling, making the cabins into separate rooms. “Guess we’ll just end up doing what we always do when we don’t know what to say.” she said before stepping into one of the cabins.

Ryuji knew them too well as to not understand her drift. He followed her inside and closed the door behind them. They reached out at the same time to rip off each others wigs before pulling each other close to aggressively undermine the fears that were now seeping into both of their minds and hearts.

The ships’ arcade was brightly illuminated by colorful neon-lights. Morgana and Futaba could already tell where it was from around the corner, when they heard the all too strange and also familiar tune of the arcade-machines and all of their different soundtracks. Futabas eyes went wide when she looked at its full glory.

“This is pinball-heaven...” she muttered as she looked around.

“But no air-hockey...” Morgana sighed.

“Sorry...” Futaba patted his head before pointing to the wall “But look! There’s other games that we can play together or against each other!”

Morgana shrugged before nodding “Okay. Better than nothing, I guess.”

Futaba got some tokens from the counter before the two walked to a retro fighting-game. “Ooh, this is coop. We could even call it team-building, in case anyone asks.” she grinned.

Morgana grinned when he got in position and looked at the different buttons and controls.

Futaba put a token into the machine and looked at the screen with a look of disbelieve “This is the first time I’m playing a game like this...” she muttered as she looked at the pixelated screen in awe.

“Really?” Morgana asked. “But you always take about games.”

“Yeah because I collected gaming-guides back at LeBlanc.” Futaba replied. “That’s like… my religion.”

“But now they’re all gone?”

“Yup..” Futaba sighed as they both stared at the screen, trying to get a hold of the controls. “But except from the collectors-thought, I didn’t lose much. I knew most of them by heart already anyway.”

Morgana stuck out his tongue as he feverishly pushed the buttons indicated to defeat some pixel-monsters that kept approaching his and Futabas characters. “This is like fighting shadows. But less complicated.”

Futaba chuckled “If only you could fight shadows by controlling an avatar and pressing a button.”

“You think you could build some sort of battle-robots for us?” Morgana asked. “So we could send those into battle while we just sit and steer them with a remote control?”

The hacker grinned “That would be insane! And then we do a super-move, where all those smaller robots transform into one giant one!”

“YES!” Morgana exclaimed excitedly, the game they were playing almost forgotten before a hectic beeping from the machine hinted that they were close to losing.

Futaba looked at the screen and continued to fight before she eventually said “It feels good to get away from the others for a while...”

Morgana pondered for a moment before saying “Everyone is really on edge at the moment.”

“Are you scared?” Futaba asked.

The boy looked at the buttons in front of him before shrugging “I don’t know. I think so.” he stubbornly shook his head “But I refuse to believe that something bad will happen. It just can’t!” he looked over to Futaba “What about you?”

Even though it only showed “Game Over” in huge letters, Futabas eyes were still fixated on the screen when she said “I’m really scared. I mean.. it’s good that we’re here but we still have no clue on how to proceed.” her hand was gripping the joy-stick when she said “And at some point, everything will depend on me. And if I fail, we’re screwed.”

Morgana looked at Futaba. There was a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. “Have you talked to anyone about it?” he asked.

Futaba shrugged “I'm now, am I not? Besides... there's not really much to talk about, is there?” she replied “Especially since everyone is already going crazy because of their own worries.” she shrugged again “I don’t wanna add to that. And it gets a bit easier when I pretend that everything’s still worth a joke.”

The boy looked at the now black-haired hacker. In a phase where everyone seemed on edge, she was probably on edge the most but still tried to put on a brave face. Compared to how she used to be before, keeping up that facade without anyone noticing was a huge change in her.

“And you? Is the families moral compass still unchanged?” she asked.

Morgana decided to nod. While he couldn’t avoid being dragged down by everyones mood, something still told him that everything would be fine. “It’s a bit tough right now but I know that everything will turn out fine.” he nodded “It always has so far, so why should it be different now?”

Futaba chuckled before looking at him again and ruffling his hair “Let’s just hope you’re right.”

“And until then, let’s just try to not make ourselves too crazy. Maybe the others are already finding out important things as we speak.” Morgana said.

Futaba decided to nod for now. There wasn’t really a lot to counter that anyway. “Wanna play another round?”

Soft piano-tunes filled Harus and Yusukes ears even before they entered the elegant lounge one floor above the restaurant. All around were small tables with fancy cushioned benches, were people lounged and enjoyed the band on the stage. A few couples were swaying along to the music on the dance-floor. Haru still wasn’t quite used to wearing straight hair but it had been a lot easier to put on the wig after Ann and her had experimented a bit and eventually found the right technique to pull her own hair into a tight bun to then hide it underneath the wig. Her arm was looped around Yusukes as they stood in the entrance together and took in the atmosphere. Everything was so different. Everyone seemed happy and like they didn’t have a care in the world. But what was different about their happiness was that it felt like they never ever had to care about anything. As if they were used to being happy without ever having to experience any hardships. She recalled all of the feasts her father used to throw, where people would only complain about not having a driver they could trust or lamenting about some rare item not being immediately available. It really was an entirely different world, that these people were living in. It had taken some time for Haru to realize it too, but their happy moments with the Phantom Thieves, for example over finding a pond in the middle of Tokyo to cool off, had felt much more genuine than anything she had experienced on galas of the high-society.

Yusuke guided her to the bar, where they placed themselves at a standing table before the artist went to get drinks for the two of them. Haru looked after him with a small smile on her face. Their shared sleeping space still didn’t leave her head, even after going through so many exciting things today.

It didn’t take long for Yusuke to return with two glasses in his hands. After handing her hers, he raised his drink “To a pleasant evening in unpleasant times.”

Haru smiled when she raised her glass “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”

The two observed the lounge in silence until Yusuke eventually said “Yesterday night I was able to share some of my experiences. Now I believe you’re the one able to give me advice on how to behave in an environment like this.”

Haru smiled at him “You’re already a natural.” she looked into her glass before adding “There’s not really a lot I can say about enjoying myself at events like these. My task has always been to stand up straight and answer when I’m talked to.” she sighed “But I guess that’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“Then I hope that tonight will be a bit more enjoyable for you too.” Yusuke said while swirling his drink.

“It already is.” Haru replied with pink cheeks.

“Oh my.” a pompous female voice called out from behind Haru, causing both of them to shift their attention to them. “It’s so rare to see young people here.”. Yusuke guessed the woman to be in her fifties. As everyone in the room, she wore an elegant dress. A fur was draped around her shoulders and her arm was wrapped around her husbands.

Haru smiled and bowed “We’ve only arrived recently. But what a lovely establishment this is.”

The woman looked to her husband “And how well-versed she is. What a delight!” she looked at Haru “One could almost take you for nobility.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, darling.” her husband butted in. “We all know that the last one who could have called himself that was Okumura and you know what happened to him.”

The woman sighed “Of course you’re right.” she leaned over to Haru and Yusuke, as if she was letting them in on a secret “He died not so long ago….”

“Oh?” Haru forced herself to say.

“He had it coming for a while, if you ask me.” the husband threw in, unasked. “Ever since that alliance with the Sugimuras went down the drain because his daughter ran away… Everything was just doomed to fail.”

“She ran away with some street-mutts on her wedding-day, can you imagine?” the woman shook her head “Chose them over her own father and the legacy she was meant to uphold.”

Yusuke could only stand and watch as Haru turned paler and paler.

“He’s never struck me as the kindest father but still… that’s some statement.” the husband added. “He’s been making bad decisions left and right before that too but he lost control of it all after that busted wedding. It was only a matter of time for the workers to find out and to smell their chance of rebellion.”

“And with those Phantom Thieves rising and helping them too.” the woman added, still shaking her head.

The husband could only shrug when he said “At least he died along with the thing he cared about the most. His empire.”

The woman nodded before patting a speechless Harus arm “So it’s better that you’re not nobility, darling.”

Yusuke decided to step in when he rounded the table and reached for her arm “If you may excuse us now.” he bowed to the couple before looking into Harus empty face “May I have this dance, MiLady?”

Haru was too perplexed to say or do anything so she just followed Yusukes guidance to the dance-floor to then let him move her arms into a loose dancing-frame. Her legs seemed to move along to his lead on auto-pilot as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard.

“You are not to blame for the death of your father.” Yusuke told her as he navigated her through the other dancing couples.

“In a way I am.” Haru whispered before looking up at him.

“Your father loved you.”

“Haru nodded. “There was a time where I wasn’t sure but now I know.”

“The reason why he died is because of people like them and Shido.” Yusuke quietly said.

Haru nodded once again. She needed to remind herself of that. The woman might have been nice enough but in the end she was a part of United Future, who wanted to bend the country to their will to show off their power. Her heart skipped when Yusuke pulled her a little closer to him to avoid her bumping into someone else behind her. His hand was resting a little below her shoulder-blade. He was a good dancer. Graceful and he always had an eye on their surrounding to shield her from potential collisions. She looked up at him with a small smile on her lips. Her cheeks burned when he looked down at her and their eyes met for a moment.

“It’s a strange sensation, seeing you with new hair.” he said.

“Oh?” Haru gave him a puzzled look.

“You look so entirely different to my eyes but I still know that in front of me stands a person I deeply care about.”

Haru was at a loss for words as she just gaped at him.

“Hair as black as mine

Hiding away the true self

that only the luckiest are able to see”

Haru couldn’t hide her disappointment when she said “Oh… you’re drunk...”.

Yusuke looked confused “That wasn’t a haiku.” he replied before elaborating “A Haiku consists of three verses, the first and the third consisting of 5 syllables and the seco-”

Haru didn’t let him finish his sentence when she pushed herself up onto her tip-toes to press her lips against his. It felt like his whole body fell into a state of shock. The hand on her back, that was guiding her so softly until now felt like stone. When she drew back and looked into Yusukes shocked and dumbfounded face, she started to regret following her impulse. “I’m… I’m so sorry...” she carefully said to the still shocked Yusuke.

With a small shake of the head and the slightest of smiles tugging at the corner of his mouth, Yusuke snapped back to reality, in which now Haru was the one to stare at him in fear. “Don't be.” he said before gently cupping her face with his hands and placing his lips on hers, making them a pillar in the middle of a swaying crowd around them as both of them got to live in a world of their own, even if just for a short moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 82 chapters ago (holy cow that's a lot) was the first time that I mentioned that I like HaruxYusuke but have no idea how to pull it off. Well 82 chapters later I'm still not entirely sure but I'm quite happy with it ;)
> 
> The Thieves got to mingle with the guests on Shidos ship and got to know the clientele but we also got a glimpse into the Thieves heads and boy there's a lot going on there. 
> 
> In the end, not a lot of the initial idea remained but Ryujis dilemma was inspired by the moment in Casa de Papel when Denver argues with Stockholm, claiming that he would die if she comes with them because he would do something reckless to protect her (Say what you will about the later seasons, that scene hit pretty hard). This one turned out a little different in the end but I guess Ryujis worry is still understandable. He's willing to sacrifice himself for Ann and the rest of his family but dying is still a scary thing.
> 
> Futaba is feeling the pressure. It will be up to her to hijack the broadcast after all. Morgana is still holding on to his believe that everything will be fine. But they still haven't found anything to bring them closer to the broadcast-studio.


End file.
